Design and Analysis of an Agriculture Solar Panel Support Structure with Tilting Mechanisms

Abstract

The requirements for solar water pumping system in the agriculture are increased day by day. The performance of the solar electrical power generating system entirely depends on the structural stability of the supporting system. In this paper, an eight-panel solar supporting system is designed and analyzed for its structural efficiency for the high wind loads. The finite-element-based structural analysis is performed using the software package for different tilt positions through tilting mechanism used for everyday application and for the seasonal variation of the sun rays’ direction. Quadrilateral and triangular beam elements are used for the mesh generation of the support structure, and the CBUSH and RBE2 are used to model the bolt joints. The wind load is applied as pressure, and the self-weight of the solar panel is applied as a lumped mass and transferred to the main structure through rigid element. The static analysis is performed for the wind loads for the three tilting positions. The results are conforming that the main structural stresses and deformations are within the limits.