New Aerodynamic Devices Prevent Wind Damages to Solar Panel Systems, Confirm Tests at the NSF NHERI Wall of Wind
Published on September 28, 2026
At the NSF NHERI Wall of Wind facility (above), researchers successfully tested novel protective devices called “aerodynamic mitigators” on scale-model solar trackers. (Image: Seyed Pejman Fatehi, Colorado State University)
Seyed Pejman Fatehi, PhD candidate in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University, stands beside the six-row, 1:10.7-scale aeroelastic solar-tracker model at the NSF NHERI Wall of Wind facility at Florida International University. The large test section behind the model generates the wind used to study the stability of the tracker system under strong-wind conditions. (Image: Seyed Pejman Fatehi, Colorado State University)
A fundamental component of solar energy systems is the solar tracker, a multi-component system that functions as the underlying mechanical and structural support for a solar array. Solar trackers maximize energy production by enabling the panels to follow the sun and rotate throughout the day.
The light-duty construction of solar-tracker systems, however, make them susceptible to wind-induced vibration and aeroelastic instability. Under strong winds, tracker systems can undergo large twisting motions that can cause damage throughout the system. Even wind speeds as low as 30 mph can damage solar trackers, a vulnerability that leads to expensive repairs and replacement costs at solar-generating plants across much of the United States.
Designing mitigator devices for wind resilience
Drawing on their experience in wind engineering and long-span bridges, researchers from Colorado State University and the University at Buffalo designed novel aerodynamic mitigators for solar tracker systems. By adapting mitigation concepts proven on bridges, airfoils and buildings, the team designed and screened more than 50 candidate mitigator configurations. From this broad search, they engineered an edge-mounted mitigator system built specifically to make solar tracker systems more resistant to strong winds. These small, add-on devices reshape how wind flows over the panels, reducing wind-caused vibrations, thus keeping the tracker system stable and preventing structural damage
Novel experiments at the Wall of Wind
The researchers tested their designs at the U.S. National Science Foundation-supported Wall of Wind facility at Florida International University, part of the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI). The WOW facility uses 12 six-foot-diameter fans to generate wind speeds of up to 157 miles per hour. Its large testing area allowed the team to study an aeroelastic model of six solar tracker rows, built at 1:10.7 scale, each holding a set of solar panels. To the team's knowledge, this is the largest aeroelastic solar-tracker model tested in a wind tunnel to date. They tested the system under a broad range of conditions, including 16 wind directions and 13 different panel angles
The experiments showed that the new mitigator devices raised the critical wind speed, the speed at which the solar tracker system becomes unstable, by about 8 mph, or 25%. This improvement could allow the industry to safely increase the stow threshold, the wind speed at which trackers are automatically moved to a protective position. An 8 mph increase in the stow threshold is estimated to reduce the number of stow events by approximately 45% for thunderstorms and 26% for high-speed windstorms. By protecting the solar tracker systems from damage, the mitigator device enables the solar panels to keep generating power in stronger winds instead of moving early into steep stow positions that reduce power generation.
Advancing safety and feasibility of solar energy
To the team’s knowledge, this is the first aerodynamic mitigator designed specifically for solar trackers, and the first time such a device has been validated by wind tunnel testing at large scale on multiple rows of solar trackers. The next steps are to test the mitigators on full-scale trackers in the field and to use the resulting experimental data to build a digital twin, a virtual representation of the new mitigator-equipped solar tracker system, to predict tracker behavior in real time and support safer solar panel operation
These findings could help make solar energy more reliable in regions prone to high winds, reducing damage, downtime, and energy losses. Supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy, this work advances more resilient solar infrastructure in the U.S. and helps existing solar plants deliver more of the energy they were built to produce
About the project. Led by Yanlin Guo at Colorado State University, in collaboration with Teng Wu at the University at Buffalo, with PhD students Seyed Pejman Fatehi at Colorado State University and Zhehong Zhang at the University at Buffalo. Wind-tunnel testing was conducted at the Wall of Wind Experimental Facility at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, part of U.S. National Science Foundation’s Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI), under Award No. 2037899. This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Award No. DE-EE0010426.
Conceptual animation illustrating the effect of aerodynamic mitigators on a single-axis solar tracker. The mitigator shapes shown are simplified conceptual representations and do not depict the final or patented design. As wind speed increases, an unmitigated tracker can develop large twisting oscillations and become unstable. With the aerodynamic mitigators installed, the tracker remains stable to a higher wind speed. Wall of Wind testing showed that the mitigators increased the critical wind speed, the speed at which instability begins, by about 25%. (Image: Seyed Pejman Fatehi, Colorado State University)
Six scale-model single-axis solar tracker rows are prepared for testing at the NSF NHERI Wall of Wind facility. The panels, horizontal support and rotating structural components act together as a solar tracker system during the wind-tunnel tests. Each tracker row supports a series of solar panels that rotate together about a horizontal axis, allowing researchers to reproduce the wind-induced motion of a full tracker system. The multi-row setup allowed researchers to investigate how neighboring tracker rows interact with the wind under realistic array configurations.
A six-row model of single-axis solar trackers at the NSF NHERI Wall of Wind. The blue surfaces represent the solar panels, while the supporting structure beneath each row forms part of the tracker system that allows the panels to rotate and respond dynamically to wind. (Image: Seyed Pejman Fatehi, Colorado State University)
A closer view of the scale-model solar tracker rows used in the Wall of Wind experiments. The tracker systems were designed to reproduce the rotational and torsional response of full-scale solar trackers under wind loading. (Image: Seyed Pejman Fatehi, Colorado State University)
Side view of the aeroelastic solar-tracker model showing how the solar panels are mounted on the tracker structure. The model allows each row to reproduce the twisting motion that can develop when strong winds interact with the tracker system. (Image: Seyed Pejman Fatehi, Colorado State University)
The six solar-tracker rows at an inclined operating angle during preparation for Wall of Wind testing. The experiments examined the tracker system over a broad range of panel angles and wind directions to identify conditions associated with wind-induced instability. (Image: Seyed Pejman Fatehi, Colorado State University)