Wood- and Cable-Based Variable Tilt Stilt-Mounted Solar Photovoltaic Racking System
The prohibitive costs of small-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) racks decrease PV adoption velocity. To overcome these costs challenges, an open hardware design method is used to develop two novel variable tilt racking designs. These are the first stilt-mounted racking designs that allow for the manual...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Designs |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2411-9660/8/1/6 |
| _version_ | 1797298460351791104 |
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| author | Uzair Jamil Nicholas Vandewetering Seyyed Ali Sadat Joshua M. Pearce |
| author_facet | Uzair Jamil Nicholas Vandewetering Seyyed Ali Sadat Joshua M. Pearce |
| author_sort | Uzair Jamil |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The prohibitive costs of small-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) racks decrease PV adoption velocity. To overcome these costs challenges, an open hardware design method is used to develop two novel variable tilt racking designs. These are the first stilt-mounted racking designs that allow for the manual change of the tilt angle from zero to 90 degrees by varying the length of cables. The racks are designed using the calculated dead, wind, and snow loads for Canada as a conservative design for most of the rest of the world. Structural capacities of the wooden members are then ascertained and the resisting bending moment, shear force, tensile force, and compressive force is calculated for them. A structural and truss analysis is performed to ensure that the racking design withstands the applicable forces. Moreover, the implications of changing the tilt angle on the wooden members/cables used to build the system are also determined. The systems offer significant economic savings ranging from one third to two thirds of the capital expenses of the commercially available alternatives. In addition, the racking designs are easy-to-build and require minimal manufacturing operations, which increases their accessibility. The stilt-mounted designs can be employed for agrivoltaic settings while allowing farm workers shaded, ergonomic access to perform planting, weeding, and harvesting. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:35:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-11f361d2cfc94bb0ac7c5da30b728852 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2411-9660 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:35:11Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Designs |
| spelling | doaj.art-11f361d2cfc94bb0ac7c5da30b7288522024-02-23T15:13:36ZengMDPI AGDesigns2411-96602024-01-0181610.3390/designs8010006Wood- and Cable-Based Variable Tilt Stilt-Mounted Solar Photovoltaic Racking SystemUzair Jamil0Nicholas Vandewetering1Seyyed Ali Sadat2Joshua M. Pearce3Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Western University, London, ON N6A 3K7, CanadaDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Western University, London, ON N6A 3K7, CanadaDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Western University, London, ON N6A 3K7, CanadaDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Western University, London, ON N6A 3K7, CanadaThe prohibitive costs of small-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) racks decrease PV adoption velocity. To overcome these costs challenges, an open hardware design method is used to develop two novel variable tilt racking designs. These are the first stilt-mounted racking designs that allow for the manual change of the tilt angle from zero to 90 degrees by varying the length of cables. The racks are designed using the calculated dead, wind, and snow loads for Canada as a conservative design for most of the rest of the world. Structural capacities of the wooden members are then ascertained and the resisting bending moment, shear force, tensile force, and compressive force is calculated for them. A structural and truss analysis is performed to ensure that the racking design withstands the applicable forces. Moreover, the implications of changing the tilt angle on the wooden members/cables used to build the system are also determined. The systems offer significant economic savings ranging from one third to two thirds of the capital expenses of the commercially available alternatives. In addition, the racking designs are easy-to-build and require minimal manufacturing operations, which increases their accessibility. The stilt-mounted designs can be employed for agrivoltaic settings while allowing farm workers shaded, ergonomic access to perform planting, weeding, and harvesting.https://www.mdpi.com/2411-9660/8/1/6open sourcephotovoltaicrackingsolar energybiomaterialswood |
| spellingShingle | Uzair Jamil Nicholas Vandewetering Seyyed Ali Sadat Joshua M. Pearce Wood- and Cable-Based Variable Tilt Stilt-Mounted Solar Photovoltaic Racking System Designs open source photovoltaic racking solar energy biomaterials wood |
| title | Wood- and Cable-Based Variable Tilt Stilt-Mounted Solar Photovoltaic Racking System |
| title_full | Wood- and Cable-Based Variable Tilt Stilt-Mounted Solar Photovoltaic Racking System |
| title_fullStr | Wood- and Cable-Based Variable Tilt Stilt-Mounted Solar Photovoltaic Racking System |
| title_full_unstemmed | Wood- and Cable-Based Variable Tilt Stilt-Mounted Solar Photovoltaic Racking System |
| title_short | Wood- and Cable-Based Variable Tilt Stilt-Mounted Solar Photovoltaic Racking System |
| title_sort | wood and cable based variable tilt stilt mounted solar photovoltaic racking system |
| topic | open source photovoltaic racking solar energy biomaterials wood |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2411-9660/8/1/6 |
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