Solar Panel Anchoring Structure for Sloped Soil Wind Uplift
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Solution Overview
Problem
Anchoring solar photovoltaic systems on sloped or expansive soils is challenging due to high winds, rain, snow events, and seasonal ground movements, requiring heavy and expensive foundations, especially in places like water reservoirs and landfills.
Innovation Solution
A lightweight, semi-flexible anchoring system using soil nails, geomembrane liners, and structural tie-up racks for mounting solar panels on sloped surfaces, comprising soil fasteners, adapting regulating apparatus, and elongated racks to resist wind uplift forces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If heavy and expensive anchoring foundations are used to secure solar panels on expansive soils, then the system stability improves, but the cost and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The anchoring system is divided into three independent components: soil fasteners (simpler than traditional foundations), geomembrane liner, and mounting racks. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function efficiently, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining stability on expansive soils
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the anchoring approach from heavy concrete foundations to lightweight soil fasteners with specific dimensional parameters (rod diameter 5-30mm, length varying by soil conditions). This parameter optimization provides sufficient anchoring strength on expansive soils without requiring complex heavy foundation structures
2Force
If heavy anchoring foundations are used to resist wind uplift forces, then the resistance to wind loads improves, but the weight and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The geomembrane liner acts as a counterweight mechanism, distributing wind uplift forces across a large surface area and transferring them to multiple soil fasteners. This distributes the load rather than concentrating it, allowing lightweight fasteners to resist wind uplift forces that would require heavy foundations in traditional systems
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting system incorporates adjustable racks and regulators that can adapt to ground movement and seasonal changes in expansive soils. This dynamic adjustment capability allows the lightweight structure to maintain wind uplift resistance without requiring excessive weight for static stability
3Reliability
If traditional anchoring methods are used on sloped surfaces, then the mounting stability improves, but the ease of installation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The soil fasteners are specifically designed with localized features for different installation conditions: pointed ends for penetrating compacted soil, flanged heads for alignment on sloped surfaces, and varying lengths for different slope angles. This local optimization enables stable mounting on slopes while maintaining ease of installation
Solution Approach 2:
The geomembrane liner is installed and secured to the ground surface before mounting the solar panels. This preliminary action creates a stable base that simplifies subsequent panel installation, as the liner pre-establishes the mounting surface and distributes loads, making the overall process easier compared to traditional methods where anchoring and panel installation are more tightly coupled
Data Source
AI summary
A ground mounting system for supporting solar photovoltaic panels on a planar or inclined having an array of soil fasteners in spaced-relation driven through a geomembrane overlying a greenfield ground site and connected with a respective one of a plurality adapting regulating apparatus to racks to which solar photovoltaic panels mount securely, which soil fasteners communicate compressive loads to the ground while resisting tension forces from wind uplift on the planar field of solar photovoltaic panels.