ENGR0145

Statics and Mechanics of Materials 2

Fall 2022

Design of Solar Canopy Structure for Solar Panels and

Racking

Dr. Kerzmann

James Celebrezze, Austin Knoll, Yiding Li, Ethan Rihn

December 7th, 2022
 Abstract
The solar canopy is designed to produce energy while maintaining the functionality of the space.
It saves space while blocking rain and generating electricity through solar panels. Because the
cost of solar power is now very low, solar canopies are being widely used. The purpose of this
project is to select the lightest support structure for a given canopy structure. This project
discusses the maximum stress and moment of two beams with applied loading and analyzes the
possible deflection of the beams by using these two values. Then we calculate the maximum
second moment of area and section modulus to meet the situation by using the maximum stress
and deflection limits. Based on these two values, with a safety factor of 1.5, suitable types of
beams are selected to calculate the results considering the weight of the beams. Finally, we
concluded that C12x20.7 is the lightest structural beam that fits the requirements of the design.
Introduction
The purpose of this report is to complete a design of a solar canopy. A solar canopy is a
custom-built outdoor structure designed to hold an overhanging solar array. They allow for
distributed solar energy generation and the production of solar electricity on-site. Each type of
solar canopy is designed to allow functional use of the space underneath the solar panels. This is
a key advantage of solar canopies and its main point of difference compared to other mounting
methods, namely rooftop and ground-mounted solar panel installations. Therefore, solar canopies
are widely used in public places and private houses when the cost is low. This project will design
the lightest weight support material for the known structure of solar canopy to ensure the safety
performance of the product. The solar canopy being designed in this report is going to be 12ft tall
and cover 16ft out from the posts. The design of this solar canopy will have 12 panels in a 3x4
configuration. Each panel will have additional equipment weight, such as the weight of each panel,
wiring, microinverters, and PV equipment needed in order to ensure the solar panel can produce
and transport electricity. The design was focused on finding the lightest C-channel beam that
would fit the structural design and hold its required weight while not exceeding the required
deflection parameters. These deflection parameters are set for the 12 ft vertical support beam,
which must not deflect more than 1 inch horizontally, and for the 16ft horizontal member which
must not deflect more than 2 inches vertically from the original design. Additionally, both beams
in the design must share the same specifications, and neither beam should be exposed to a yield
strength of 48 ksi or higher. The yield strength itself is to be subjected to a Factor of Safety
(FOS) of 1.5 to ensure the beam can withstand unconsidered loads. To include the FOS in the
yield strength design constraint, the following formula may be used to find the new value:
σ
𝐹𝑂𝑆 = σ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒

σ 48 𝑘𝑠𝑖
𝐹𝑂𝑆
= 1.5
= 32 𝑘𝑠𝑖 = σ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒

With the given and calculated design constraints for the beam’s deflections and yield
strength after loading for the beam scenario depicted below, calculations may be made to find the
beam design that accomplishes the goal of finding the lightest possible beam.
 Given parameters for the design of the solar canopy

Analysis and Design

- Before any design calculation can be completed, the loading forces on the beam must be
determined first. With the given information in the table below, the following calculations
can be made to determine the value of each point load on the beam:

-
-
- Each point load on the horizontal beam creates a moment about the left-most section of
the vertical beam that is attached to the horizontal beam, which can be calculated by
simply summing the moments created by each point load at their respective locations
along the beam, as shown below:

-
- Note the summation only involves eight of the point loads since the first
point load is directly applied on the vertical beam and thus creates no
moment around it.
- With the point loads and the moment they generate found, the beam scenario may be
evaluated starting with the vertical beam which is subjected to a moment by the point
loads. To ensure the design constraints are met, a value must be found that relates a beam
design component to each relevant given design constraint. For the vertical beam, the
first such relationship found is between the max horizontal deflection restriction and the
second moment of area for a given beam. This relationship is found in the deflection
equation for a beam whose end is subjected to a moment, which is also the case in this
scenario, as shown below:
2
𝑀𝑦
𝑋𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 2𝐸𝐼

- This relationship may be arranged to solve for the second moment of area, the beam
design element, and solved to find a beam design restriction based on the max horizontal
deflection including the factor of safety, as shown below:
 2
𝑀𝑦
𝐼= 2𝐸𝑋𝑚𝑎𝑥

2
(120,251.52 𝑙𝑏*𝑖𝑛) (144 𝑖𝑛) 4
𝐼= 6 = 42. 99 𝑖𝑛
2(29*10 𝑝𝑠𝑖)(1 𝑖𝑛)

