Search Results (199)

In recent years, solar energy has emerged as one of the most advanced renewable energy sources, with its production capacity steadily growing. To maximize output and efficiency, choosing the right configuration for a specific location for these installations is crucial. This study uniquely integrates detailed multi-variant fixed-tilt PV system simulations with comprehensive economic evaluation under temperate climate conditions, addressing site-specific spatial constraints and grid integration considerations that have rarely been combined in previous works. In this paper, an energy and economic efficiency analysis for a photovoltaic power plant, located in central Poland, designed in eight variants (10°, 15°, 20°, 25°, 30° PV module inclination angle for a south orientation and 10°, 20°, 30° for an east–west orientation) for a limited building area of approximately 300,000 m² was conducted. In PVSyst computer simulations, PVGIS-SARAH2 solar radiation data were used together with the most common data for describing the Polish local solar climate, called Typical Meteorological Year data (TMY). The most energy-efficient variants were found to be 20° S and 30° S, configurations with the highest surface production coefficient (249.49 and 272.68 kWh/m²) and unit production efficiency values (1123 and 1132 kWh/kW, respectively). These findings highlight potential efficiency gains of up to approximately 9% in surface production coefficient and financial returns exceeding 450% ROI, demonstrating significant economic benefits. In economic terms, the 15° S variant achieved the highest values of financial parameters, such as the return on investment (ROI) (453.2%), the value of the average annual share of profits in total revenues (56.93%), the shortest expected payback period (8.7 years), the value of the levelized cost of energy production (LCOE) (0.1 EUR/kWh), and one of the lowest costs of building 1 MWp of a photovoltaic farm (664,272.7 EUR/MWp). Among the tested variants of photovoltaic farms with an east–west geographical orientation, the most advantageous choice is the 10° EW arrangement. The results provide valuable insights for policymakers and investors aiming to optimize photovoltaic deployment in temperate climates, supporting the broader transition to renewable energy and alignment with national energy policy goals. Full article

Floating solar technology has gained significant attention as part of the global expansion of renewable energy due to its potential for installation in underutilized water bodies. Several countries, including the Netherlands, have initiated efforts to extend this technology from inland freshwater applications to open offshore environments, particularly within offshore wind farm areas. This development is motivated by the synergistic benefits of increasing site energy density and leveraging the existing offshore grid infrastructure. The deployment of offshore floating photovoltaic (OFPV) systems involves assembling multiple modular units in a marine environment, introducing operational risks that may give rise to safety concerns. To mitigate these risks, weather windows must be considered prior to the task execution to ensure continuity between weather-sensitive activities, which can also lead to additional time delays and increased costs. Consequently, optimizing marine logistics becomes crucial to achieving the cost reductions necessary for making OFPV technology economically viable. This study employs a simulation-based approach to estimate the installation duration of a 5 MWp OFPV plant at a Dutch offshore wind farm site, started in different months and under three distinct risk management scenarios. Based on 20 years of hindcast wave data, the results reveal the impacts of campaign start months and risk management policies on installation duration. Across all the scenarios, the installation duration during the autumn and winter period is 160% longer than the one in the spring and summer period. The average installation durations, based on results from 12 campaign start months, are 70, 80, and 130 days for the three risk management policies analyzed. The result variation highlights the additional time required to mitigate operational risks arising from potential discontinuity between highly interdependent tasks (e.g., offshore platform assembly and mooring). Additionally, it is found that the weather-induced delays are mainly associated with the campaigns of pre-laying anchors and platform and mooring line installation compared with the other campaigns. In conclusion, this study presents a logistics modeling methodology for OFPV systems, demonstrated through a representative case study based on a state-of-the-art truss-type design. The primary contribution lies in providing a framework to quantify the performance of OFPV installation strategies at an early design stage. The findings of this case study further highlight that marine installation logistics are highly sensitive to local marine conditions and the chosen installation strategy, and should be integrated early in the OFPV design process to help reduce the levelized cost of electricity. Full article

