Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.5
2.7
Journals
Applied Sciences
Special Issues
Solar Energy Collection, Conversion and Utilization
share announcement

Solar Energy Collection, Conversion and Utilization

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Science and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 February 2024) | Viewed by 4096

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Diogo Canavarro

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Renewable Energies Chair, Polo da Mitra da Universidade de Évora, Edifício Ário Lobo de Azevedo, 7000-083 Nossa Senhora da Tourega, Portugal
Interests: non-imaging optics; numerical modelling; concentrated solar power; solar process heat; thermochemical applications
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Manuel Collares-Pereira

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Retired, Renewable Energies Chair, Polo da Mitra da Universidade de Évora, Edifício Ário Lobo de Azevedo, 7000-083 Nossa Senhora da Tourega, Portugal
Interests: solar energy; energy storage; solar systems and applications

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Solar energy conversion systems represent a strong opportunity for low-cost electricity, heat production, and even thermochemical processes. These systems, which are associated with thermal storage systems (latent or sensible heat), are a promising alternative for the electrification of processes and technologies, and could result in immediate technical and technological realization in residential/services sectors, for example, in the non-energy intensive industry, with urban and short-range mobility. Moreover, they could be utilized in the production and distribution of renewable fuels in economic sectors which are difficult to electrify, such as long-distance transport—road, air or sea—or industrial sectors based on high-energy-intensity processes, e.g., metallurgical, chemical, glass, or cement industries.

The range of technologies fitting the scope of such processes is wide (e.g., flat plate collectors, evacuated collectors, CPC-type collectors, linear Fresnel reflectors, parabolic troughs, central tower receivers, etc.), depending upon the desired operating temperature for each process. However, these technologies face a tremendous challenge: improving their overall efficiency conversion to become more competitive in comparison to other technologies. In particular, the use of solar photovoltaic technology for the electrification of several thermal processes is a real alternative, especially for temperatures below 200 °C, due to its current low-cost implementation. Additionally, new trends of thermal energy storage (phase-change material systems, molten salt tanks, etc.) are being developed at a great pace, and the interconnection between them and solar collectors is fundamental to increase these systems’ efficiency, dispatchability and flexibility,

This Special Issue invites original review articles on recent advances in solar energy collection systems concerning the abovementioned topics, with an emphasis on new developments of this technology seeking maximum performance and cost-effectiveness.

Dr. Diogo Canavarro
Prof. Dr. Manuel Collares-Pereira
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. Applied Sciences 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

  • solar energy
  • solar collectors
  • thermal energy storage
  • solar energy conversion
  • cost-competitiveness

