Wind loads on solar arrays mounted on flat roofs

Abstract eng:
A series of wind tunnel tests on flat roof-mounted solar arrays have been carried to determine wind-induced loads on panels. The wind direction is defined as 0 degrees when wind flows perpendicularly from higher to lower edges of tilted panels and changes clockwise up to 180 degrees. General characteristics of wind pressures under wind attack angles of 0, 45, 135 and 180 degrees are analyzed in comparison with a flat roof. It is found that the largest negative peak net pressures occur on downstream and upstream panels with wind directions of 0 and 180 degrees respectively. And there is a sharp increase in negative peaks at top taps near the higher edges of these panels. For corner winds, the effects of conical vortices can be recognized from pressure results even if they are deformed by solar panels. And the panels along the wind attack angle experience the largest negative and positive peaks under wind directions of 45 and 135 degrees, which is due to local separation and reattachment induced by the solar panels themselves. Moreover, the effects of side ratio D/B, aspect ratio H/B and parapet height hp with the same roof height are examined because building size is an important parameter affecting wind loads on solar panels, in addition to tilt angle, distance between arrays, panel location and so forth. The results show that the largest peak force coefficient shows an increasing tendency with increase in side ratio and decrease in aspect ratio. Also, the measurements of pressure on solar panels with four parapet heights, 0.3, 0.6, 0.9 and 1.2m, are tested. It turns out that the wind pressures are generally reduced with increase in parapet height except for downstream panels at the wind direction of 180 degrees.

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