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Advances in Solar Energy Towards Efficient and Sustainable Systems

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 20502

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Nuria Novas Castellano

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Guest Editor

Department of Engineering, University of Almeria, 04120 Almeria, Spain
Interests: monitoring and sensing across multiple fields of application; measurements of natural phenomena in the ELF band; ambient variables monitoring in tourist caverns; dielectric measurements; biomedical monitoring; agricultural applications; renewable energies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Rosa María García Salvador

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Guest Editor

Department of Engineering, University of Almeria, 04120 Almeria, Spain
Interests: Schumann resonance; electronics; dielectric characterization; bioimpedance; ELF wave detection; study of electromagnetic fields; study of environmental electromagnetic phenomena; electronic instrumentation; power electronics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The steady technological development that humankind has been experiencing over the last decade has a direct impact on energy consumption—not only on the quantity but also the exploitation of environmentally friendly energy sources. This impact presents an energetical challenge of critical importance today, in the form of finding new methods and solutions to provide this energy under special constraints. In view of this issue, governments must lean toward sustainable energy sources with a low environmental impact. There are several popular renewable energy technologies, the main being solar power, one of the main sources of clean energy nowadays. Moreover, solar power is considered one of the technologies that have experienced the biggest development in the last two decades. It has been widely used in the process of decarbonization, trying to achieve cleaner societies as a consequence of reducing carbon emissions. Energy transition has experienced technical, socioeconomic, and environmental changes compared to previous periods. Unfortunately, the changes it has undergone are insufficient to manage the environmental and social challenges ahead.

Solar power has many purposes, mainly electricity generation, air conditioning and water heating, but also other uses such as cooking, food drying, water desalination or for agricultural purposes. Additionally, at household levels, solar power allows improving energy efficiency and waste management, which in turn contributes to reducing the environmental impact. Research and development of solar power systems guarantees a more sustainable future, which motivates a nexus between energy, environment, and society. It is obvious that the development of today’s society implies an increase in energy demand, so current and future research efforts must be directed at finding a sustainable way to address it.

The aim of this Special Issue is to provide an overview of the most advanced scientific contributions in the framework of sustainability and efficiency of solar power systems. This topic involves the study and/or development of models, methods, approaches, technological innovations, applications, market developments, energy policies, as well as new factors for the management of solar power systems. Papers that address the following research topics from a theoretical, numerical, and/or practical point of view are welcome:

Study of different sustainability indicators of solar power systems;
Assessment of sustainability in solar power systems;
Alternative and innovative strategies for solar energy exploitation;
Efficiency improvement of solar plants;
Methodology development, and numerical and experimental research based on optical, thermal, and electrical efficiency of solar power systems;
Integration of solar power systems in buildings;
New methods and materials applied to the development of solar power systems;
Integration of solar-based subsystems in existing power plants;
Application and purposes of solar energy;
Environmental sustainability of solar power systems;
Optimization and improvement of sustainable solar power systems;
Energy transition toward total decarbonization.

A non-exhaustive and non-limitative list has been established. Therefore, all papers related to the topics mentioned above that accomplish the purposes of the Special Issue will be accepted. The goal is the study of present advances in solar energy systems toward efficiency and sustainability.

Dr. Nuria Novas Castellano
Prof. Rosa María García Salvador
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

sustainability
renewable energy
solar energy
exergy
energy efficiency
life cycle assessment
environmental impact
sustainability assessment
sustainable development
renewable energy sources
climate change
energy policy

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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24 pages, 4659 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A New Sustainable and Novel Hybrid Solar Chimney Power Plant Design for Power Generation and Seawater Desalination

by Emad Abdelsalam, Fares Almomani, Feras Kafiah, Eyad Almaitta, Muhammad Tawalbeh, Asma Khasawneh, Dareen Habash, Abdullah Omar and Malek Alkasrawi

Sustainability 2021, 13(21), 12100; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132112100 - 02 Nov 2021

Cited by 25 | Viewed by 3153

Abstract

This study presents a case study of a novel hybrid solar chimney power plant (HSCPP) design’s performance in the city of Doha, Qatar. The HSCPP construction is similar to the traditional solar chimney power plant (SCPP) but with the addition of water sprinklers installed at the top of the chimney. This allowed the solar chimney (SC) to operate as a cooling tower (CT) during the nighttime and operate as an SC during the daytime, hence providing a continuous 24-h operation. The results showed that the HSCPP produced ~633 MWh of electrical energy per year, compared to ~380 MWh of energy produced by the traditional SCPP. The results also showed that the HSCPP was able to produce 139,000 tons/year of freshwater, compared to 90,000 tons/year produced by the traditional SCPP. The estimated CO₂ emission reduction (~600 tons/year) from the HSCPP is twice that of the traditional SCPP (~300 tons/year). The results clearly show that the HSCPP outperformed the traditional SCPP. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Solar Energy Towards Efficient and Sustainable Systems)

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19 pages, 2864 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Prospective Environmental and Economic Assessment of a Sensor Network

by Francisco Portillo, Rosa María García, Alfredo Alcayde, José Antonio Gázquez, Manuel Fernández-Ros and Nuria Novas

Sustainability 2021, 13(18), 10306; https://doi.org/10.3390/su131810306 - 15 Sep 2021

