Recent Advances in Solar Thermal Technologies for Drying, Cooling, and Heating

Dear Colleagues,

Solar thermal energy is a well-established and potentially cost-effective renewable energy option for meeting the growing global demand for drying, cooling, heating, and industrial process heat across the agricultural, industrial, and residential sectors. As energy security and decarbonization become increasingly urgent priorities, solar thermal technologies offer a viable pathway to reduce reliance on fossil fuels while improving energy performance and enhancing the overall sustainability of thermal processes.

Recent advancements in solar collector design, thermal energy storage, hybrid systems, system integration, and control strategies have significantly expanded the practical applications of solar thermal processes; however, challenges remain regarding performance optimization, economic competitiveness, efficient thermal energy storage, system integration, and the scalability of these technologies to achieve wider adoption.

This Special Issue aims to present and disseminate the latest advancements in solar thermal technologies applied to various processes, such as drying, cooling, heating, industrial process heat, and other thermal energy applications. We invite submissions of original research articles, review papers, and case studies addressing theoretical, numerical, experimental, techno-economic, environmental, and applied aspects of solar thermal energy conversion and utilization.

Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to:

• Solar drying systems for agricultural, food, and industrial products;
• Solar-assisted cooling, refrigeration, and air conditioning technologies;
• Solar systems for water and air heating and space conditioning;
• Solar thermal systems for industrial process heat;
• Solar cookers and solar cooking technologies;
• Design, modeling, simulation, and experimental characterization of solar thermal collectors;
• Thermal energy storage integrated into solar systems;
• Hybrid solar thermal systems, including solar–biomass, solar thermal–electric, and PV–solar thermal systems;
• Solar desalination via humidification–dehumidification (HDH);
• Performance evaluation, energy and exergy analysis, and optimization of solar thermal processes;
• Techno-economic assessment of solar thermal technologies;
• Environmental and life-cycle assessment of solar thermal applications;
• Control and automation strategies for solar thermal systems;
• Forecasting and advanced operating strategies for solar thermal systems;
• Integration of solar thermal technologies with buildings and industrial processes.

We invite researchers, engineers, and professionals working to advance the science, engineering, and practical implementation of solar thermal technologies to participate.

Dr. Erick César López-Vidaña
Prof. Dr. Beatriz Castillo Téllez
Prof. Dr. Anil Kumar
Dr. Javier Alejandro Hernández Magallanes
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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Processes 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.