Wind-Induced Pressures on Solar Panels Mounted on Residential Homes
Publication: Journal of Architectural Engineering
Volume 20, Issue 1
Abstract
This paper presents wind load investigations on solar panel modules mounted on low-rise buildings with gable roofs that have two distinct slopes. Wind loads on the solar panels mounted on several zones of the roofs were systematically investigated in a boundary-layer wind tunnel for different wind directions. The results from the wind-tunnel investigation are compared with ASCE provisions for residential bare roofs. The comparison shows a good agreement with the ASCE standard provisions for the main force resisting system. Nevertheless, the cladding loads on individual modules may be lower or higher than those on the corresponding area of a bare roof (depending on their location and array configuration and the roof’s slope). Avoiding the roof critical zones (zones 3 and 2) is recommended to avoid high net minimum pressures acting on the solar panel modules. Solar panels mounted in zone 1 are locally subjected to higher suction at their outer edges. This is most likely attributed to the effect of a raised secondary roof formed over the main roof. The impact of the secondary roof effects is noticeable for small modules compared with larger modules.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
Financial support from the Florida Center of Excellence through the Florida International University International Hurricane Research Center is acknowledged with thanks. The help received from Mr. Warsido and Mr. Erwin during the wind tunnel testing is appreciated. The authors also acknowledge the informative discussion with Mr. Barkaszi from the Florida Solar Energy Center (Solar America Board for Codes and Standards, http://www.solarabcs.org).
References
Aly, A. M., and Bitsuamlak, G. (2012). “Aerodynamic pressures on ground mounted solar panels: test model scale effects.” Proc., 2012 Int. Conf. on Advances in Wind and Structures, Techno Press, Seoul.
Aly, A. M., and Bitsuamlak, G. (2013). “Aerodynamics of ground-mounted solar panels: test model scale effects.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., in press.
Aly, A. M., Bitsuamlak, G., and Gan Chowdhury, A. (2012). “Full-scale aerodynamic testing of a loose concrete roof paver system.” Eng. Struct., 44, 260–270.
ASCE. (2010). “Minimum design loads for buildings and other structures.” ASCE 7-2010, Reston, VA.
Banks, D. (2007). “How to calculate wind loads on roof mounted solar panels in the US.” 〈http://www.cppwind.com/support/PDF/HowToCalculateWindLoads.pdf〉 (Nov. 21, 2013).
Barkaszi, S., and O’Brien, C. (2010). “Wind load calculations for PV arrays.” Rep., Solar America Board for Codes and Standards 〈http://www.solarabcs.org〉 (Nov. 21, 2013).
Bienkiewicz, B., and Sun, Y. (1992). “Local wind loading on the roof of a low-rise building.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 45(1), 11–24.
Bienkiewicz, B., and Sun, Y. (1997). “Wind loading and resistance of loose-laid roof paver systems.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 72, 401–410.
Bitsuamlak, G., Dagnew, A., and Erwin, J. (2010). “Evaluation of wind loads on solar panel modules using CFD.” Proc., 5th Int. Symp. on Computational Wind Engineering, Vortex Winds, 〈https://vortex-winds.org/drupal/〉 (Nov. 21, 2013).
Chung, K. M., Chang, K. C., and Choub, C. C. (2011). “Wind loads on residential and large-scale solar collector models.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 99(1), 59–64.
Geurts, C. P. W., and Van Bentum, C. A. (2007). “Wind loads on solar energy roofs.” Heron, 52(3), 201–222.
Ginger, J., Payne, M., Stark, G., Sumant, B., and Leitch, C. (2011). “Investigations on wind loads applied to solar panels mounted on roofs.” Rep.TS821, Buildings Codes Queensland, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, James Cook Univ., Townsville, Australia.
Holmes, J. D. (2007). Wind loading of structures, 2nd Ed., Taylor and Francis, London.
International Code Council (ICC). (2012). 2012 International building code, IBC, Country Club Hills, IL.
Kopp, G. A., and Banks, D. (2012). “Use of the wind tunnel test method for obtaining design wind loads on roof-mounted solar arrays.” J. Struct. Eng., 284–287.
Kopp, G. A., Farquhar, S., and Morrison, M. J. (2012). “Aerodynamic mechanisms for wind loads on tilted, roof-mounted, solar arrays.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 111, 40–52.
Kopp, G. A., Surry, D., and Chen, K. (2002). “Wind loads on a solar array.” Wind Struct., 5(5), 393–406.
Lubitz, W. D. (2011). “Effect of manual tilt adjustments on incident irradiance on fixed and tracking solar panels.” Appl. Energy, 88(5), 1710–1719.
Masters, F. J. (2004), “Measurement, modeling and simulation of ground-level tropical cyclone winds.” Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
Meroney, R. N., and Neff, D. E. (2010). “Wind effects on roof mounted solar photovoltaic arrays: CFD and wind-tunnel evaluation.” Proc., 5th Int. Symp. on Computational Wind Engineering, Vortex Winds, 〈https://vortex-winds.org/drupal/〉 (Nov. 21, 2013).
Peterka, J. A., Bienkiewicz, B., Hosoya, N., and Cermak, J. E. (1987). “Heliostat mean wind load reduction.” Energy, 12(3–4), 261–267.
Pfahl, A., and Uhlemann, H. (2011). “Wind loads on heliostats and photovoltaic trackers at various Reynolds numbers.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerod., 99(9), 964–968.
Radu, A., Axinte, E., and Theohari, C. (1986). “Steady wind pressures on solar collectors on flat-roofed buildings.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 23, 249–258.
Sadek, F., and Simiu, E. (2002). “Peak non-Gaussian wind effects for database-assisted low-rise building design.” J. Eng. Mech., 530–539.
Shademan, M., and Hangan, H. (2009). “Wind loading on solar panels at different inclination angles.” Proc., 11th American Conf. on Wind Engineering, American Association of Wind Engineering. Fort Collins, CO.
Visscher, B., and Kopp, G. A. (2007). “Trajectories of roof sheathing panels under high winds.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 95(8), 697–713.
Wood, G. S., Denoon, R. O., and Kwok, K. C. S. (2001). “Wind loads on industrial solar panel arrays and supporting roof structure.” Wind Struct., 4(6), 481–494.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Architectural Engineering
Volume 20 • Issue 1 • March 2014
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 17, 2012
Accepted: May 28, 2013
Published online: May 30, 2013
Published in print: Mar 1, 2014
Discussion open until: May 4, 2014
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.