Renew Risk, a specialist provider of renewable energy risk analysis and catastrophe modeling solutions, has announced the launch of its US SCS model, which the company says is the first modeling platform developed specifically to assess severe convective storm risks from US solar farms.
Renew Risk said the model is designed to enhance the way insurance companies, reinsurers and brokers assess and price risks in the rapidly expanding U.S. solar market.
The launch comes as U.S. utility-scale solar development accelerates, with the industry expected to add a record 86 gigawatts of new capacity in 2026, the company said.
According to Renew Risk, this growth is putting increasing pressure on insurers as renewable energy assets become larger, more technically complex and more frequently located in areas vulnerable to extreme weather events.
Renew Risk points out that severe storms have caused huge financial losses to U.S. solar operators in recent years. The company highlighted that while hail accounted for only 6% of recorded loss events, it accounted for 73% of the overall financial losses associated with storm damage to solar facilities.
According to Renew Risk, the construction and operational characteristics of individual solar farms can significantly affect the scale of damage caused during weather events.
The company pointed to the Fighting Jays Solar Farm in Texas, where a severe hailstorm in the spring of 2024 reportedly destroyed thousands of the 35-MW farm’s solar panels. Renew Risk said two nearby solar farms were equipped with automated weather tracking systems that allowed them to position their panels vertically ahead of the storm, avoiding direct hail damage, while a third nearby solar farm suffered only limited impact due to issues affecting its hail mitigation system.
Renew Risk said its U.S. SCS model was developed using what the company calls an “asset-first” approach, allowing insurers and reinsurers to more accurately assess the resilience and risk exposure of renewable energy portfolios.
Dr. Joshua Macabuag, CEO of Renew Risk, commented: “Historically, risk management has focused on rare but catastrophic events such as hurricanes and earthquakes. However, high-frequency, highly localized severe convective storms are now the leading loss driver in the United States, accounting for 51% of natural disaster-related losses in 2025 – a total of $46 billion.
“For the solar market, traditional models fail to capture how this complex hazard interacts with disparate engineered systems. Our next-generation U.S. solar model gives our customers a competitive advantage, allowing them to profit and grow their portfolios with confidence.”
Renew Risk said the model includes detailed analysis of asset value distribution, total insured value and business interruption risk via the company’s monthly updated industry risk database.
The platform applies machine learning techniques to storm-scale modeling to address the limited availability of historical claims data in remote areas where many solar farms are located, the company added. Renew Risk said the feature was developed in partnership with AI modeling company Vāyuh.
The company also said the model combines analysis of hail, tornado and straight-line wind risks to better reflect the combined nature of severe convective storm events. In addition, Renew Risk notes that the platform incorporates asset-level variables including glass thickness, panel retraction angle and system reliability, allowing for more detailed and customized risk assessments.
David Vicary, head of solar at Renew Risk, added: “By taking an asset-first approach to model development and working with best-in-class organizations, we have developed a technically robust, highly asset-specific view of SCS risk that captures the unique risk drivers of utility-scale solar farms.”
Renew Risk said the introduction of the U.S. SCS model is part of the company’s broader expansion strategy. The release follows the recent release of storm models for offshore wind farms along the coastlines of the UK, Ireland and continental Europe. According to Renew Risk, these new capabilities build on its existing offshore wind modeling capabilities in markets such as Taiwan, Japan and the United States.
Renew Risk was founded in 2021 and focuses on disaster modeling and risk analysis of renewable energy infrastructure. The company said it had secured £4.7m in seed funding at a valuation of £16m and was able to develop the disaster model in around nine months, which is much faster than the time typically required by traditional modeling providers. Renew Risk added that its products are developed and validated with early market users to ensure they reflect actual underwriting and risk management requirements.
Renew Risk said it will continue to work with insurers and other market participants to support underwriting decisions and portfolio risk management of renewable energy assets globally. The company added that improved risk transparency and pricing accuracy could help expand the ability to insure renewable infrastructure projects and support wider decarbonization goals.
