Search

Abstract Despite a significant progress in electrification over the last decade, more than 1 billion people have no access to electricity, and about 3 billion use solid fuel or kerosene for cooking and heating purposes. More than 95 % of them live in sub-Saharan Africa or developing Asia, and around 80 % are situated in rural areas. Conventional approach to power supply such as transmission grid extension is not economical due to high investment and connection costs. Technological progress has shifted down capital costs of renewable off-grid solutions. However, in the most cases, it is not enough to reach feasibility of these solutions due to weak investment conditions and weak purchasing power of the local population in these areas. The choice of business model can have a vital role in bringing electrification and connectivity to rural areas, providing flexibility and adaptability of the technology to the market conditions. Analysis of existing literature on business models for off-grid solutions concludes that the model for rural areas in developing countries should be more service oriented, be scalable to various use case scenarios, should provide good risk balance between customer and provider, and should enable transparency and quality of service. This paper analyses recent developments in off-grid system solutions for sub-Saharan Africa and provides classification of business model innovations. Based on the analysis, the paper proposes an innovative business model for Fusion Grid project, scalable mini-grid integrated with connectivity solution. Feasibility of the project is tested for three different cases, depending on the type of the rural community. Results suggests that combining micro-grid based power supply and internet connection as one service can contribute to a viability of the project, and, furthermore, can contribute to achieving global electrification goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Climate change and global warming are currently the biggest threat to human society. In Iranian households, buildings expend 33% of the yearly energy consumption. The potential of renewable energy sources in Iran is high and Iranian government is taking steps to increase the use of renewable energy sources. This paper examines the use of renewable energy in two major city buildings in Iran. In this paper, solar radiation in two cities (Tehran and Yazd) is analysed. The average annual sum of solar irradiation in Yazd is 2200 kWh/m2 and in Tehran, the amount is 2000 kWh/m2 [1]. The major task in this paper is to quantify the impact of geographical region and to evaluate the viability of implementing renewable systems in buildings in Iran. To reach this end, the annual average solar radiation is calculated in each city. Hourly Analysis Program is used to design each building and calculate their respective heating and cooling loads. Photovoltaic solar systems and solar-thermal systems are designed for both of the buildings. It is seen that, although Yazd has hot and arid climate compared to Tehran, the cooling and heating load in the building in Tehran is higher, and the higher solar radiation in Yazd reduces the number of solar panels required for the designed building. However, the difference is not significant. It is assessed that in order to have more efficient systems, the grid infrastructure in Iran should be upgraded to enable applying large-scale renewable energy systems for buildings in a neighbourhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy crisis is one of the most crucial topics in today's world. Conventional energy resources are not only limited and costly, but also the prime cause for environmental pollution. The environmental pollution and rising cost of the fossil fuels have drawn considerable attention to renewable energy sources. Solar energy, being the cleanest and most reliable renewable energy source, is widely utilized in thermal systems to heat water and air. It offers a vast opportunity for public and private organizations to reduce carbon emissions and cut electricity costs. A viable approach to maximizing the solar panel efficiency is solar tracking. This paper, therefore, proposes an automatic microcontroller-based solar tracker with a hybrid algorithm for locating the sun's position. The proposed hybrid solar tracking algorithm combines both sensors and mathematical models to determine the precise sun's position, thereby harnessing optimal solar energy for all weather conditions. Experimental results consistently show that the hybrid solar tracking algorithm can yield higher solar power that the traditional active and chronological algorithms. A webpage was also developed to facilitate real-time monitoring of solar data. As such, the solar tracking process is fully automated, maximizing the collection and management of solar energy for solar thermal systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present the results of monitoring a building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system, which was installed in Medio San Juan (Andagoya), Colombia. The system is operating in the Building of Renewable Energy of Chocó - CERCHOCO - and it is composed of a 20 kW photovoltaic generator connected to the electrical grid through a 20 kW three-phase inverter. We installed a monitoring system for measuring and analyzing the performance and power quality of the BIPV system. The meteorological and solar radiation data in the site of installation are also analyzed to correlate with system performance. On the basis of 2016 monitoring results, the performance of the BIPV system has been analyzed for component perspective (PV array and inverter) and global perspective (system efficiency, electrical energy and power quality etc.). Energy analysis and economic evaluation revealed that to get a trade off between energy and economic viability, the BIPVS installations must be heavily subsidized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers are continually striving to improve the efficiency of photovoltaic panels which contain solar cells that convert light energy to electrical energy. The objective is to improve photovoltaic (PV) efficiency by maintaining it below maximum allowable temperature. Accordingly, the excess in heat must be dissipated efficiently in order to avoid excessive high temperatures, which have an adverse effect on the electrical performance of the cell. Therefore, in this paper an experimental study is presented to enhance the performance of PV panels