STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING IN

SOLAR – LEARNINGS AND

OPPORTUNITIES

Nimish
Prabhukhanolkar
 WHO WE ARE AND WHAT
WE DO
Agami Engineering is a structural-engineering firm, active in sectors – Solar
Energy, Real Estate and Industrial Structures.

PRODUCT TRACKER COMPLEX SOLAR GROUND-MOUNT

DESIGNS STRUCTURES STRUCTURES ENGINEERING
Help companies Structural Carports, Elevated Foundation Studies,
refine/engineer their Engineering for Canopies for MMS Designs,
conceived products Tracker-MMS based rooftops and other solutions for difficult
and take it to on Wind-tunnel similar structures soils.
production studies

MAJOR CLIENT-LIST:
WHO DO WE TURN TO, TO
DESIGN OUR STRUCTURES
IN SOLAR?
An Open fact that most times, structures are designed by fabricators
themselves.
Reviews by Structural Experts are non-existent.
Designs suffer from lack of depth of engineering beyond the bare-bones
basics.
Have we
GOOD STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING FIRMS:
heard of
INT’L CONSULTANTS ACTIVE IN TIER 1 CITIES: them?
WSP | BURO HAPPOLD | THORNTON TOMASETTI | WALTER P MOORE

TOP INDIAN CONSULTANTS IN TIER 1 CITIES:

VAKIL MEHTA SHETH | CAPSTONE CONSULTANTS | STERLING ENGINEERING | TANDON
CONSULTANTS | CAPSTONE | STRUCTWELL | MAHIMTURA | EPICONS | AXIS | RAJE CONSULTANTS
A NATURAL CONSEQUENCE :
MAJOR GREY AREAS IN
DESIGN OF SOLAR MMS
STRUCT
 Load distribution in actual wind events will be non uniform. 99% designs
use uniform pressure.
 Correct way of application given as a footnote.

 No awareness or use of Int’l Standards

IS801 is an outdated code for design of In Flat Rooftops(RCC),

cold formed steel. Recommend AISI-2016. MMSes are stuck to Screed
Layer (“brickbat-coba”)
 Foundation Engineering :- instead of a structural
connection to the slab.
Too little , too late. If site has problem soils ,
then time and budget for corrections or
solutions is never available.
LACK OF INTROSPECTIVE
STUDIES, AND PUBLISHING
OF LEARNINGS
What are the root causes of most Performance Issues in Solar Installations ?“SOLAR UNDER
Is it – STORM” report
a) Modules Failure due to bending of frames
b) Modules failure due to clamp being under-sized
c) Joints failure by tearing of holes
d) Members failure by bending and buckling
e) Foundations Failure
f) Do certain type of systems or choices always perform better than others?

Need for data collection post major wind events across multiple installations
and publication of Guidance books for future projects.
TRENDSPOTTING #1: WIRE
ROPE BASED MOUNTING
SYSTEMS

Highly Cost-effective for Long

Spanned Applications
 Canal-tops

 Long Spanned Carports

 Agro-Solar Concepts

Requiring more than 10m spans

TRENDSPOTTING #2: USE
OF AI IN STRUCTURE AND
CIVIL OPTIMIZATION
Code the
mathematics
Behind the
geometry
Of a structure,
And let the
software
Take over
optimization
decisions
DEALING WITH FUTURE
CHALLENGES
Designing More Complex Structures in India’s continuous march towards renewable energy
revolution:

 CARPORTS AND CARPARKS

 EFFECTS OF WIND IN WIND-SOLAR HYBRID FARMS

 AGRO-SOLAR STRUCTURES THAT SPAN LONG DISTANCES

 USE OF ALTERNATE MATERIALS FOR MOUNTING STRUCTURES THAT CAN FLEX IN WIND – Glass
Reinforced Nylon or Fibre-reinforced plastics in general

Need of the hour, for Solar and Renewable Sector to up the Engineering Design
Skill-set.
THE
END

Contact us at:
nprabhukhanolkar@agami.co.in |
structural@agami.co.in