Local and overall wind pressure and force coefficients for solar panels

Abstract

This paper reports on an experimental study carried out to better understand the wind pressure distribution on stand-alone panel surfaces and panels attached to flat building roofs. A complex model capable to incorporate solar panels at different locations and various inclinations was constructed at a 1:200 geometric scale. Three model panels equipped with pressure taps on both surfaces (36 in total) for point and area-averaged pressure measurements were used. Pressure and force coefficients were computed for every pressure tap and for all the panels. Different configurations were tested under similar conditions in order to examine the effect of various parameters on the experimental results. A minimal gap occurred between the solar panels and the roof of the model. The study found that the net values of pressure coefficients corresponding to different configurations are affected by the panel inclination for the critical 135-degree wind direction, for which panels on the back location undergo higher suctions in comparison to those in the front. The effect of building height on the solar collector total load is minimal, whereas corner panels are subjected to higher net loads for critical azimuths. Simplified net pressure coefficients for the design of solar panels are provided.

Experimentos en túnel de viento sobre paneles fotovoltaicos montados en el suelo

“…During the last decades, several studies of wind loads on PV panels on roofs-mounted have been developed through wind tunnel tests (Aly and Bitsuamlak 2013b, Bienkiewicz and Endo 2009, Bronkhorst et al 2010, Ginger et al 2011, Radu and Axinte 1989, Radu et al 1986, Stathopoulos et al 2015, Stathopoulos et al 2014, Stenabaugh et al 2015, Wood et al 2001, full scale measurements (Geurts and Blackmore 2013) and numerical simulation (Banks 2013, Bienkiewicz and Endo 2009, Bronkhorst et al 2010. Detailed features of some of these works can be found at the literature review conducted by Stathopoulos et al (2012).…”

“…Detailed features of some of these works can be found at the literature review conducted by Stathopoulos et al (2012). However, few studies report the effect of wind loading on ground mounted PV panels through wind tunnel test (Abiola-Ogedengbe et al 2015, Aly and Bitsuamlak 2013a, Stathopoulos et al 2014, which is the aim of the present work. Aly and Bitsuamlak (2013a) analyzed the wind load of ground mounted solar panels at different geometrical scales through experimental tests in a wind tunnel and numerical analysis using CFD.…”

“…However, these investigators pointed out that 3-s (three-seconds) peak values of the normal force coefficients were similar for all used model scales (1:30, 1:20, 1:10, 1:5), except for 1:50 scale model because its configuration was very close to ground. Stathopoulos et al (2014) compiled several wind tunnel experiments performed on PV panels located on the ground and attached to flat building roof in 2014. The dimensions of the panel model were 129 mm x 28 mm using a 1:200 geometrical scale for its construction.…”

Wind loads on photovoltaic arrays mounted parallel to sloped roofs on low-rise buildings

“…Of course, there are other types of roof-mounted array geometries, such as those of a large size so that they cannot be considered low profile (e.g. Stathopoulos et al, 2014) or tilted arrays on pitched roofs (Irwin and Gamble, 1982). These types of arrays are relatively less common and so there have been fewer studies.…”

Effect of roof-mounted solar panels on the wind energy exploitation on high-rise buildings

“…Some authors have carried out studies of ground-mounted (Shademan et al, 2014;Aly and Bitsuamlak 2013) and roofmounted (Stathopoulos et al, 2014;Kopp et ah, 2012;Pratt And Kopp, 2013) solar panels. These previous investigations focussed on the wind loads over the solar arrays (pressure coefficients).…”