Sources of renewable energy have attracted considerable attention. Their expanded use will have a substantial impact on both the cost of energy production and climate change. Solar energy is one efficient and safe option; however, solar energy harvesting sites, irrespective of the location, can impact the ecosystem. This experimental study explores the energy available inside and outside of novel miniature energy harvesting cages by measuring light intensity and power generated. Varying light intensity outside the cage has been utilized to study the remaining energy inside the cage of a flexible design, where the heights of the harvesting panels are parameters. Cages are built from custom photovoltaic panels arranged in a staircase manner to provide access to growing plants. The balance between power generation and biological development is investigated. Two different structures are presented to explore the variation of illumination intensity inside the cages. The experimental results show a substantial reduction in energy inside the cages. The experimental results showed up to 24% reduction in illumination inside the cages in winter. The reduction is even larger in summer, up to 57%. The results from the models provide a framework to study the possible impact on a biological system residing inside the cages, paving the way for practical farming with sustainable energy harvesting. Full article

This work proposes a new method to refill fuel cell electric vehicle hydrogen tanks from a storage system in hydrogen refueling stations. The new method uses the storage tanks in cascade to supply hydrogen to the refueling station dispensers. This method reduces the hydrogen compressor power requirement and the energy consumption for refilling the vehicle tank; therefore, the proposed alternative design for hydrogen refueling stations is feasible and compatible with low-intensity renewable energy sources like solar photovoltaic, wind farms, or micro-hydro plants. Additionally, the cascade method supplies higher pressure to the dispenser throughout the day, thus reducing the refueling time for specific vehicle driving ranges. The simulation shows that the energy saving using the cascade method achieves 9% to 45%, depending on the vehicle attendance. The hydrogen refueling station design supports a daily vehicle attendance of 9 to 36 with a complete refueling process coverage. The carried-out simulation proves that the vehicle tank achieves the maximum attainable pressure of 700 bars with a storage system of six tanks. The data analysis shows that the daily hourly hydrogen demand follows a sinusoidal function, providing a practical tool to predict the hydrogen demand for any vehicle attendance, allowing the planners and station designers to resize the elements to fulfill the new requirements. The proposed system is also applicable to hydrogen ICE vehicles. Full article

Excessive reliance on traditional energy sources such as coal, petroleum, and gas leads to a decrease in natural resources and contributes to global warming. Consequently, the adoption of renewable energy sources in power systems is experiencing swift expansion worldwide, especially in offshore areas. Floating solar photovoltaic (FPV) technology is gaining recognition as an innovative renewable energy option, presenting benefits like minimized land requirements, improved cooling effects, and possible collaborations with hydropower. This study aims to assess the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) associated with floating solar initiatives in offshore and onshore environments. Furthermore, the LCOE is assessed for initiatives that utilize floating solar PV modules within aquaculture farms, as well as for the integration of various renewable energy sources, including wind, wave, and hydropower. The LCOE for FPV technology exhibits considerable variation, ranging from 28.47 EUR/MWh to 1737 EUR/MWh, depending on the technologies utilized within the farm as well as its geographical setting. The implementation of FPV technology in aquaculture farms revealed a notable increase in the LCOE, ranging from 138.74 EUR/MWh to 2306 EUR/MWh. Implementation involving additional renewable energy sources results in a reduction in the LCOE, ranging from 3.6 EUR/MWh to 315.33 EUR/MWh. The integration of floating photovoltaic (FPV) systems into green hydrogen production represents an emerging direction that is relatively little explored but has high potential in reducing costs. The conversion of this energy into hydrogen involves high final costs, with the LCOH ranging from 1.06 EUR/kg to over 26.79 EUR/kg depending on the complexity of the system. Full article

