Effects of Inhomogeneous Snow Load on the Mechanics of a PV Module

The phenomenon that snow sliding down a tilted PV-module can cause an inhomogeneous load is well known. However, just in 2020 a standard for this load scenario was established with the IEC 62938. This paper compares the difference between a homogeneous and such an inhomogeneous load distribution. Additionally, the influence of different temperatures on this new standard is analyzed. Compared to a homogeneous load distribution the first principal stress is lower for an inhomogeneous distribution. Moreover, it is shown that temperature has a large influence on the stress during mechanical loading. For TPO there is a specific temperature at which both the first principal stress and the probability of cell fracture reach a maximal value.