Structural design specifications for photovoltaic brackets

What is a fixed adjustable photovoltaic support structure?

In order to respond to the national goal of “carbon neutralization” and make more rational and effective use of photovoltaic resources, combined with the actual photovoltaic substation project, a fixed adjustable photovoltaic support structure design is designed.

Can a solar array support structure withstand a wind load?

Even fixed solar array support structures have sofisticated design, that needs to be analyzed and often improved in order to withstand the wind load. The same applies of course to adjustable designs to an even greater extend. The analysis has to be carried out for many wind directions.

What is a cable-supported photovoltaic system (CSPs)?

Cable-supported photovoltaic systems (CSPSs) are a new technology for supporting structures that have broad application prospects owing to their cost-effectiveness, light weight, large span, high headroom, few pile foundations, short construction period, and symbiosis with fisheries and farms.

How long do solar panel support structures last?

International regulations as well as the competition between industries define that they must withstand the enormous loads that result from air velocities over 120 km/h. Furthermore, they must have a life expectancy of more than 20 years. In this paper, the analysis of two different design approaches of solar panel support structures is presented.

What is the main load of a support structure?

The main load of the support structures is caused by the wind action. Wind load has to be calculated according to EUROCODE 1 (1). According to this regulation only the total wind force is determined, and therefore it cannot be applied to a FE model directly. It has to be distributed to node loads.

What is the space frame of Design B?

The space frame of Design B consists of nodes and tubes. The nodes are modeled as shell elements and tubes as CBAR elements shown in Figure 9. Critical welds are modeled according to the Hot Spot Stress analysis (4) as shown in Figure 10.