Abstract
Solar panel supporting systems are often affected by strong wind loads, especially in typhoon-intensive areas such as Southeast Asia. This paper focuses on the study of flat-panel solar energy system. The numerical model of solar panel supporting system has been built by using the fluid flow control equations. Firstly, the numerical simulation of aerodynamic characteristics of the solar panel supporting system are conducted, and then the pressure results gained from CFD are loaded and coupled to the front and back of the solar panels. Lastly, the stress, strain and the modal analysis results of the support system under four different directional wind loads are achieved. The conclusions include: (1) under the condition of same wind speed, the wind pressure and distribution of the solar panel are different with different wind directions, and the wind load perpendicular to the solar panel has the greatest influence on the solar supporting system. (2)The modal frequency of flat panel solar supporting system is little affected by wind directions and average wind pressure. In the structure design, low order vibration should be considered mainly in the supporting part of the system, while the high order vibration should be generally considered in vibrating risk of solar panel. (3)The first six modal frequencies coupled with fluid-structure interaction of the flat panel solar supporting system are all slightly lower than the free modal frequencies.
Highlights
Compared with traditional energy, solar energy as a renewable energy has a wide range of applications and significant benefits, and has broad prospects for development [1]
In the design process of flat panel solar supporting structure, it is usually assumed that the solar panel is subjected to uniform wind force in the wind load calculation, and the wind load is generally not considered in the modal analysis process or just implement the modal analysis of the flat panel system under uniform wind load
The fluid numerical simulations of the solar panel supporting system under different working conditions are implemented and the comparison of wind load pressures on solar panels is showed in Fig.2, and comparison of average pressures showed in table 2
Summary
Solar energy as a renewable energy has a wide range of applications and significant benefits, and has broad prospects for development [1]. The numerical results of aerodynamic characteristics and structural stress of the physical model under wind load can be obtained quickly and accurately through this method. It can reduce the experimental errors caused by neglecting details or other factors in wind tunnel test. It provides a favorable theoretical basis for its structure optimization and operation maintenance
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