A fluid-structure interaction (FSI) and energy generation modelling for roof mounted renewable energy installations in buildings for extreme weather and typhoon resilience

• Main Authors: Pantua, Conrad Allan Jay, Calautit, John Kaiser, Wu, Yupeng
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2020
• Subjects: Solar energy—Climatic factors; Fluid-structure interaction; Buildings—Natural disaster effects; Hazard mitigation; Mechanical Engineering
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/2404; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/faculty_research/article/3403/type/native/viewcontent
• Institution: De La Salle University

Due to the damage to the infrastructure caused by the Typhoon, communities devastated by the typhoon are left without power. Solar panels can supply power to the affected community during power outages. However, these installations are also structurally vulnerable to extreme weather such as typhoons strength winds. A Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) is implemented in a low-rise gabled building with roof mounted solar panels. This building was subjected to typhoon strength winds using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis. Building energy simulation (BES) was also performed in the same building to account for solar PV energy generation and energy consumption. The results from the FSI showed the areas of failure in the panels with regards to installation location. On the other hand, BES results showed that the highest power generation potential is based on the building orientation at 90° and roof pitch of 14°. It was suggested to install the panel system configuration to a 26° pitch roof to sustain occupancy loads. This framework which combines energy systems resilience and building energy performance can help the stakeholders to properly plan and design better disaster resilient infrastructures. © 2020 The Philippines is visited by an average of 20 typhoons every year.