Planning for Wind Resilience: Purchasing Durable, 30-Year Solar PV Systems

September 10, 2025,  1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. ET
FEMP IACET: 0.1
Level: Intermediate

Register to Attend

Wind is the single biggest force placed on solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. While industry structural engineers work to establish minimum design and safety standards, agencies need to understand how to achieve durable systems that can reliably operate for 30 or even 50 years. Wind smart PV systems not only prevent unnecessary loss during windstorms, but also cost less to maintain, improve safety, and provide a resilient source of power and cost savings to agencies. Wind smart PV systems deliver resilience and support agency missions at a lower levelized cost of energy.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this training, attendees will be able to:

  • Learn how to procure a wind smart PV system that is resilient, high performing, and safe to host on site.
  • Understand industry-recommended good practices to obtain wind smart solar PV systems.
  • Understand the frequency and severity of wind events for a specific site.
  • Explore how wind acts upon solar PV systems and the resulting impacts.
  • Understand the different wind dynamics between ground, roof, and parking canopies.
  • Understand when a wind event is severe enough to be considered a force majeure where resulting damage should be considered a normal outcome.

Instructor

  • Gerald Robinson, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)

About FEMP Training

The Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) provides live and on-demand training to foster and maintain a high-performance workforce that constructs, operates, and maintains cost-effective federal facilities. Choose from topics like project financing, facility and fleet optimization, fleet management, resilience, sustainable product procurement, and more.

FEMP is accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and awards IACET continuing education units (CEUs) upon the successful completion of select courses. FEMP training is provided through the National Institute of Building Sciences' Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG) learning management system.