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ASK!: DIA solar panels can handle the elements
Published December 3, 2008 at 6 p.m.
The solar panels at DIA seem to be horizontal. How are they protected from hail or deep snow? - Nick
The panels rotate to follow the sun from east to west, so they are horizontal only at midday. They're higher than they look - 8 to 10 feet off the ground - so they shouldn't ever be buried in snow. And because they're so high, they're in the teeth of the wind; that, plus the rotation, should dislodge most snow, said airport spokesman Chuck Cannon.
The material they're made of is resistant to 1-inch hailstones traveling up to 52 miles an hour, so hail damage isn't a major concern, at least no more so than for any solar panel, Cannon said.
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