Introduction
The total estimated annual solar radiation
reaching the earth's surface is more than 7500
times the total annual energy consumption of the
world (Okoye & Abbasoğlu, 2013, WEC
resources solar (2013), Kassem et al, 2019a).
Energy from the sun can be directly converted
into electrical energy using photovoltaic (PV)
panels (Kassem et al, 2019a). Loads on the
mounting system of PV panels, especially wind
loads, depending on various factors related to the
geographical condition, surrounding condition,
installation location, and mounting system
characteristics. Various research has been carried
out and multiple methods have been employed to
study wind loads on PV panels in various settings
in recent years (Sauca et al., 2019)
A climate change hotspot is a region where the
climate is particularly sensitive to global
warming (Giorgi, 2006) and faces more risks and
challenges than other regions due to climate
change (Fan et al., 2021). According to recent
research, the Mediterranean region is a climate
change hotspot (Hochman et al, 2022;
Barcikowska et al., 2020) and is predicted to
suffer the greatest negative effects of climate
change and would experience considerable
increases in temperature, decreases in rainfall,
and modifications to average wind speeds
(Zachariadis, 2012).
Cyprus is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea
and climate change has affected this island over
the last decades with a wide range of
consequences, such as changes in rainfall levels,
changes in temperatures, droughts, and extreme
weather events such as hurricanes and tornados,
which have affected the average wind speed in
this island. Besides, tornadoes were rare
occurrences in the Mediterranean region,
however, their number and strength have
increased (T-Vine, 2020, Agencies, 2020). On
January 27, 2003, four tornadoes with wind
speeds of up to 190 km/h impacted Cyprus. On
January 22, 2004, this region was hit by a number
of tornadoes with top speeds of roughly 140
km/h. (Sioutas et al, 2006). Additionally, a
windstorm with an 80 km/h wind speed was
recorded in North Cyprus on December 11, 2013
(Reşatoğlu et al., 2018). Overall, only 27.51% of
the island is free from storm risk, while 51.19%
of the island is at high risk of storms (Özşahin,
2012).
Extreme weather and climatic conditions have
destructive socio-economic and ecological
effects (Deryng et al., 2014; Ferrarezi et al.,
2019) and change typical weather characteristics
such as wind speed and wind load on buildings,
structures, and equipment, which led to many
injuries, fatalities, and great economic losses.
(Kassem et al, 2019b, Online News for North
Cyprus, 2020). As a result, severe adverse effects
of climate change in a variety of industries and
sectors should be anticipated in the future
(Zachariadis, 2012), serious negative effects of
climate change should be expected in the coming
decades and therefore, the consideration of wind
loads in the design of any type of structure has
become more important (Reşatoğlu et al., 2018,
Zachariadis, 2012).
According to data on human and financial losses,
windstorms are among the disasters that cause
the most financial harm, as the following figures
illustrate (Reşatoğlu et al., 2018).
Figure 1. Disaster frequency due to disasters between 1990 and 2014 in Cyprus (Reşatoğlu et al., 2018).