Design Optimization and structural analysis of module mounting structure for canal top solar photo-voltaic system

Abstract

Utility scale canal top solar photovoltaic projects are being rapidly taken up in India. Such projects tackle two challenges simultaneously - one being able to produce electricity from renewable resource - the Sun - and second bypassing the di culties faced in land acquisition for large-scale solar photovoltaic installations. There is also the added bene t of reducing evaporative losses of water. This dissertation consists of the study of the structural design of the canal top solar photovoltaic plant over Narmada branch canal at Chandrasan (Location: 23°04'59" N, 72°18'07" E ). Also, new conceptual designs were developed for application to canal-top projects. The most important part of this thesis is the detail design developed for the same canal site which is at Chandrasan using a new light-weight design using conventional as well as alternate material i.e. Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) for the module mounting structure design. Arch design using conventional materials was able to achieve 28.25% weight reduction compared to existing design. Later, another simpli ed design was looked into and compared with previous designs for feasibility. Also, tensile test and three-point bending test was performed on chopped FRP specimens and the results were used to perform structural analysis to check feasibility of this material for structural applications.