David VanHorn wrote:

>>
>>Raise the panels to vertical automatically to avoid direct hail impact?
> 
> 
> 
> Wouldn't really help. I have pictures of holes in vertical walls punched by
> 3"-4" hail balls.
> They don't just fall from above, they are often blown by a downburst.

You mean like this?
http://lab.chill.colostate.edu/cases/20JUNE2001/Hail02.gif

> Put heavy wire grid mesh above the panel to turn large hail into
> 
>>french fries if it doesn't just bounce off? Would cost a few percent
>>in shading losses but would be inexpensive to do.
> 
> 
> 
> I thought about this, but in terms of a kevlar web.
> You wouldn't turn hail into french fries, but hail might batter it's
> way through wire.

Good point.
And the Kevlar would have some recoil, bouncing the hail off, particularly
if it was parallel to the panels, giving them glancing blows.

We don't get 4" hail up here, and the large stuff tends to be quite mushy.

Robert

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