Factors Influencing Soil Corrosivity and Its Impact on Solar Photovoltaic Projects

Soil corrosion is a critical durability and cost factor for metallic foundations in photovoltaic (PV) power plants, yet it is still addressed with fragmented criteria compared with atmospheric corrosion. This paper reviews the main soil corrosivity drivers relevant to PV installations—moisture and aeration dynamics, electrical resistivity, pH and buffer capacity, dissolved ions (notably chlorides and sulfates), microbiological activity, hydro-climatic variability and geological heterogeneity—highlighting their coupled and non-linear effects, such as differential aeration, macrocell formation and corrosion localization. Building on this mechanistic basis, an engineering-oriented methodological roadmap is proposed to translate soil characterization into durability decisions. The approach combines soil corrosivity classification according to DIN 50929-3 and DVGW GW 9, tiered estimation of hot-dip galvanized coating consumption using AASHTO screening, resistivity–pH correlations and ionic penalty factors, and verification against conservative NBS envelopes. When coating life is insufficient, a traceable steel thickness allowance based on DIN bare-steel corrosion rates is introduced to meet the target service life. The framework provides a practical and auditable basis for durability design and risk control of PV foundations in heterogeneous soils. The proposed framework shows that, for soils exceeding AASHTO mild criteria, zinc corrosion rates may increase by a factor of 1.3–1.7 when chloride and sulfate penalties are considered, potentially reducing coating service life by more than 40%. The methodology proposed enables designers to estimate the penalty factors for sulfates (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msub><mrow><mi>f</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>p</mi></mrow></msub><mfenced separators="|"><mrow><msubsup><mrow><mi>S</mi><mi>O</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>4</mn></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>−</mo></mrow></msubsup></mrow></mfenced></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>) and chlorides (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msub><mrow><mi>f</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>p</mi></mrow></msub><mfenced separators="|"><mrow><msup><mrow><mi>C</mi><mi>l</mi></mrow><mrow><mo>−</mo></mrow></msup></mrow></mfenced></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>) in each specific project, calculating the appropriate values of <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msub><mrow><mi>K</mi></mrow><mrow><msubsup><mrow><mi>S</mi><mi>O</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>4</mn></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>−</mo></mrow></msubsup></mrow></msub></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msub><mrow><mi>K</mi></mrow><mrow><msup><mrow><mi>C</mi><mi>l</mi></mrow><mrow><mo>−</mo></mrow></msup></mrow></msub></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> using electrochemical techniques—ER/LPR and EIS—to estimate the effect of the soluble salts content in the <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msub><mrow><mi>Z</mi><mi>n</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>C</mi><mi>o</mi><mi>r</mi><mi>r</mi><mo> </mo><mi>R</mi><mi>a</mi><mi>t</mi><mi>e</mi></mrow></msub></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>, not properly catch by the proxy indicator <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msub><mrow><mi>V</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>c</mi><mi>o</mi><mi>r</mi><mi>r</mi></mrow></msub><mfenced separators="|"><mrow><mi>E</mi><mi>R</mi><mo>,</mo><mo> </mo><mi>p</mi><mi>H</mi></mrow></mfenced></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> when sulfate and chloride content are over AAHSTO limits for mildly corrosive soils.