In recent years, the energy policies of both Spain and the European Union have pursued the development of renewable energies, including solar power. One way these installations will appear in the Region of Murcia is on bodies of water, which do not alter existing land uses, but ground-mounted solar energy installations do bring about such changes. The Region of Murcia is located in the south-eastern quadrant of the Iberian Peninsula. Positioned on the leeward side of the westerly zonal circulation, characteristic of mid-latitudes, and influenced by the layout of the Betic mountain ranges that cross it from north-west to south-east, it experiences significant scarcity and irregularity of rainfall. In contrast, it benefits from an abundance of sunlight, with more than 3400 h of sunshine per year. This makes it one of the most productive locations for capturing solar energy and converting it into electricity. As a result, the land occupied by photovoltaic parks has increased at the expense of dry farming areas, irrigated land, and woodland. High energy prices have also led to self-consumption measures, with solar panels being installed on the roofs of industrial buildings, floating panels in irrigation reservoirs, photovoltaic solar farms associated with desalination and lift irrigation pumps, and pressure required by localized irrigation, etc. Full article

The exponential growth of the installation of solar photovoltaic systems has been a significant step in the energy transition toward reducing dependence on fossil fuels and mitigating climate change. This growth has raised concerns about land use, particularly in regions where large tracts are allocated to solar farms. Highway infrastructures such as sound barriers occupy large land surfaces which are under-utilized and could therefore contribute to renewable energy generation without increasing the land use. This study proposes the application of the YOLO object detection algorithm to automatically identify and analyse the locations of sound barriers along highways using video or image data, and to estimate the potential energy output from photovoltaic systems installed on these barriers. The model has been trained and tested on sound barriers along Portuguese highways, achieving a mean average precision exceeding 0.84 for YOLOv10 when using training datasets containing more than 600 images. Using the geolocation of the images and the identification of the number of sound barriers from YOLO, it is possible to estimate the potential generation of electricity and inform decision makers on the technical–economic feasibility of using this infrastructure for energy generation. Full article

Livestock buildings in rural areas are increasingly recognized for their environmental impact, yet few studies provide applied, scenario-based evaluations to guide retrofit interventions. While the existing literature acknowledges the environmental burden of livestock facilities, it often lacks operationally grounded analyses applicable to real-world agricultural contexts. This paper proposes an original integration of experimental climatic monitoring and life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate retrofit scenarios for energy efficiency in real poultry farming contexts. Based on an accurate climatic monitoring campaign conducted on-site during the spring and summer periods, relevant data were collected on air temperature, humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation affecting two poultry tunnels in central Italy, highlighting the need for thermal mitigation. The comparison between the observed operational scenario and the hypothesized improved scenario, involving energy supply from photovoltaic sources, evaluated using the PVGIS tool, demonstrated a significant reduction in environmental impact, with a 33.4% decrease in global warming potential and a 26.1% reduction in energy consumption. This study combines experimental on-site climatic data collection with comparative environmental evaluation using LCA methodology. The LCA approach, which guided the entire study, highlighted how the energy efficiency gained through solar panels adequately offsets their production and maintenance costs over the long term. These findings offer a replicable model for energy retrofits in rural livestock facilities, contributing to both environmental goals and rural resilience. Full article

The reduction of harmful emissions is shaping trends across many industries, including architecture and building. With rising ecological awareness and the threat of climate change, architects, construction engineers, and developers are focusing on innovative solutions to minimize the construction sector’s environmental impact. This paper presents a technical and management approach system using renewable energy sources, based on an existing single-family house with known energy consumption. The aim is to achieve energy independence by relying solely on on-site electricity generation and storage, while remaining connected to water and sewage infrastructure. Utilizing renewable energy sources enhances self-sufficiency and investment profitability. The study evaluates the house’s energy consumption to optimally select electricity supply solutions, including a small wind farm and photovoltaic installation integrated with appropriate electricity storage. This is crucial due to the air heat pump used for heating and domestic hot water, which requires electricity. An hourly simulation of the system’s operation over a year verified the adequacy of the selected devices. Additionally, two different locations were analyzed to assess how varying climate and wind conditions influence the design and performance of off-grid energy systems. The analysis showed that solar and wind systems can meet annual energy demand, but limited storage capacity prevents full autonomy. Replacing the heat pump with a biomass boiler reduces electricity use by about 25% and battery needs by 40%, though seasonal energy surpluses remain a challenge. This concept aligns with the goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. Full article

