A Study on Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) of a Dual Axis Solar Tracker at an Operating Wind Speed by Using CFD

Abstract

Due to their high demand, ground-mounted solar systems require a significant amount of agricultural land to be allocated. Still, saving farmland is facilitated by mounting solar panels on structures anchored to the ground. However, these structures are susceptible to high wind-loading conditions. Although there currently needs to be clear guidance in the literature on how to calculate additional strains caused by ground-mounted solar panels when there is strong wind loading, this research aims to gain a thorough understanding of how wind affects self-sufficient photovoltaic systems. This involves estimating and relating wind loads to the panel's surrounding wind flow pattern. To do this, the ground-mounted solar panel's flow pattern, surface pressures, and total aerodynamic loading are examined using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models. This simulation project involves running computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis on a dual-axis solar tracker equipped with Integrated Tilting Solar Tracker (iTST) solar panels. Specifically, the CFX solver is utilized for this purpose. Furthermore, the frameworks' structural assessment uses the finite element approach (FEA) under wind speeds of up to 50 m/s (180 km/h). Three-dimensional Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) use an unsteady solver with constant inlet conditions. Factors of safety (FoS) and displacement for each structural component at these wind speeds are calculated and presented by the inquiry.