Experimental study of wind loads on solar arrays installed on hill

The wind pressures on solar panels supported by columns on a hill with slopes of 15° and 30° were detected by wind tunnel test. Based on the time records of wind pressure at each tap, the variations of mean wind load coefficients on upper, lower, and net surfaces were analyzed, and the effects of the hill slope were investigated. The results show that the solar panels at the hill top are the most unfavorable because they experience relatively larger mean wind load coefficients of upper, lower, and net surfaces. When the hill slope increases from 15° to 30°, the most critical wind directions that cause the largest mean wind pressures change little, but the associated mean largest mean wind pressure changes a lot. The net pressure coefficients on solar panels decrease significantly at the hill foot while changing little when located at the middle hill and increasing at the hill top.