Wind Force Coefficients of The Photovoltaic Panels Mounted on Flat Roof

Abstract

Solar power plant on roofs is attracting attention in recent years. In fact, there are gradually increasing numbers of such efforts. In such a case, the attention should be drawn to the wind loads for not only the photovoltaic panels mounted on a roof but also the roof itself. The net wind loads acting on the roof fastener may exceed the design wind loads for the roof without PV panels. This paper investigates the peak wind force coefficients of panels mounted on roofs. The minimum wind force coefficients of the PV panels have almost the same value in various panel layouts. Since the wind loads acting on the roof under PV panels are larger than the wind loads which are generally used by designers, it is necessary to consider the severe wind forces for all over the roof as same as the edge area of the roof.