Effects of building parameters on wind loads on flat-roof-mounted solar arrays

Abstract

Roof-mounted solar panels play an increasingly important role in developing renewable energy. Wind loading is a major concern for these systems and is affected by parameters related to both building and array dimensions. The effects of building side ratio (D/B=0.4 to 1), aspect ratio (H/B=0.8 to 2) and parapet height (hp/H=0 to 0.06) are investigated under the condition of a constant building height (H=20 m) in wind tunnel tests. The local wind pressure distributions and area-averaged net pressure coefficients of solar panels are examined. The results indicate that the most critical negative peak area-averaged net pressure coefficients considering all wind directions and all panels show an increasing tendency with increase in side ratio, but that the most critical positive peak values show no significant change. An increase in aspect ratio leads to decrease the most critical positive and negative peak net pressures. Curves fitting for the envelopes of equivalent values (GCpn)eq in the format of ASCE 7-10 are introduced based on all tested models. The most critical positive peak area-averaged net pressures decrease with increase in parapet height, and the most critical negative peak values of building models with a parapet are smaller than those without a parapet.