Corrosive Soils and Risk Mitigation for Solar Structures

From JPCL, February 2019

By Paul Trautmann and Matthew Markowski, The Sherwin-Williams Company; and Brien Clark, James Keegan and Mersedeh AkHoondan, HDR

Locations for utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) solar construction projects do not always provide ideal soil conditions for the steel H-beam pile supports that are embedded into the ground. Corrosion of these piles due to disturbed or corrosive soils is a concern for design engineers and owners, and today’s high-performance coatings can provide an excellent solution. This article will discuss the different corrosion mechanisms and inhibitors present in different soil conditions and the protective properties of different coatings types to meet the service life requirements for steel solar structures....