This is not Arizona, but it is a lesson on how high winds can damage a PV system and produce a serious fire. Kyocera’s 13.7 MW floating project at the Yamakura Dam was damaged by 120mph winds the typhoon brought to the coastal city of Chiba. It appears that the wind caused some of the floating array to break loose and pile up such that there was a short circuit in the wiring that produced a fire.

Watch the video at the link below.

https://youtu.be/_EEc1MTb7DM

Full story at:

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2019/09/09/japans-largest-floating-pv-plant-catches-fire-after-typhoon-faxai-impact/

 The basic product used in this project seems to be:

https://www.cieletterre.us/hydrelio-floating-solar-system/

Update 2-22-2020

02021 typhoon damage optJapan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has opened a formal investigation into the exact failure mode behind the destruction at the Yamakura Dam floating PV installation. In the end, the ministry seeks to draw up a plan to revamp not just the dam, but also the arrays that are still intact. This is a learning exercise that should be closely followed, as floating PV is enjoying growing popularity.

This is not an isolated incident, only two weeks later, typhoon No. 17 hit the Kyushu region at an average wind speed of 40 m/s, destroying the 2.4 MW Shintaku Tameike floating PV installation, among other damage.

There is a good technocal report at:

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/02/22/the-weekend-read-dont-throw-caution-to-the-wind/