- Another relationship may found from the structural steel yield strength constraint and the
elastic section modulus design element in the following formula:
𝑀𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝑆𝑚𝑖𝑛 = σ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒

- This relationship for the design element, elastic section modulus, may be solved and act
as a beam design restriction based on the max allowable structural steel yield strength
including the factor of safety, as shown below:
120,251.52 𝑙𝑏*𝑖𝑛 3
𝑆𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 3 = 3. 758 𝑖𝑛
32*10 𝑝𝑠𝑖

- The final design constraint to be accounted for is max vertical deflection of the horizontal
beam. However, when the vertical beam is deflected horizontally, it indirectly causes a
vertical deflection of the horizontal beam, as shown below, which must also be accounted
for in the design constraint. To find this indirect vertical deflection, the angle imposed on
the horizontal beam must be multiplied by the length of the horizontal beam. Since the
vertical and horizontal beams are perpendicularly attached then the angle of the vertical
beam caused by the horizontal deflection will also be the angle imposed on the horizontal
beam, which together may be calculated in the formulas below:
 θ∆𝑥 = ∆𝑦
𝑀𝐿𝑣
( 𝐸𝐼
)𝐿 = 𝑦
- To connect this relationship to a design element, the formula may be solved for the
second moment of area, as shown below:
𝑀𝐿𝑣
( 𝐸𝑦
)𝐿 = 𝐼
- Note although the second moment of area from the angle is for the vertical
beam, since both beams are the same design then this will also be the
second moment of area for the horizontal beam and thus can be
appropriately used.
- With this consideration, the vertical deflection caused by each point load on the
horizontal beam must also be found. However, similar to the vertical beam causing an
indirect deflection, each point load not located at the end of the horizontal beam also
causes an indirect deflection of the horizontal beam. This is because each point on the
horizontal beam creates a slope that causes the end to deflect further down than the initial
deflection created by the point load. The slope caused by these point loads can be
multiplied by the remaining length of the beam to calculate the indirect deflection. These
equations for deflection and slope may be found and used from those specified for
superposition of a point load applied to the end of a beam. When calculating the
deflection for each point load, it is assumed that the distance that point load is located at
is considered to be the end of the beam, hence max deflection is calculated, and the angle
caused by the load at that location is then multiplied by the remaining length of the actual
horizontal beam. Since this must be done for each point load, then these calculations are
better represented as a summation which will be equal to the max allowed vertical
deflection, as shown below:
𝑦𝑖 = 𝑦𝑖 + θ𝑖∆𝑥𝑖
𝑡𝑜𝑡

8 3
𝐹𝑥𝑖
2
𝐹𝑥𝑖
𝑦𝑡𝑜𝑡 = ∑ 3𝐸𝐼
+ 2𝐸𝐼
(𝐿 − 𝑥𝑖)
𝑖=1
 - Note once again the summation only reaches eight since the first
point load does not cause a vertical deflection since it is located on
the vertical beam and thus is supported.
- This relationship may be rearranged to solve for the design element, second moment of
area, as well, as shown below:
8 3
𝐹𝑥𝑖
2
𝐹𝑥𝑖
𝐼= ∑ 3𝐸𝑦𝑡𝑜𝑡
+ 2𝐸𝑦𝑡𝑜𝑡
(𝐿 − 𝑥𝑖)
𝑖=1

- The summed vertical deflection of the point loads combined with the indirect vertical
deflection from the vertical beam’s horizontal deflection equations, which have been both
rearranged to solve for the second moment of area in terms of the max vertical deflection,
give the final design restriction and has the result, calculated in MATLAB whose script is
shown at the end of the report, is shown below:
𝑀𝐿𝑣 8 𝐹𝑥𝑖
3 2
𝐹𝑥𝑖
𝐼=( 𝐸δ𝑦
)𝐿 + ∑ 3𝐸𝑦𝑡𝑜𝑡
+ 2𝐸𝑦𝑡𝑜𝑡
(𝐿 − 𝑥𝑖)
𝑖=1

4
𝐼 = 77. 23 𝑖𝑛
- Since this second moment of area design restriction based on max allowable vertical
deflection is larger than the one found based on max horizontal deflection then this value
will be used as the second moment of area to determine which beams to choose from.
With these design restrictions, any beam chosen must have a second moment of area
4 3
larger than 77. 23 𝑖𝑛 and an elastic section modulus larger than 3. 758 𝑖𝑛 which leaves
only these possible American C Channels able to be chosen that meet these restrictions: C
12 x 30, C 12 x 25, C 12 x 20.7, C10 x 30, C10 x 25, and C10 x 20. However, when a
beam is chosen, its weight must also be considered as a distributed load on the beam that
must be supported. This consideration means the moment about the vertical beam
increases, hence also increasing the horizontal deflection and thus also the indirect
vertical deflection, and also means the vertical deflection is directly affected by a new
force on the beam. With these additions, the initial design constraints must be tested for
each chosen beam to ensure the maximum vertical and horizontal deflection are not
compromised. For the vertical deflection, the superposition may be used again to account
 for the the distributed load of the beams weight, which is calculated using the equation
below:
4
𝑤𝐿
𝑦𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 = 8𝐸𝐼

