Wind Coefficient Distribution of Arranged Ground Photovoltaic Panels

Abstract

Solar panels installed on the ground receive wind loads. A wind experiment was conducted to evaluate the wind force coefficient acting on a single solar panel and solar panels arranged in an array. The surface roughness did not have a significant effect on the change in vertical force, which is the wind force coefficient acting on the vertical surface of a single solar panel. An examination of the change in wind direction angle showed that the largest vertical force coefficient was distributed in the 0° forward wind direction on the front of the solar panel, the 345° reverse wind direction on the rear side, and the 135° and 225° diagonal directions on the rear panel. Furthermore, an examination of the change in wind force coefficient according to the change in solar panel inclination angle (β) showed that the drag coefficient was the highest at the 40° inclination angle of the panel (β), followed by the 30° and 20° inclination angles. However, the lift coefficient and vertical force coefficient were not significantly affected by the inclination angle of the panel. The wind force coefficient of the panels arranged in an array was influenced by the wind direction angle and panel position. With the exclusion of the nearest row at a wind direction angle of 0°, all the panels in the array showed lower coefficients than those in the single-panel experiment. In the case of the panels placed inside, the wind speed was decreased by the surrounding panels. As a result, the wind force coefficient was lower than that of the single-panel experiment. This outcome is attributed to the small delamination at the end of the panels by the surrounding array of panels compared with that of the single-panel experiment.