Research Progress and Applications of Solar Energy Conversion Materials for Energy Sustainability
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 78
Special Issue Editors
Interests: absorption refrigeration; solar energy with nanofluids; biofuels; automation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: transport phenomena; fluid rheology; microfluidics; electrokinetics; smart fluids
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to invite you to publish in this Special Issue, ‘Research Progress and Applications of Solar Energy Conversion Materials for Energy Sustainability’, of the journal Sustainability.
Solar energy is a renewable energy source. Using electricity and thermal energy obtained from the sun reduces environmental impacts by reducing polluting emissions and greenhouse gases. The economic and social benefits of solar energy manifest as lower electricity and fuel bills, as well as in the creation of new jobs and access to energy in remote locations, primarily in developing countries. However, the use of solar energy still presents numerous challenges, such as the following: the availability and abundance of non-toxic materials; more environmentally friendly production methods that reduce energy consumption; and reducing the environmental impact of materials from the extraction, production, use, and disposal of solar equipment and devices.
This Special Issue aims to present the progress and applications of research into materials for solar energy conversion. The papers published in this Special Issue are expected to contribute to reducing the impact of solar farms on biodiversity, improving the efficiency and lifespan of solar equipment and devices, and improving the recycling process, such as recovering valuable materials and minimizing waste.
In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Materials for photovoltaic, photothermal, and photochemical solar energy conversion, as well as for electrical and thermal storage;
- Concentrating and non-concentrating collectors;
- Hybrid photovoltaic/photothermal solar cells;
- Photoconversion and solar desalination systems;
- Imaging and non-imaging optical collectors;
- Monocrystalline, polycrystalline, and amorphous materials;
- Phase-change materials;
- Nanomaterials;
- Energy, exergy, and exergoeconomic studies;
- Analytical and/or numerical studies;
- Fractal geometry;
- Neural networks.
Applications can include the following:
- Agricultural and/or food applications, such as solar drying, greenhouses, and solar cooking;
- Energy efficiency in power cycles and cogeneration, trigeneration, and polygeneration;
- Desalination for drinking water, irrigation, and commercial use.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Prof. Dr. Alejandro Zacarías
Prof. Dr. Juan P. Escandón
Prof. Dr. José Alfredo Jiménez-Bernal
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
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. Sustainability 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.
Keywords
- materials for solar energy conversion
- photovoltaic solar energy
- photothermal solar energy
- photochemical solar energy
- thermal storage batteries
- electric storage batteries
- nanomaterials
- concentrating and non-concentrating collectors
- desalination
- energy efficiency
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