Examination of the effects of extreme weather events on solar power systems

Current climate change is characterised by a growing number of extreme weather events and their impacts, which can have a significant impact on energy production, transmission and supply systems, with the potential for severe damage to assets and permanent or intermittent supply disruptions. In order to identify the likely regional climate impacts on specific elements of solar power generation systems, a complex analysis of the expected changes, the sensitivity of infrastructure and the possibilities to adapt to these changes is needed.

Accordingly, one of the objectives of the research is to identify and characterize the climatological information and impacts that may pose a risk to solar energy generation facilities in the context of climate change. We investigate the role and significance of extreme weather events and their long-term projected changes for solar power systems in climate impact assessments. The changes of relevant meteorological events due to climate change and their impact on solar energy systems will be evaluated for Hungary based on data from regional climate model simulations available in EURO-CORDEX.