using Aluminum finned plate, and cooling under natural convection. The use of heat sinks has been conducted to address this problem by using an optimum design of Aluminum finned plate. The results show that the use of an Aluminum finned plate has increased the solar to electrical conversion efficiency by 1.75%, and the output power by 1.86 Watt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) is one of the most promising solutions to generate renewable electricity in the built environment. BIPV applications can replace regular building components into prefab integrated components that at the same time generate electricity, contributing to the aesthetics in the built environment. In this paper we thoroughly review the existing BIPV stakeholders, the BIPV ecosystem and policy and legislation for BIPV in the Netherlands. The information that is provided throughout this research and the conclusions that were drawn should be taken into account by the government, academia and the BIPV industry when further designing the BIPV (export) strategy for the Netherlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Representative carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) system of the post-combustion, no matter it employs adsorption, absorption or cryogenics separation technologies, commonly requires significant amounts of energy for the fundamental operation. Thus, energy consumption and related cost rise are primary challenges for the promotion of post-combustion technology. Solar thermal energy has already been widely used as an effective and clean energy source in industrial applications for drying, heating and even cooling since the last century. Various options of solar collector, such as flat plate type, evacuate tube type, and parabolic trough type, facilitate a comprehensive energy supply in different energy quality grades. In this paper, a technological framework for the energy efficiency in post-combustion CO2 capture is briefly presented for a connection between the energy demand of a CCS system and the energy supply of solar thermal engineering. The match performance between solar thermal utilization systems and CCS system is discussed in terms of energy form of the demand side (CCS), energy grades of supply sides (solar collector), and possible dynamic adjustment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an end user of energy products, carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) system commonly requires a significant amount of energy to sustain a steady operation. As a renewable energy source, solar energy can supply plenty of thermal energy in different grades through various types of solar collector. Between the demand and supply sides, several technologies of solar thermal engineering can be applied as a bridge for an energy efficient design. In this paper, a technological framework for the energy efficiency in post-combustion CO 2 capture is further discussed as a second section of the two-part study. Based on existing research, several possible options of alternative energy supply to CCS system are analyzed, particularly for solar thermal energy. Moreover, some key design issues for the solar-assisted CCS system, such as integrated solar reactor with the regeneration component, are discussed as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper aims to develop a novel hybrid system for wind and solar energy forecasting. The uniqueness or novelty of the proposed system is obvious because there are no available research works related to the hybrid forecasting system of renewable energy. The proposed ‘Hybrid (wind-solar) Energy Forecasting Model’ is dedicated to short-term forecasting (three-hour ahead) based on artificial neural network (ANN) learning algorithm. The network learning or training algorithm will be implemented using ANN Toolbox which is widely used simulation software incorporated in MATLAB. Eleven different climatological parameters of the last six years of a typical subtropical climate based area Rockhampton in Central Queensland; Australia has been taken for analysis investigation purpose and will be considered as the inputs of ANN model for hybrid (wind-solar) energy forecasting. The ANN will be trained in such a way that with minor modifications in the programming codes, it can perform the hybrid forecasting within the range from hourly (short term forecasting) to daily (medium term forecasting). This feature is one of the major innovations and indicating the great robustness of the proposed hybrid renewable energy forecasting system. As the hybrid forecasting system is quite a novel approach, the accuracy of the system will be revealed by comparing the results with the corresponding values of stand-alone forecasting model referred to as the persistent model. Finally, the fully developed system package may be commercialized and/or utilized in further research projects for researchers to analyze, validate and visualize their models on related domains. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: With considering the increasing of global temperature, and also the concern of global climate change, many policy makers worldwide have been accepted the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, in particular from the power industries. Energy resource use is one of the most important and Contentious issues of our time. The ocean provides a vast source of potential energy resources. Of the total solar radiation, oceans are the largest collectors, accumulating 250 billion barrels of oil equivalent, according to an estimate. This vast amount of solar energy absorbed in the oceans can be converted into electricity by a process known as Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion, popularly known as OTEC. OTEC makes use of the difference in temperatures of warm surface water (22–27°C) and very cold water at a depth of 1km (4–7°C). an open-cycle plant based on creating a rising mixture of water and steam bubbles or “foam”, which is separated at a height above sea-level, such that the water can be used to drive a turbine rotor. In closed-cycle OTEC, warm seawater heats a working fluid with a low boiling point, such as ammonia, and the ammonia vapor turns a turbine, which drives a generator. This paper discusses about the ocean energy, ocean thermal energy potential, ocean thermal energy conversion by the close, open and hybrid cycles, environmental impact and special conditions of these process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]