Agrophotovoltaic (APV) systems represent innovative agricultural farms and solar power plants, capable of producing electricity and crops simultaneously. Since the solar radiation required to optimize harvests varies by crop type, traditional PV panels face challenges in efficiently adjusting the shading ratio of APV systems. This study evaluates the economic viability of APV systems integrated with building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems for biofuel production. Specifically, it assesses the production forecast for corn-based biofuel—demand for which is rising due to the mixed-fuel use policy of the Korean government—and the economic feasibility of production in the APV system enhanced by BIPV integration (i.e., the APV–BIPV system). To this end, LCOE (levelized cost of energy) and NPV (net present value) are employed as performance indicators. Additionally, yield data from corn and corn stover harvested in actual APV facilities are utilized to predict bioenergy production. Consequently, the study will analyze the impact of renewable energy production from the proposed APV–BIPV system on achieving the Korean government’s renewable energy production goals and will provide guidelines on the potential benefits for farmers involved in renewable energy production and energy crop harvesting. Full article

In the 21st century, the adoption of solar energy has witnessed significant growth, driven by the increased use of ground-mounted photovoltaic (GPV) systems, recognized as solar farms, which have emerged as major players in this sector. Nevertheless, their extensive land utilization may impact local ecosystem services (ESSs), especially those related to water resources. In the context of the water–energy–food–ecosystem (WEFE) nexus, it becomes vital to investigate how solar park construction will impact water-related ESSs. This paper developed a framework that assesses the effect of constructing a solar park on water-related ecosystem services. We focused on solar farm construction and its interactions with various hydrological cycle components; then, we evaluated the implications for water-related ESSs. This approach encompasses a systematic literature review that identifies the hydrological factors most affected by the construction of solar farms. As a result, thirteen ESSs were selected to be included in an evaluation framework, and a definition of a scoring system of each ESS was defined based on the economic value, a predetermined indicator, or land use and land cover (LULC) properties. The allocation of weighting factors for these scores can be determined based on individual experience and stakeholders. This study presents a DSS-integrated framework to assess the impact of solar park constructions on water-related ecosystem services (ESSs) within the WEFE nexus. The framework was applied to a case study in Darstadt, Bavaria, revealing that, among the water-related ESSs in favor of ground-mounted PV systems (GPVs) compared to traditional agricultural practices, there could be soil erosion and nitrate leaching reduction. The DSS tool enables stakeholders to efficiently evaluate trade-offs between energy production and ecosystem impacts. The findings underscore the potential of integrating renewable energy projects with ecosystem management strategies to promote sustainable land-use practices. Full article

In Europe, renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic panels and wind power plants are developing dynamically. The growth of renewable energy is driven by rising energy prices, greenhouse gas emission restrictions, the European Union’s Green Deal policy, and decarbonization efforts. Photovoltaic farms generate energy intermittently, depending on weather conditions. Given the increasing number of new installations, ensuring the power balance and transmission capacity of the electrical grid has become a major challenge. To address this issue, the authors propose a technical solution that allows the energy generated by photovoltaic systems to be stored in the form of heat. Thermal energy from solar power and wind energy offers significant potential for energy storage. It can be accumulated during summer in specially designed sand-based heat storage systems and then used for heating purposes in winter. This approach not only reduces heating costs but also decreases greenhouse gas emissions and helps balance the power grid during sunny periods. Post-industrial areas, often located near city centers, are suitable locations for large-scale heat storage facilities supplying, among others, public utility buildings. Therefore, this article presents a concept for utilizing high-temperature sand-based heat storage systems built in decommissioned underground mining excavations. Full article

