In recent years, the global climate change has led to frequent extreme weather events. meteorological disasters such as hail have become important factors that threaten the safety of Solar plants and the stable income of customers. middle and low latitudes of the northern and southern hemispheres, including Colorado and Texas (USA), Northern Italy, Southern France, Southern China, as well as Central Argentina and Southeastern Australia in the Southern Hemisphere.
According to an analysis of the loss database in the latest report "Solar Risk Assessment 2025" by kWh Analytics, a US climate insurance service provider, although hailstorms account for only 6% of loss incidents, they cause 73% of total economic losses and an 8% increase from previous years. Statistics show that global PV plant losses due to hail exceeded $1.2 billion in 2024 alone. Europe experienced 11,808 hailstorm events in 2024, a 104% surge from the 5,785 events recorded during 2022-2023. In recent years, many places in China and Australia have also been hit by extremely strong convective weather such as gales, torrential rain, and large hail, and the losses caused by extreme weather to local photovoltaic power plants should not be underestimated.
Confronting this "plant safety killer," LONGi leverages its profound technological expertise to develop the Hi-MO 9 Ice-Shield module—a global solution engineered to withstand extreme hailstorms. Through material innovation and structural upgrades, this product achieves breakthroughs in both **hail resistance** and **power generation performance**, establishing an impenetrable defense for PV plant safety and returns.
Extreme Hail Resistance: Industrial-Grade Robustness Tested Against Harsh Climates
LONGi Hi-MO 9 Ice-Shield module features a comprehensively thickened double-glass structure. Its front glass is 60% thicker than conventional products and undergoes full tempering, boosting impact resistance by 4.5 times. This material strategy, validated through R&D simulations (Fig. 4), ensures optimal hail resilience. The simulation showed that the front glass withstands twice the impact stress compared to the rear glass, which means front-glass strength is more critical from design point of view. For instance, during severe hailstorms, the tempered glass remains as sturdy as a steel plate, while standard module glass may be brittle like paper. The frame utilizes high-strength 6005-T6 aluminum alloy with optimized linear density, significantly enhancing wind load resistance. When associated with a high-load mounting solution, the module withstands loads of +5400/-5400 Pa.
In addition, the module has been tested many times and can successfully resist the impact of hail with a diameter of 55 mm and a speed of 33.9m/s, far exceeding the test requirements of IEC standards for 25mm hail. Post-test inspections show no glass cracks or micro-cracks.
High-Efficiency Power Generation: Stable Output Under Extreme Environmental impacts
Built with this robust foundation, the Hi-MO 9 Ice-Shield module integrates LONGi’s proprietary HPBC 2.0 technology, achieving a conversion efficiency of up to 24.8% for outstanding overall power generation. Upgraded with high-load materials to further ensure reliable high performance in harsh environments.
For example, in a 100MW TOPCon plant, the same land area with Hi-MO 9 modules can support 106.4MW capacity. Even in regions with moderate sunlight (assuming an electricity price of 5 cents/kWh), this translates to over $6.5 million in additional lifetime revenue.
Benefiting from BC technology’s unique hot-spot resistance and LONGi’s stringent lifecycle quality control, the Hi-MO 9 delivers higher reliability and lower failure rates at the plant level, making it a trustworthy choice for global customers.
The LONGi Ice-Shield series modules have been certified by international authorities including RETC, TÜV Rheinland, and TÜV SÜD. It has topped RETC’s High Durability Test (HDT) rankings for years and years. In RETC’s “2025 PV Module Index Report”, LONGi modules received the "Highest Achievement" award across all 13 core tests—including hail sequence validation. These endorsements provide authoritative proof of the series’ reliability in extreme environments, ensuring continuous, stable power generation even amidst hailstorms accompanied by lightning and gales.
Cumulative global orders for LONGi Ice-Shield modules have now exceeded 1GW. Including but not limited to large-scale utility plants in the US Midwest, projects in Australia, Europe. LONGi BC products are building a solid line of defense for photovoltaic power plants in many places around the world, and Hi-MO 9 has become the first choice for customers to rest assured and value throughout the life cycle of power plants.
Internationally Certified Reliability
The LONGi Ice-Shield series modules have been certified by international authorities including RETC, TÜV Rheinland, and TÜV SÜD. It has topped RETC’s High Durability Test (HDT) rankings for years and years. In RETC’s “2025 PV Module Index Report”, LONGi modules received the "Highest Achievement" award across all 13 core tests—including hail sequence validation. These endorsements provide authoritative proof of the series’ reliability in extreme environments, ensuring continuous, stable power generation even amidst hailstorms accompanied by lightning and gales.
Cumulative global orders for LONGi Ice-Shield modules have now exceeded 1GW. Including but not limited to large-scale utility plants in the US Midwest, projects in Australia, Europe. LONGi BC products are building a solid line of defense for photovoltaic power plants in many places around the world, and Hi-MO 9 has become the first choice for customers to rest assured and value throughout the life cycle of power plants.
About LONGi
Founded in 2000, LONGi (Stock code: 601012. SH) is committed to being the world's leading solar technology company, focusing on customer-driven value creation for full scenario energy transformation.
Under its mission of 'making the best of solar energy to build a green world', LONGi has dedicated itself to technology innovation and established several business sectors, covering mono silicon wafers, cells and modules, commercial & industrial distributed solar solutions, green energy solutions, building integrated photovoltaic and hydrogen equipment. As an international company, LONGi's business covers more than 160 countries and regions. Actively practicing its "Solar for Solar" concept, LONGi is accelerating the global transition to sustainable energy and promoting energy equity, enabling more people around the world to access affordable clean energy.
More details here: www.longi.com/
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