Non-Parallel Solar Canopy Assembly for Lower Wind Loading
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current solar photovoltaic canopy structures with single plane solar panels have higher wind loading costs due to prescribed wind loading coefficients, while structures with non-parallel panels incur even higher costs and are not efficiently designed using existing methods, as wind tunnel testing is not effectively utilized to reduce loading.
Innovation Solution
A solar canopy system with non-parallel solar panel assemblies that employs instantaneous time averaging of wind loadings to determine net wind loading across the combined area, using a support structure with posts, cross beams, and purlins to distribute loads efficiently, reducing the actual load applied to the structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If non-parallel solar panel assemblies are used, then energy production and land use efficiency are improved, but wind loading costs and structural complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple non-parallel solar panel assemblies into a unified structural system where the assemblies are structurally connected to allow net instantaneous pressure measurements across the total combined area. This merging approach enables the system to benefit from load cancellation effects where wind loads on different panels occur in opposite directions simultaneously, reducing the total design load compared to calculating each panel separately.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from static, conservative wind loading calculations to a dynamic approach that captures instantaneous wind pressure measurements. By using instantaneous time averaging of measured wind loadings and accounting for the temporal correlation of wind pressures across non-parallel panels, the system dynamically captures the reality that wind loads on different panels do not peak simultaneously, enabling more accurate and reduced design loads.
2Force
If wind tunnel testing is utilized for coplanar panel assemblies, then design load reduction is achieved, but additional testing costs and time are incurred
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses wind tunnel testing data from coplanar panel assemblies as a reference model to develop simplified calculation methods for non-parallel configurations. Rather than requiring extensive new wind tunnel testing for each non-parallel configuration, the methodology copies and adapts existing testing data and principles, applying instantaneous time averaging techniques to account for the non-parallel geometry. This approach achieves design load reduction without requiring proportional increases in testing resources.
3Reliability
If separate wind load calculations are performed for each non-parallel panel, then structural safety is ensured, but design loads are overestimated leading to higher costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces feedback mechanisms through instantaneous time averaging of measured wind loadings across multiple non-parallel panels. By continuously monitoring and averaging the temporal patterns of wind pressures, the system captures the correlated behavior of wind loads on different panels. This feedback approach confirms that while individual panels experience high loads at different times, the simultaneous loads are reduced due to opposite directional effects, enabling safer yet more economical design loads.
4Area of stationary object
If pitched roof or troughed free roof configurations with non-parallel panels are used, then land use efficiency is improved, but wind loading coefficients result in higher costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the fundamental parameter for wind loading calculation from separate panel-based coefficients to a unified instantaneous time-averaged pressure measurement across the total combined area. By modifying how wind loading parameters are defined and measured—shifting from static, conservative coefficients to dynamic, measured instantaneous pressures—the system enables non-parallel configurations to achieve both high land use efficiency and reduced wind loading costs through the load cancellation effect.
Data Source
AI summary
A solar canopy has a solar panel assembly including a first solar panel coupled to a second solar panel and oriented non-parallel with respect to the second solar panel. The solar panel assembly has an effective solar-panel-assembly wind loading less than a sum of a first-solar-panel effective wind loading and a second-solar-panel effective wind loading determined individually. An actual load applied by the solar panel assembly to a solar-panel-assembly support structure coupled thereto when the solar panel assembly is subject to a wind loading is less than a design load for the solar panel assembly subject to the wind loading based on a sum of a first-solar-panel net pressure and a second-solar-panel net pressure determined independently.