Effect of Wind Deflector Inclination Angle on Ballasted Solar Panels Mounting System

Wind load can create high pressure on solar panels, resulting in either physical damage to the solar panels or a reduction in the efficiency of the panels due to the vibration of the panels. Investigations of wind load on solar panels usually focus on the roof-anchored mounting system. In this study, the use of a ballasted PV mounting system is investigated. Modern ballasted PV mounting systems are engineered with wind deflectors attached to the back side of the solar panel. This study investigates the effect of the wind deflector inclination angle along with the PV panel tilt angle by investigating three wind deflector inclination angles (30°, 60°, 90°) with respect to four PV panel tilt angles (15°, 18°, 21°, 24°). The direction of wind was changed for all of the investigated parameters from 90° to 180° in 15° increments. The investigations were performed numerically using Ansys fluent along with the Ansys fluent meshing tool. The CFD model was validated using the experimental investigation results from another paper that investigated the effect of wind load on solar panels experimentally using wind tunnels. The investigation results showed that a 30° wind deflector inclination angle reduced the lift coefficient by 38.49% compared with the 90° wind deflector inclination angle.