EFFECT OF PARAPET ON WIND LOAD OF FLAT ROOF ARRAY SOLAR PANNEL

Wind loading is one of the most important loads in the design of solar panels. The wind load acting on the solar panel on the roof of buildings is not clear so far. To illustrate the wind load distribution on a solar panel array on a flat roof with parapet, the wind pressure was measured by using the rigid model pressure test in a wind tunnel. The test results show that: the most unfavorable pressure coefficient occurs near the edge of the roof without a parapet; the pressure on the solar panel significantly decreases as the height of the parapet increase; when the ratio of the height of the parapet to the height of the solar panel is approximately 0.42, the most unfavorable negative pressure coefficient weakens up to 50%; and with further increase in the parapet height, the variation of the pressure coefficient with the parapet height has an inconsiderable reduction.