Wind Load Design of Photovoltaic Power Plants by Comparison of Design Codes and Wind Tunnel Tests

Wind load design of the ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV) power plants requires interpretation of the design code considering the particularities of these structures. The PV power plants consist on systems of several solar panels. Wind load pressure coefficient evaluation, by design code, for a single solar panel considered as a canopy roof, neglect the group effect and the air permeability of the system. On the other hand, the canopy roofs are structures with medium serviceability, but the PV power plants are structures with low serviceability. This paper discuss the difficulties of the wind load design for the PV power plants ground mounted in Romania and compares the Romanian, German, European and American wind design code specifications with the parameters provided by the wind tunnel test, for this type of structures. For Romanian wind load design an evolution of the 1990, 2004 and 2012 editions of the design codes specifications is also studied. Evaluation of the internal resultants for the structural elements of the PV panel, considering the pressure coefficients and the force coefficients, conducts to different results. Further code explanations and design specifications are required for wind design of the PV power plants.