@inproceedings{BoccaraDiamantidisSykora, author = {Boccara, R. and Diamantidis, Dimitris and S{\´y}kora, Miroslav}, title = {Optimal design of ground-mounted solar systems}, series = {Safety and reliability : methodology and applications : proceedings of the European Safety and Reliability Conference, ESREL 2014, Wrocław, Poland, 14-18 September 2014}, booktitle = {Safety and reliability : methodology and applications : proceedings of the European Safety and Reliability Conference, ESREL 2014, Wrocław, Poland, 14-18 September 2014}, publisher = {CRC Press}, address = {Boca Raton}, isbn = {978-1-138-02681-0}, pages = {2175 -- 2181}, abstract = {Solar energy represents a clean, natural and sustainable source of energy. Solar photovoltaic panels can be installed on roofs of structures or in the ground. This contribution focusses on ground-mounted systems, which are presently widely implemented. At present limited guidelines on the design of solar ground-mounted structures are available. Usually standards for the design of normal buildings are applied. However, the design of ground-mounted structures significantly differs from common structural design by: (1) a lower design lifetime (20-25 years) is accepted; (2) failure is not associated with the loss of human life; (3) resistance uncertainties need due attention; (4) uplift wind forces dominating structural reliability are associated with a large scatter. That is why the reliability analysis and optimal design of ground-mounted solar systems is investigated herein. The failure costs and especially their ratio to the initial costs are analyzed considering the data provided from the industry. Probabilistic reliability analyses are carried out and optimum design levels are computed for representative cost ratios. The optimal target reliability depends on the ratio between failure and initial costs; reliability index of 3.5 corresponds to a reasonable cost ratio of 10.}, language = {en} }