Volume 61

Quantifying Wind Speed Effects on PV Array Thermal Behavior and Loads in an Agrivoltaic System: A Numerical Approach Ali Hesami, Rebei Bel Fdhila, Mohammed Guezgouz, Pietro Elia Campana

Abstract

This study presents a computational fluid dynamics analysis to quantify the influence of wind speed on the microclimate and aerodynamic performance of vertical bifacial photovoltaic arrays within an agrivoltaic system. The simulations are conducted using the experimental facility in Kärrbo Prästgård in Sweden (59.5545° N, 16.7625° E), composed of three rows of fixed, vertical bifacial photovoltaic modules. A series of numerical simulations were performed for four wind profiles with reference velocity ranging from 1 m/s to 15 m/s. The boundary conditions for ambient temperature, wind velocity profile (logarithmic inlet via user-defined function), and incident solar irradiance refer to June 23, 2022. The standard k-ε turbulence model was adopted to resolve turbulent atmospheric flow, while radiative heat transfer was captured using the discrete ordinates radiation model. Simulated panel surface temperatures were rigorously validated against published field measurements. The results demonstrate a strong dependence of aerodynamic forces on wind speed, with higher wind velocities significantly enhancing both convective heat transfer and mechanical loading on the PV structures. Specifically, the panel temperature decreases by 42% as the reference wind speed increases from 1 m/s to 15 m/s, while the wind load intensifies by a factor of 191. These findings underscore the critical influence of wind-induced effects on the thermo-structural performance of agrivoltaic systems and highlight the importance of integrated CFD-based assessments for their design and resilience optimization.

Keywords Agrivoltaics, CFD, Microclimate Modeling, Renewable Energy