Numerical simulation of wind loading on ground-mounted solar panels at different flow configurations

摘要

Three-dimensional Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes simulations have been carried out to evaluate the flow past ground-mounted solar panels at different flow configurations. Initially, the flow past a stand-alone solar panel consisting of four individual sub-panels in a 2×2 arrangement is considered. The effects of the lateral gap spacing between sub-panels, the ground clearance, and the wind direction on the wind loading of the full panel have been analyzed. Simulations of the flow past solar panels in an arrayed configuration are also conducted to investigate the effect of longitudinal spacing between the panels on the wind loading. Results from the flow past the stand-alone panel reveal that the structure experiences maximum values of wind loading at two azimuthal wind directions of θ = 0° and 180°. The results also show that the two bottom panels experience larger mean wind loading compared to the top panels. The introduction of gap spacing between the panels changes the flow structure in the wake region, contributing to the formation and shedding of additional vortices, which increase in size with increased gap spacing. Although the introduction of gap spacing results in reduced mean wind forces, it produces regions that experience large wind loading. Increase of the ground clearance also causes larger mean wind loading on the panels. A proper choice of longitudinal spacing between the panels forming the array can significantly reduce the lift by taking advantage of the sheltering effect.