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Policymakers have become eager to move towards sustainability recently due to the growing costs of electricity and concerns about the environment. Environment friendly and economical energy sources, such as solar power, are being introduced at increasing rates. Photovoltaic (PV) panels are considered an important method of harnessing solar power. Although solar energy is one of the most efficient renewable and sustainable sources of energy, the accumulation of dust and debris on even one panel in a PV array reduces the efficiency of energy generation, thus highlighting the need to keep the surfaces of PV panels clean. Several methods can be used to clean PV panels, such as Heliotex technology, electrostatic cleaning, the use of self-cleaning glass, automatic cleaning and manual cleaning. The Preference Selection Index (PSI) multicriteria decision-making approach is used in this study to compare these cleaning methods. Data were collected via a survey of solar energy experts in Jordan to enable a comparison of these cleaning methods, and several attributes were considered. After the initial PSI analysis, a follow-up sensitivity analysis was conducted that involved removing the cost attributes. The results showed that the best method was manual cleaning. The results of the sensitivity analysis confirmed that manual cleaning is the method most often preferred by experts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A huge variation exists among countries in terms of freshwater availability. Water scarcity is considered a global problem that continues to grow with the fast increase in population and depleting sources of freshwater. Water desalination can be a professional solution for addressing such scarcity of water supply, but the selection of the suitable desalination method can be hard in some cases and depends on several criteria. Multi-criteria decision-making methods could be used to simplify the decision-making problem. In this paper, the preference selection index (PSI) will be used to rank seven desalination technologies; these include reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, multiflash desalination, multi-effect desalination, mechanical vapor compression, nanofiltration and ion exchange. Twelve criteria were used in evaluating the desalination methods, including the capital cost, operating cost, the energy required, recovery ratio, product water quality, adaptability, lifetime, environmental impact, simplicity, reliability, maturity and applicability. The results of the PSI model showed that the ion exchange technology is the optimal desalination technology, followed by nanofiltration technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policymakers have become eager to move towards sustainability recently due to the growing costs of electricity and concerns about the environment. Environment friendly and economical energy sources, such as solar power, are being introduced at increasing rates. Photovoltaic (PV) panels are considered an important method of harnessing solar power. Although solar energy is one of the most efficient renewable and sustainable sources of energy, the accumulation of dust and debris on even one panel in a PV array reduces the efficiency of energy generation, thus highlighting the need to keep the surfaces of PV panels clean. Several methods can be used to clean PV panels, such as Heliotex technology, electrostatic cleaning, the use of self-cleaning glass, automatic cleaning and manual cleaning. The Preference Selection Index (PSI) multicriteria decision-making approach is used in this study to compare these cleaning methods. Data were collected via a survey of solar energy experts in Jordan to enable a comparison of these cleaning methods, and several attributes were considered. After the initial PSI analysis, a follow-up sensitivity analysis was conducted that involved removing the cost attributes. The results showed that the best method was manual cleaning. The results of the sensitivity analysis confirmed that manual cleaning is the method most often preferred by experts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]