ASCE 7-22 · CHAPTER 29 · SOLAR OVERVIEW

Wind Loads on Solar Arrays

Wind doesn't push solar panels — it lifts them. Uplift on a tilted array can peel modules and racking off a roof or topple a ground rack. This hub frames why every solar install needs a wind analysis and which code governs it.

Ch 29ASCE 7-22 SOLAR PROVISIONS

0.85DIRECTIONALITY FACTOR Kd

3MOUNTING TYPES TO DESIGN FOR

Since 2002WIND LOAD EXPERIENCE

THE PHYSICS

Why Wind Lifts a Panel

Air accelerates over the tilted face of an array. The pressure drop above the panel creates net uplift — strongest at the windward edge, corners, and the first rows.

WHERE IT MATTERS

Three Solar Mounting Types

Each mounting configuration changes how wind reaches the array — and how the array is held down.

Rooftop Arrays

Mounted on a building, so panels live inside the roof's own pressure field. Building height, roof zones and edge effects all drive uplift on the modules and attachments.

ATTACHMENT + BALLAST

Ground Mount

Free-standing racks exposed on all sides. Full wind exposure means overturning and foundation pull-out govern as much as panel uplift.

EXPOSED RACK

Solar Carport

An elevated canopy that behaves like an open structure. Wind can hit both top and underside, raising uplift and demanding stout columns and footings.

OPEN CANOPY

THE CHECKLIST

What the Wind Analysis Must Check

A complete solar wind check confirms the array, its racking and its hold-downs survive every load direction.

Uplift

The dominant case — net suction trying to pull panels and racking up and away from the roof or ground.

GOVERNING CASE

Down-Force

Positive pressure pressing on the array, combined with gravity, snow and self-weight on the structure.

PRESSURE

Sliding

Horizontal drag that can shove a ballast-only array sideways across the roof membrane.

SHEAR

Overturning & Ballast

The tipping moment that sets required attachment capacity or ballast weight to keep the array anchored.

HOLD-DOWN

GOVERNING STANDARD

The Code Behind Solar Wind Loads

ASCE 7-22, Chapter 29

Rooftop and ground-mounted solar collectors are designed under the solar provisions of ASCE 7-22 Chapter 29. The analysis applies the same wind-pressure framework as the rest of the standard — including the building directionality factor K_d = 0.85 — with the site's basic wind speed, exposure category and structure height driving the result.

ASCE 7-22 · CH 29

Site-specific drivers: panel tilt, position at array edges and corners, building height, exposure (B / C / D) and the mapped wind speed for the location. Want the worked detail and the specific pressure-coefficient method? See the full solar guide below.

GO DEEPER

Keep Building

Move from this overview into the detailed methods, or run the numbers in the calculator.

Wind Load Calculators Detailed Solar Guide