Snow accumulation on solar panels presents a significant challenge to energy generation in snowy regions, reducing the efficiency of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and impacting economic viability. While prior studies have explored snow detection using fixed-camera setups, these methods suffer from scalability limitations, stationary viewpoints, and the need for reference images. This study introduces an automated deep-learning framework that leverages drone-captured imagery to detect and quantify snow coverage on solar panels, aiming to enhance power forecasting and optimize snow removal strategies in winter conditions. We developed and evaluated two approaches using YOLO-based models: Approach 1, a high-precision method utilizing a two-class detection model, and Approach 2, a real-time single-class detection model optimized for fast inference. While Approach 1 demonstrated superior accuracy, achieving an overall precision of 89% and recall of 82%, it is computationally expensive, making it more suitable for strategic decision making. Approach 2, with a precision of 93% and a recall of 75%, provides a lightweight and efficient alternative for real-time monitoring but is sensitive to lighting variations. The proposed framework calculates snow coverage percentages (SCP) to support snow removal planning, minimize downtime, and optimize power generation. Compared to fixed-camera-based snow detection models, our approach leverages drone imagery to improve detection precision while offering greater scalability to be adopted for large solar farms. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of both approaches is presented in this paper, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses in different environmental conditions. Full article

Punjab, the most populous province in Pakistan, is currently facing substantial electricity shortages that are adversely affecting both residential and industrial sectors. To address this issue, the Cholistan Desert presents a promising solution due to its high solar irradiance, making it an ideal location for solar energy production. This study aims to identify the most suitable area for solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants in the Cholistan Desert using Geographic Information System (GIS) and machine learning techniques. The analysis included field survey data encompassing 14 conditioning factors such as geophysical, socio-economic, and resource conditions. Three machine learning models were utilized: Random Forest, XGBoost, and Multilayer Perceptron (MLP). The Random Forest model demonstrated superior performance with an AUC of 0.92, and feature importance was measured through SHAP. The resulting suitability map indicates that Bahawalnagar in the eastern region and Bahawalpur in the central region have 10.50% and 11.06% of their areas classified as having a “high” and “very high” probability for solar PV installation, respectively. For stakeholders in the wind industry, these regions also present potential for wind farm feasibility due to favorable wind conditions and flat terrain. The methodology can be adapted to prioritize wind energy sites by incorporating factors such as land availability, wind direction, and other related factors. Co-locating solar and wind farms in these regions could optimize land use, enhance grid stability, and support Pakistan’s renewable energy targets. Future research integrating real-time solar and wind data could further refine site selection and support multi-source renewable energy planning, providing actionable insights for policymakers and investors. Full article

The aim of this study is to evaluate the environmental impact of solar energy by analyzing its emissions, resource consumption, and waste generation throughout its life cycle. As one of the most widely adopted energy sources, solar power offers substantial benefits in reducing greenhouse gas emissions; however, its broader environmental footprint requires careful examination. The production, operation, and disposal of solar panels contribute to pollution, water consumption, and hazardous waste accumulation, with an estimated 250,000 tons of solar waste reported in 2016 alone. Furthermore, solar power generation requires significant water resources, averaging 650 gallons per megawatt-hour of electricity. A key focus of this study is the emissions associated with solar technology, particularly during panel manufacturing and operation. Using HOMER Pro software, this research quantifies the emissions from Trina Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels (345 Wp), revealing an annual output of 49,259 kg of carbon dioxide, 214 kg of sulfur dioxide, and 104 kg of nitrogen dioxide. This Study obtained using HOMER Pro primarily account for operational emissions and do not include full lifecycle impacts such as raw material extraction, transportation, and disposal. These findings highlight the trade-offs between solar energy’s environmental advantages and its indirect ecological costs. While solar systems contribute to energy security and long-term economic savings, their environmental implications must be factored into energy planning and sustainability strategies. This study underscores the importance of developing greener manufacturing processes, improving recycling strategies, and optimizing solar farm operations to reduce emissions and resource depletion. By providing a comprehensive assessment of solar energy’s environmental impact, this research contributes valuable insights for policymakers, researchers, and industry leaders seeking to balance the benefits of solar power with sustainable environmental management. Full article