Aerodynamic and static study of flows around a 3 kWc photovoltaic station

A numerical analysis using Computational Fluid Dynamics methodology was carried out to study the effect of different horizontal spacing distance between the modules on wind loads of a solar panel. The wind flow is simulated as turbulent, incompressible flow with a free stream velocity reaching speeds of up 33.3 m/s and a wind direction of 180 degrees. The different spacing; λ including the values {0,2,4,6,8,10 mm}, is used to determine the optimal spacing between the solar panels horizontally. The finite-volume method is employed to solve the governing equations, coupled with the k–ε turbulence model with standard-wall treatment. The results indicate that velocity vector and the wind force on the panels decrease with the horizontal spacing increase.