Viewed by 1956

Abstract

Sustainability is becoming of vital importance in project management, and a life cycle assessment (LCA) can ensure a body of knowledge to bear in mind the environmental burdens the project involves. In this study, two different ways of supplying energy to a sensor network are analyzed. Firstly, we analyze the environmental impact of the devices connected to the public grid. Secondly, we analyze the completely full off-grid system, with the sensor connected to a photovoltaic (PV) panel. Our findings show that the off-grid option has a greater number of benefits than the grid-connected option in terms of environmental impacts, although it is less economically advantageous. In a detailed analysis of the off-grid scenario, it can be observed that the battery is the component with the highest impact, so actions to try to reduce consumption, and, therefore, the battery size and its negative impact are taken. After reducing the battery size, the break-even point was reached, providing a net economic benefit of EUR 0.23 sensor/year. However, this analysis refers to a single sensor, and although the environmental and economic benefits seem low, in an economy of scale, this could result in large savings if these types of sensors are massively installed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Solar Energy Towards Efficient and Sustainable Systems)

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31 pages, 5155 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Advances in Solar Energy towards Efficient and Sustainable Energy

by Nuria Novas, Rosa María Garcia, Jose Manuel Camacho and Alfredo Alcayde

Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 6295; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116295 - 02 Jun 2021

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 6528

Abstract

Conventional energy resources are not climate sustainable. Currently, engineers and scientists are looking for sustainable energy solutions influenced by climate change. A wide variety of sustainable natural energy resources are available, but they require technical solutions for their implementation. The general trend in energy research is based on renewable resources, amongst which solar energy stands out, being the most mature and widely accepted. In this paper, the current state of the sustainable energy system has been analysed. The main purpose is to provide additional context to assess future scenarios. The study of past contributions allows sustainability planning and increasing the welfare of future society. The aim is to highlight global trends in research on sustainable solar energy from 1995 to 2020 through a bibliometric analysis of 4260 publications. According to their linkages, the analysed articles are distributed in nine clusters: Sustainability assessment, Sustainable energy solutions, Environmental payback time analysis, Sustainability of solar energy in different scenarios, Environmental sustainability, Solar energy applications, Sustainable energy optimisation, Energy transition and Energy and sustainable scenarios. The most repeated keywords are Sustainability, Renewable energy, and Solar energy. Energy research and the exploration of new renewable solar resources are still necessary to meet sustainable energy’s future challenges. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Solar Energy Towards Efficient and Sustainable Systems)

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28 pages, 13655 KiB

Open AccessArticle

On the Optimal Tilt Angle and Orientation of an On-Site Solar Photovoltaic Energy Generation System for Sabah’s Rural Electrification

by Maryon Eliza Matius, Mohd Azlan Ismail, Yan Yan Farm, Adriana Erica Amaludin, Mohd Adzrie Radzali, Ahmad Fazlizan and Wan Khairul Muzammil

Sustainability 2021, 13(10), 5730; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13105730 - 20 May 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4298

Abstract

An ongoing project to implement a mini standalone solar photovoltaic (PV) generation system of 2.5 kWp capacity at the eco-tourism centre of Liogu Ku Silou-Silou (EPLISSI), Sabah, was initiated in 2019. Since the solar panel support (ground mounting) used in this project will be erected separately, the main goals of this study are to estimate the optimum tilt angle, β_opt, and orientation for the solar PV modules. To achieve these goals, the Liu and Jordan isotropic diffuse radiation model was used (1960). Another three isotropic diffuse sky radiation models (Koronakis model, Badescu model, and Tian model) were applied to estimate the optimum tilt angle with the orientation kept facing due south. For verification purposes, the PV power output data obtained from an online PV simulator known as Global Solar Atlas or GSA 2.3 was used and compared to the results of the four isotropic models. The results suggest that the Tian model is more suitable for approximating insolation, as it was proven to have the lowest difference among all models and is in close agreement with the result of the optimum tilt angle provided by GSA 2.3. However, the outcomes demonstrated from the isotropic models propose an error up to 30% (in the range of 31% to 32%) as compared to GSA 2.3. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Solar Energy Towards Efficient and Sustainable Systems)

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Review

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30 pages, 5763 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Review of Recent Developments and Applications of Compound Parabolic Concentrator-Based Hybrid Solar Photovoltaic/Thermal Collectors

by Faisal Masood, Nursyarizal Bin Mohd Nor, Perumal Nallagownden, Irraivan Elamvazuthi, Rahman Saidur, Mohammad Azad Alam, Javed Akhter, Mohammad Yusuf, Mubbashar Mehmood and Mujahid Ali

Sustainability 2022, 14(9), 5529; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095529 - 05 May 2022

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3127

Abstract

The concentrating photovoltaic/thermal (PVT) collectors offer the benefits of the reduced per-unit price of electrical energy and co-generation of electrical and thermal energies by intensifying the solar irradiation falling on the hybrid receiving plane. The compound parabolic concentrating (CPC) collectors have appeared as a promising candidate for numerous applications in the field of solar energy due to their ability to collect both direct and diffuse solar radiation and suitability for stationary installation. Over the last few decades, various configurations of CPC collectors have been proposed and investigated by different researchers for the simultaneous generation of electrical and thermal energies. This article presents a comprehensive review of historical and recent developments and applications of CPC-based hybrid PVT systems. The review focuses on the heat extraction mechanisms and commonly used application areas of CPC-PVT systems. The innovative design configurations proposed by different researchers have been reviewed in detail. The outputs of CPC-PVT systems are generally found to be superior to their counterparts without CPCs, which justifies their increased popularity. Due to dual outputs, the hybrid CPC-PVT systems are considered to be suitable for rooftop and building façade integrated applications. Finally, future recommendations have been enlisted, highlighting the potential research opportunities and challenges for the prospective researchers working in the field of concentrating solar PVT systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Solar Energy Towards Efficient and Sustainable Systems)

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