Comparative Analysis of Sino-foreign Codes on Wind Load Calculation Methods for Photovoltaic Panels

Wind load is the controlling load for PV structure design, the load code system varies in different countries and regions. The most widely used Chinese, American, European and Japanese codes in the world are selected for the comparative analysis of PV wind load calculation methods, and the similarities and differences of wind load calculation factors and their correction coefficients in each code are carefully compared and studied. It is found that the Chinese, American, European and Japanese codes take into account the ground roughness category, topographic conditions, wind pressure height variation and wind vibration coefficient, but there are some differences in the values of correction coefficients among countries; for the basic wind speed time spacing and recurrence period values, the Chinese, European and Japanese codes are the same, while the American code shows the characteristics of short time spacing and long recurrence period values. For the wind vibration coefficient of photovoltaic mounts, both Chinese and American norms take fixed values, while EU norms consider the dynamic effect of wind action more than Chinese and American. The results of the study can provide reference for the structural wind resistance design of PV power generation projects involving foreign countries.