WIND LOAD CASES IN THE DESIGN OF THE PLATFORM OF AN AZIMUTHAL TRACKER

Abstract

Photovoltaic (PV) solar to electric power conversion efficiency can be improved by using dual axes solar tracking systems which allow positioning of the PV platform perpendicular on the sun rays. An azimuthal tracker has two independent rotational movements related to a vertical axis for the azimuthal rotation and a horizontal axis for the altitudinal rotation. Main loading on the structure of the platform comes from wind. The mobility of the platform and changes in wind velocity and direction create several load cases that must be considered in design of such structures. This paper presents the wind action evaluation and load cases resulted as possible cases of calculus of PV platforms. Finally, numerical application for an existing platform is presented.

Keywords

• Keywords:Tracker
• platform
• windload
• loadcase