Predicting Instability and the Effect of Wind Loading on Single-Axis Trackers

Conference · Fri Mar 15 04:00:00 EDT 2024

OSTI ID:2326205

Young, Ethan; Arsalane, Walid; Stanislawski, Brooke; He, Xin; Ivanov, Chris; Dana, Scott; Deceglie, Mike

As PV modules continue to trend toward larger, thinner, and more flexible forms they grow more susceptible to damage from dynamic wind loading. As a result, understanding the impact of wind on PV systems, particularly when mounted on solar-tracking hardware, and identifying robust, stable array layouts and stow strategies is becoming increasingly important for the PV community. In our ongoing DuraMAT project, we are developing an open-source software package, PVade (PV aerodynamic design engineering), to simulate the cascading fluid-structure interaction that occurs within solar-tracking arrays to enable researchers to test hardware, layout, and tracker control changes, leading to enhanced stability and a reduction in wind-driven damage. We will give an overview of the PVade software, highlighting recent user-interface and algorithm developments, before presenting the latest outcomes from our ongoing validation campaign in which we analyze and compare with experimental data obtained from a DuraMAT 1 project. From there, we will present simulated results from a larger, multi-row array and highlight relationships between varying tracker angles and stability as measured by different experimentally validated metrics.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office, Durable Modules Consortium (DuraMAT)
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 2326205
• Report Number(s): NREL/PO-2C00-89033; MainId:89812; UUID:61a52b10-8901-4992-ab12-328a3f06b21e; MainAdminId:72133
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING
WIND ENERGY
PV
fluid structure interaction
loading
torsional galloping
wind