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

14 pages, 1217 KiB  
Article
Experimental Investigation of the BIPV System under Şanlıurfa Meteorological Conditions
by Yusuf Can Demir and Mehmet Azmi Aktacir
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(20), 11286; https://doi.org/10.3390/app132011286 - 14 Oct 2023
Viewed by 732
Abstract
In this study, under the meteorological conditions of Şanlıurfa, Turkey, some parameter studies were conducted to more efficiently utilize Building Integrated Photovoltaic BIPV systems placed on different facades of a building. For this purpose, one single-sided (monofacial) panel was placed on both the [...] Read more.
In this study, under the meteorological conditions of Şanlıurfa, Turkey, some parameter studies were conducted to more efficiently utilize Building Integrated Photovoltaic BIPV systems placed on different facades of a building. For this purpose, one single-sided (monofacial) panel was placed on both the roof and the east facade. As an innovation brought about by this study, both bifacial and monofacial panels with the same production potential were compared under the same conditions on the south facade. In addition, to enhance the production performance of the rear surface of the bifacial panel, a reflector was placed on the wall surface by leaving a gap between the wall and the panel. The experimental study was conducted between February and July. In addition, the building model created experimentally was analyzed monthly using the PVsyst program for a duration of one year. According to the study results, in the 6-month BIPV experimental application, the electrical production of the bifacial panel was found to be 15.1% higher than that of the monofacial panel under the same conditions. In addition, based on the 1-year results in the PVsyst analysis, the bifacial panel demonstrated a 5.86% higher production performance compared with the monofacial panel. This demonstrates that the efficiency of the bifacial panel in the experimental setup was enhanced by placing a reflective surface on the structure wall behind it. According to the complete annual analysis results obtained from the PVsyst analysis, the bifacial panel in the south produced 401.65 kWh, the monofacial panel produced 379.41 kWh, the panel on the eastern facade produced 313.34 kWh, and the rooftop panel, where the highest production was recorded, generated 505.64 kWh of energy. Therefore, it is anticipated that the use of bifacial panels with reflective surfaces on the roof under the meteorological conditions of Şanlıurfa will demonstrate the highest performance for the BIPV system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Solar Energy Collection, Conversion and Utilization)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 17691 KiB  
Article
Evaluation and Validation of Photovoltaic Potential Based on Time and Pathway of Solar-Powered Electric Vehicle
by Chanwook Park, Haneul Park, Hwanhee Jeon, Kyoik Choi and Jangwon Suh
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(2), 1025; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13021025 - 12 Jan 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1862
Abstract
This study evaluates and validates the power output potential of using the travel time and driving route of a photovoltaic (PV)-powered electric vehicle (EV). A scenario was constructed wherein a car with modules attached to four sides (roof, rear window, left door, and [...] Read more.
This study evaluates and validates the power output potential of using the travel time and driving route of a photovoltaic (PV)-powered electric vehicle (EV). A scenario was constructed wherein a car with modules attached to four sides (roof, rear window, left door, and right door) drove on seventeen road sections with various inclinations and azimuths. The shadow effect of the surrounding terrain and buildings was considered to assess the PV potential. Consequently, it was possible to analyze the differences in the potential of the four modules in the same or two sections with different topographies. It was determined that the car could produce 0.0158 kWh for a single drive (approximately 10 min) and 221 kWh for one year (considering six hours a day). The potential of the roof module was the highest, followed by those of the rear and two doors. The potentials of the modules attached to the rear window and side doors were calculated to be approximately 42% and 27%, respectively, of the roof module potential. Furthermore, the possibility of enhancing the potential of future PV-powered EVs was discussed. The results obtained in this study can be used to develop power-output algorithms and navigation solutions for PV-powered EVs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Solar Energy Collection, Conversion and Utilization)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 3235 KiB  
Article
An Innovative Parabolic Trough Collector Design with a Twin-Cavity Receiver
by Dimitrios N. Korres, Evangelos Bellos, Panagiotis Lykas and Christos Tzivanidis
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(24), 12551; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122412551 - 07 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 911
Abstract
An innovative parabolic trough concentrator coupled to a twin cavity receiver (PTC-TC) in evacuated tube conditions is investigated thermally and optically. The suggested design is compared with a PTC design with a flat receiver (PTC-F) in order to evaluate the efficiency of the [...] Read more.
An innovative parabolic trough concentrator coupled to a twin cavity receiver (PTC-TC) in evacuated tube conditions is investigated thermally and optically. The suggested design is compared with a PTC design with a flat receiver (PTC-F) in order to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed configuration. In the very first stages of the study, the optical efficiency was calculated for both collectors, and the optimum design was determined in the PTC-TC case. Then a mass flow rate independency procedure was conducted to ensure accurate results and to make a suitable comparison. The collectors were examined in a wide range of inlet temperatures ranging from 20 °C to 200 °C, and the thermal performance was calculated. Through the comparison process, it was revealed that the proposed collector appears to have higher thermal performance than the typical collector. In particular, there was a mean enhancement of approximately 8%, while the minimum enhancement was found to be greater than 5%. The simulation results regarding both configurations were verified through two models based on theoretical equations. In both geometries, the mean deviations in the verification procedure were lower than 5.6% in both the Darcy friction factor and the Nusselt number. The design and the simulations were conducted with the SolidWorks Flow Simulation tool. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Solar Energy Collection, Conversion and Utilization)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop