RESEARCH ON WIND LOAD CHARACTERISTICS OF PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES UNDER DIFFERENT SLOPE TERRAIN

Dou Hongqiang; Yang Jianxin; Li Ru; Wang Longwei

doi:10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2025-0076

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Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica ›› 2026, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (6) : 656-666. DOI: 10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2025-0076

RESEARCH ON WIND LOAD CHARACTERISTICS OF PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES UNDER DIFFERENT SLOPE TERRAIN

Dou Hongqiang¹, Yang Jianxin¹, Li Ru², Wang Longwei²

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Abstract

This study aims to elucidate the influence of terrain slope on wind pressure distribution and wind load shape coefficients of PV modules through computational fluid dynamics （CFD） simulations using FLUENT software. The Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes （RANS） equations coupled with the shear stress transport （SST） turbulence model were employed to investigate the wind pressure distribution patterns and wind load shape coefficients under various configurations, including different PV module inclination angles, wind direction angles, and terrain slopes. The findings reveal that both wind direction angle and mounting inclination angle significantly influence the wind load magnitude on PV modules across different terrain slopes. While terrain features induce wind bypass effects, these effects gradually diminish with increasing column height. Furthermore, under various slope conditions and mounting inclinations, single-string PV modules consistently exhibit higher shape coefficients compared to PV array configurations. The investigation also demonstrates substantial shading effects within PV arrays, resulting in distinctive wind load characteristics for subsequent rows. Specifically, the shape coefficients experience maximum attenuations of 70% and 66% for the second and third rows of PV modules, respectively. However, the presence of terrain slope significantly mitigates these shading effects, reducing the maximum attenuation by up to 45%.

Key words

slope / numerical simulation / wind load / photovoltaic module / shape coefficient / shading effect

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Dou Hongqiang, Yang Jianxin, Li Ru, Wang Longwei. RESEARCH ON WIND LOAD CHARACTERISTICS OF PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES UNDER DIFFERENT SLOPE TERRAIN[J]. Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica. 2026, 47(6): 656-666 https://doi.org/10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2025-0076

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