- The deflection caused by the distributed load of the beam’s weight then may be added to
the previously found vertical deflection formulas for indirect deflection and point load
deflections, resulting in the overall vertical deflection equation. The second moment of
area and the distributed load in the equation are chosen from the beam being tested. The
new moment about the vertical beam must be recalculated to include the new distributed
load and the previous point loads. Both of these changes are demonstrated below:

( )
8
𝑀 = 𝐹 × ∑ 𝑥𝑖 + 𝑤𝐿
𝑖=1

𝑤𝐿
4
𝑀𝐿𝑣 8 𝐹𝑥𝑖
3 2
𝐹𝑥𝑖
𝑦𝑡𝑜𝑡 = 8𝐸𝐼
+( 𝐸𝐼
)𝐿 + ∑ 3𝐸𝐼
+ 2𝐸𝐼
(𝐿 − 𝑥𝑖)
𝑖=1

- The horizontal deflection for the chosen beam may be more easily determined by reusing
the same horizontal deflection equation used before and substituting the newly found
moment and the second moment of inertia for the chosen beam, which is shown again
below for reference:
2
𝑀𝑦
𝑋𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 2𝐸𝐼

- The final design constraint, structural steel yield strength, may also be checked by
applying the previous elastic section modulus relationship again with the newly found
moment to find the new elastic modulus with the chosen beam. This relationship shown
again below for reference:
𝑀𝑚𝑎𝑥
σ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 = 𝑆𝑚𝑖𝑛

- With the calculated values for elastic section modulus, vertical deflection, and horizontal
deflection found for a chosen beam, then they may be compared to the initial design
constraints for those same values. If all three calculated values are less than those given
for the design constraints then the beam is considered acceptable, but if even if just one
value is higher than the constraint then the beam is rejected. However, since this is an
 tedious process, these calculations were coded in MATLAB using the following script
below to find the beam design that meets these qualifications:

After running the MATLAB code properties of the beams deemed acceptable from the
design constraints, the lightest possible beam was ultimately determined to be the C-Channel
beam C12 x 20.7.
 Deflection Parameters

Demonstrated Deflection
 Moment Diagram

Torque Diagram to complement Moment Diagram

 Stress Diagram
The supporting images from SolidWorks confirm the selection of the C12x20.7 beam,
and show the deflection, bending moment and Von Mises stresses all fit into the design
requirements.

Results
 The selected beam C12 x 20.7 fully meets the needs to support all the solar panels and
equipment necessary, as well as ensuring safety as it considers a 1.5 Factor of Safety. This
design choice was further verified using SolidWorks whose relative values agree with the
calculations that were found in MATLAB. The MATLAB results show the design’s max
horizontal deflection is 0.4214 inches, and the max vertical deflection is 1.5106 inches. These
found values are below allowable horizontal deflection of 1 inch and the allowable vertical
deflection of 2 inches. Furthermore, the yield strength requirements of 48 ksi – reduced to 32 ksi
with the factor of safety – was also within the acceptable range as MATLAB calculated a value
of 7.0719 ksi – well below the max limit.

Conclusion
The selected beam is the most appropriate beam to fit the design with the focus of it
being the lightest possible. The found values were further verified in MATLAB and SolidWorks
to ensure the safety and completeness of our design. Some further considerations that could have
been taken into account with this design is the inclusion of outside effects on the solar canopy.
For instance, one thing that would have to be considered in colder climates, such as Pittsburgh, is
the weight of snow and ice. Since the canopy has a flat surface, the solar panels would collect
snow and ice as it falls to the ground. This extra weight was not initially considered in the
design, so design changes would have to be made to ensure that this extra weight does not cause
failure in the beams. Also, wind and other forms of storms were not considered in our design,
which could ultimately damage the solar canopy as it was not tested or checked for resistances to
wind and weather. Ultimately, the chosen beam C12 x 20.7 is designed to meet the provided
requirements and meet any concerns of safety, but there is room for uncertainty if the FOS can
account for these other considerations.