Special Issue "Advances in Solar Energy Towards Efficient and Sustainable Systems"

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Nuria Novas Castellano
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Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, University of Almeria, 04120 Almeria, Spain
Interests: electronic instrumentation; power electronics; study of electromagnetic environmental phenomena; Schumann resonance; telemedicine; electronic; dielectric characterization; bioimpedance; energy; ELF wave detection
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Prof. Rosa María García Salvador
E-Mail Website
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 papers will be 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 1900 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 (2 papers)

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Research

Article
Advances in Solar Energy towards Efficient and Sustainable Energy
Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 6295; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116295 - 02 Jun 2021
Viewed by 672
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 [...] Read more.
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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Article
On the Optimal Tilt Angle and Orientation of an On-Site Solar Photovoltaic Energy Generation System for Sabah’s Rural Electrification
Sustainability 2021, 13(10), 5730; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13105730 - 20 May 2021
Viewed by 488
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 [...] Read more.
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, βopt, 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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