Experimental study of wind load of solar trackers on flat-roof buildings

This study uses wind tunnel experiment to investigate the aerodynamic loading on the solar tracker installed on flat-roof buildings. The surface pressures on the model tracker are measured under different wind directions, azimuth angles, inclined angles and pedestal height of the tracker. The experimental results reveal that the maximum positive net pressure occurs when wind direction θ = 45^o, while the maximum suction (negative net pressure) occurs when θ = 225^o for azimuth angle α = 45^o and the absolute value of the maximum suction is greater than the maximum positive pressure for the same tracker height and inclined angle. In addition, due to the separation shear layer on the building roof, the wind load decreases as the tracker height decreases. The surface pressures of the tracker installed on the downwind building of two adjacent buildings are also examined. Due to the shelter effect of upwind building, the windward pressure of the tracker on the roof of downwind building is reduced when the spacing between two buildings is less than five times of building height.