Experimental Investigation of the Parapet Effect on the Wind Load of Roof-Mounted Solar Arrays

Abstract

A wind tunnel test was conducted to investigate the effects of parapets on the aerodynamic wind loads of roof-mounted solar arrays. The distribution of the mean wind pressure coefficient and the extreme wind pressure coefficient in the solar arrays were discussed in detail, and the results were compared with some national standards. Results show that the mean and extreme values of the wind pressure coefficient are larger at oblique wind angles. The presence of the parapet can reduce the mean and extreme area-averaged net pressure coefficients in some areas of the solar arrays, and both the most critical positive and negative shape factors reduce at the corner and outer rows while less change occurs at the inner zones. The experimental shape factors are much smaller compared to the values calculated by the standards. The guidelines for the design of wind pressure on roof-mounted solar arrays are very conservative, and more research is needed to make the standards applicable and complete.