Solar Panel Support Structure Design

Solar panel structure is designed to be able to support its own weight, solar panel’s weight, and also the
wind load with 60 km/h design wind speed (average wind speed in Karimunjawa is 20knot, equivalent to
37 km/h).

1. Material
The material used in this structure design is Aluminium 6005-T5. The dimension for each
elements are shown at the pictures below.

for Front Leg, Rear Leg, dan Diagonal Bar

4mm

50mm

50mm

4mm for Portrait Beam

60mm

30mm

for Rail Beam

4mm
50mm

40mm

2. Structure Modeling
This structure is analyzed and designed by software for structure, SAP 2000. The 3D view of the
structure model is shown at the pictures below.
3. Design Load
The load used for design are:
- Dead Load (DL) = the weight of structure itself (automatically calculated by software)
- Live Load (LL) = the weight of solar panel (22.4 kg as per pv-module datasheet)
- Wind Load = the design wind speed is 60 km/h (with average wind speed in Karimunjawa is
20knot or it is equivalent to 37 km/h).

Picture A. Live Load Picture B. Wind Load

3.1. Load Calculation

- LL = 22.4 kg
Modul Size = 1960mm x 992mm x 40mm
22.4 𝑘𝑔 𝑘𝑔 𝒌𝑵
LL / meter = 0.992/2 𝑚 = 11.3 𝑚 = 𝟎. 𝟏𝟏𝟑 𝒎

- WL = 60 km/h
𝐹𝑤 = 𝑃 𝑥 𝐿 𝑥 𝐶𝑑

𝐹𝑤 = (0.613 𝑥 𝑣 2 ) 𝑥 𝐿 𝑥 𝐶𝑑
60000𝑚 2
𝐹𝑤 = 0.613 𝑥 ( ) 𝑥 1.960 𝑚 𝑥 1.2
3600 𝑠
𝒌𝑵
𝑭𝒘 = 𝟎. 𝟒𝟎
𝒎
 3.2. Regarding to Indonesian National Standard SNI 1727-2013, Load Combination that should be
used in design is shown at the table below.
Comb DL LL WL
1 1.2 1 0.5
2 1.2 1 -0.5
3 1.2 1 1
4 1.2 1 -1
5 0.9 - 1
6 0.9 - -1

4. Design Result
The result from structural analysis shows that the solar panel support structure is sufficient to
hold 60km/h of wind load. It is indicated by the value of capacity ratio from each element does
not exceed 1, as per the picture below.

Picture A. Structure Modeling

The picture above shows the value of capacity ratio from each element, where capacity ratio is
the ratio between the given load and the structure capacity. If the capacity ratio < 1, it means the
structure capacity is still larger than the load, so the structure is sufficient to bear the loads. From
the analysis, we get the maximum support reaction: 4.472 kN (axial compression force) and 3.158
kN (axial tensile force). These axial loads will be used in concrete foundations design.
5. Base Plate Requirement
The distance of center anchor bolt is 120mm. The size of base plate is assumed to be 150mm x
150mm.

So, the size of base plate to deal with axial compression force 4.472 kN is 150mm x 150mm with
the minimum thickness 2.14mm.
6. Preliminary Design of Concrete Foundation

From the preliminary design, the foundation section area is 400mm x 400mm.

7. Anchor Bolt Requirement Check

 So, the 2 nos of anchor bolt with 12mm diameter and the anchor bolt embedded length 300mm
is sufficient to bear the axial tensile force of 3.158 kN. The concrete foundation size also meet the
requirement of the distance from the center of anchor bolt to the edge of concrete, in order to
prevent tensile failure on concrete. So, we can conclude that the concrete foundation is a single
foundation with 400mm x 400mm x 500mm.

No Item Specification
1 Structure material Aluminium 6005-T5
2 Load Design Live Load: Module weight 22.4 kg
Wind Load: 60 km/h
3 Foundation Concrete Foundation
4 Base Plate 150mm x 150mm
Thickness : ≥ 2.14mm
5 Concrete foundation Single foundation with 400mm x 400mm
x 500mm