Study on Design Wind Force Coefficients for Photovoltaic Modules Installed on Low-Rise Building

Abstract

The wind pressures on the upper and lower surfaces of the modules indicate negative values where photovoltaic modules are installed on the roof of buildings. Therefore the mean wind forces on the modules are relatively weak. On the other hand, the peak wind forces on the modules become severe due to the differences of fluctuating wind pressures on the upper and lower surfaces. This paper presents the design wind force coefficients for photovoltaic modules installed on the gable roof of low-rise buildings, based on the peak wind force coefficients which are measured the wind tunnel experiments.

Application of a Numerical Simulation to the Estimation of Wind Loads on Photovoltaic Panels Installed Parallel to Sloped Roofs of Residential Houses

“…Many researchers have experimentally and/or numerically investigated the wind loads on tilted PV panels installed on the ground [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] or on flat roofs of large commercial buildings [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. By comparison, only a few investigations have been made of the wind loads on PV panels installed parallel to sloped roofs of residential houses [22][23][24][25][26].…”

“…Takamori et al [26] conducted a wind tunnel experiment on the wind loads of PV panels installed parallel to gable roofs of low-rise buildings. The geometric scale of the models was 1/30.…”

“…Recently, PV panels are often installed parallel to these roofs, as shown in Figure 1. Such PV systems are generally designed based on JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) C 8955 [27], which is based on the experimental results of Takamori et al [26]. This standard provides wind force coefficients Wind 2022, 2 for designing PV panels installed on building's roofs.…”

“…Furthermore, we have to measure the pressures on both the upper and lower surfaces of PV panels simultaneously for evaluating the net wind pressures (wind forces) on PV panels, which also makes it difficult to make wind tunnel models of PV panels. Indeed, some deformed models of PV panels are often used in wind tunnel experiments [26].…”

“…Wind 2022, 2, FOR PEER REVIEW designed based on JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) C 8955 [27], which is based on the experimental results of Takamori et al [26]. This standard provides wind force coefficient for designing PV panels installed on building's roofs.…”