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Wind and solar farms have come up to be popular sources of
renewable energy in many parts of the world, in addition to
other renewable energy sources. The province of Ontario in
Canada has turned out to be one of the most popular
locations for setting up renewable energy farms because of
its strong initiatives for sustainable policies and
development along with attractive rates offered for
renewable energy through Ontario Hydro’s popular Feed in
Tariff (FIT) Programme. In addition to wind, numerous Solar
PV Farms have been completed; many are under construction
while still more are in planning and permitting stage in
this province, varying from 3MW to up to 260MW located in
the suburbs of cities and towns which are being benefited
from these renewable energy sources. Winter conditions and
extreme frost in certain areas in Ontario poses unique
issues with construction of such farms. Typical construction
comprises of solar PV panels mounted on racking tables
supported on foundations usually comprising of partially
embedded steel pipes while foundations for I-Houses,
E-Houses, transformer foundations and substation structures
are either concrete pads or piles. While the substation
structures, I-House and E-House foundations have well
defined design procedures regulated by different codes and
standards, the procedures, codes and standards for design
and testing of lightly loaded solar PV structures still need
to be formulated. In the absence of any specific codes and
standards regulating the design aspects of these lightly
loaded solar PV structures with frost uplift being the
governing load in almost every case for Ontario, Canada,
frost heaving and its effects often create adverse
conditions for these structures thereby affecting the
production and continuous supply of renewable energy to the
cities and towns in vicinity who purchase this energy. This
study investigates these unique issues related with
renewable energy farms which are presented in this paper.
The author has been involved in design/design reviews, pile
selection/ design and pile load testing in the majority of
the solar PV farms either operational or under construction
in Ontario along with being involved with the rehabilitation
of solar PV farms affected by pile heaving issues.
Keywords:
Renewable Energy, Solar PV, Racking Foundation, Panel
Tables, Solar Panels |
