Investigation into the effect of rounded building corner on wind loads of flat-roof-mounted solar arrays

Abstract

Wind tunnel tests were performed to investigate the wind loading on flat-roof-mounted solar arrays. Effects of panel parameters (panel location and tilt angle β) and building parameters (parapet height hp and rounded building corner) were examined. Moreover, the aerodynamic mechanism was investigated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The largest most critical mean loads fluctuated greatly with panel locations for the sharp roof, whereas no large differences were found for the roof with rounded building corner. The largest most critical mean and negative peak loads for the roof with rounded building corner were significantly smaller than those for the sharp roof because the weak vortices occurred at panels on the roof with rounded building corner. The most significant influence of hp on wind loads occurred at roof corners. Peak loads were underestimated in JIS C 8955-2017, where turbulence intensity generated by roofs and solar arrays was not considered. The panel zoning was studied using the k-means approach. Solar panels on roofs with sharp and rounded building corners without parapets were divided into three zones. Regression analysis of the wind loads with β and hp in various panel zones on roofs with sharp and rounded building corners was conducted.