Design and Control of Renewable Energy Systems in Smart Cities

Dear Colleagues,

The global urgency to combat climate change, coupled with rapid urbanization, has positioned smart cities at the forefront of sustainable development. A cornerstone of this transformation is the transition from fossil fuel-based energy systems to those powered by renewable sources, such as solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass. However, the inherent intermittency and distributed nature of these resources present significant challenges to the stability, efficiency, and reliability of urban energy grids.

This Special Issue, entitled “Design and Control of Renewable Energy Systems in Smart Cities,” will compile high-quality research that addresses the critical challenges and opportunities at the intersection of renewable energy and smart urban environments. We will showcase the latest theoretical advancements, cutting-edge technological solutions, and compelling case studies that demonstrate how renewable energy systems can be effectively designed and intelligently controlled to power the cities of the future.

We invite the submission of original research articles and comprehensive review papers that explore, but are not limited to, the following topics:

(1) Large-scale renewable energy prediction and scheduling:

• Multi-time scale rolling prediction for a high proportion of renewable energy;
• Robust optimization and stochastic programming considering uncertainty;
• Data-driven and physical model fusion prediction combined with numerical weather prediction;
• Distributed and decentralized collaborative scheduling architecture.

(2) Advanced System Design and Integration:

• Optimal sizing and planning of hybrid renewable energy systems for urban districts;
• Design of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) and other urban-friendly renewable technologies;
• Architectures for multi-energy carrier systems (e.g., electricity, heat, hydrogen) in smart cities;
• Life-cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis of renewable energy deployments.

(3) Intelligent Control and Optimization:

• Advanced energy management systems (EMS) for smart buildings and microgrids;
• AI, machine learning, and deep reinforcement learning for forecasting and control of renewable generation and load;
• Model predictive control (MPC) and other optimization techniques for grid-interactive efficient buildings;
• Distributed control strategies for coordinated operation of distributed energy resources (DERs).

(4) Grid Integration and Stability:

• Strategies for mitigating the impacts of renewable intermittency on the urban grid;
• Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) and Grid-to-Vehicle (G2V) technologies for leveraging electric vehicles as mobile storage units;
• Demand-side response (DSR) and flexibility aggregation to enhance grid reliability;
• Power quality management and stability analysis in renewable-rich urban grids.

(5) Data-Driven and Cross-Disciplinary Approaches:

• The role of big data, IoT sensors, and digital twins in urban energy system modeling and simulation;
• Blockchain and peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading platforms in local energy markets;
• Socio-technical models and policy frameworks for encouraging renewable energy adoption in cities;
• Resilience and reliability analysis of renewable-based energy systems against climate and cyber-physical threats.

(6) Research direction of environmental correlation analysis of urban renewable energy system;

• Collaborative analysis of urban morphology and renewable energy potential;
• Life-cycle environmental benefits and ecosystem services assessment;
• Coupling analysis of urban energy-environment-health based on multi-source big data.

Prof. Dr. Mao Yang
Prof. Dr. Teng Yun
Dr. Peng Sun
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Electronics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• renewable energy integration
• smart city
• optimal control and design
• artificial intelligence in energy systems
• microgrid and distributed energy resources
• forecasting and scheduling