I receive a lot of questions about solar water heaters. Most of the questions are about solar payback periods, monthly utility bill savings, CO2 emissions, etc…Recently, I was asked about the durability of the the flat plate collectors AtisSun installs in Maryland. The question was…

“How strong is the glass covering on your solar panels?…if a tree limb falls on the panels..will they break?”

The sort answer to this question is no. Schuco, our primary flat plate collector manufacturer, conducts special testing to determine the strength and durability of their solar collectors. This testing has helped them create very strong and  impact resistant solar panels.

I suppose if a very large tree came crashing down on your home you might experience some damage, but this would be a very unusual and extreme scenario.