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Innovative Design and Research on Solar Thermal Systems

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A2: Solar Energy and Photovoltaic Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2024) | Viewed by 7641

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Constantin Daicoviciu Street, No. 15, 400020 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Interests: thermal energy; solar engineering; renewable, alternative and clean energy sources; solar thermal and photovoltaic; heating systems; energy efficiency; indicators of performance; carbon emissions; environmental impact; well being

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Guest Editor
Department of Civil Engineering and Management, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Technical ‎University of Cluj-Napoca, 400027 Cluj-Napoca , Romania
Interests: high-performance buildings design; numerical ‎‎modelling and simulation of ‎hygrothermal behaviour; ‎energy auditing of ‎buildings; development of specialized ‎software; construction materials;‎ ‎environmental impact of buildings and green ‎‎technologies
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Guest Editors are inviting submissions to a Special Issue of Energies, entitled “Innovative Design and Research on Solar Thermal Systems”. As a starting point, hybrid energy systems represent a transition technological stage, whose applicability has been exploited in recent years, not only because it implies high levels of renewables harnessing, but also because it provides new trends and future directions of research in the energy field. This Special Issue covers topics related to the conversion, storage, and harnessing of the solar energy, in order to intensify the transition to a cleaner energy consumptions in daily anthropogenic activities related to the energy support of buildings, industry, agriculture, transport, and communications. The issue deals with newness in designing, analysing, optimising, and researching solar applications; innovative materials and technologies; and perspectives of energy producers, prosumers, consumers, scholars, specialists, and authorities in the energy field, in order to achieve high energy efficiency systems, buildings, and districts, as well as urban planning, with the final scope of protecting our planet and the environment, and achieving a globally decent human well being.

Topics and applications of interest for publication include but are not limited to:

  • Solar engineering
  • Innovative collectors, technologies, and materials
  • Design and optimization of solar and hybrid energy systems
  • Advanced energy storage systems
  • On-grid and off-grid solar applications
  • Solar buildings, active and passive
  • Infrastructure and parametric urban development
  • Buildings and districts' energy efficiency by solar energy harnessing
  • Energy efficiency and environmental impact of solar systems
  • Energy and carbon footprints
  • Energy performance analyses and indicators of performance

Dr. Teodora Melania Șoimoșan
Dr. Ligia Mihaela Moga
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. Energies 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 2600 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 thermal
  • innovative materials and technologies
  • energy systems
  • urban development
  • energy efficiency

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

32 pages, 10638 KiB  
Article
Improving the Energy Performance of a Household Using Solar Energy: A Case Study
by Carmen Mârza, Raluca Moldovan, Georgiana Corsiuc and Gelu Chisăliță
Energies 2023, 16(18), 6423; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16186423 - 05 Sep 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1449
Abstract
In the global context of energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy, solar energy plays a key role in electricity generation, having the highest annual growth in the last years. This case study focuses on improving the overall energy efficiency [...] Read more.
In the global context of energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy, solar energy plays a key role in electricity generation, having the highest annual growth in the last years. This case study focuses on improving the overall energy efficiency of a household through thermal retrofitting, harnessing solar energy with photovoltaic (PV) systems and using air-source (ASHP) or ground-source (GSHP) heat pumps. The electricity generated by the PV systems is used to power the heat pumps and all other electricals of the household. The simulations for the ASHP and GSHP systems were conducted with GeoT*SOL software, while for electricity generation by PV systems, PV*SOL Premium software was used. The comparative results show: a decrease in the heating load to about 51.56%; an annual heating requirement of 53.88% of the normed one; an energy consumption index of about 58.34 kWh/m2·year; an annual energy consumption reduction of 88% for ASHP and 91% for GSHP, compared with the current gas heating system; 34% of the household consumption was covered by the PV system in the case of using ASHP and 36% for GSHP; and lower operating costs by 47% for the PV system with ASHP and 53% for the PV system with GSHP. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Design and Research on Solar Thermal Systems)
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13 pages, 6121 KiB  
Article
Design and Implementation of a Dual-Axis Solar Tracking System
by Huilin Shang and Wei Shen
Energies 2023, 16(17), 6330; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16176330 - 31 Aug 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4047
Abstract
A dual-axis solar tracking system with a novel and simple structure was designed and constructed, as documented in this paper. The photoelectric method was utilized to perform the tracking. The solar radiation values of the designed system and a fixed panel system were [...] Read more.
A dual-axis solar tracking system with a novel and simple structure was designed and constructed, as documented in this paper. The photoelectric method was utilized to perform the tracking. The solar radiation values of the designed system and a fixed panel system were theoretically estimated and compared, showing that the proposed system is more efficient in collecting solar energy than a fixed solar panel with a 30° tilted fixed surface facing south. The experimental results verified the validity of the prediction as well as the efficiency of the proposed solar tracking system. In a comparison of the data obtained from the measurements, 24.6% more energy was seen to have been obtained in the dual-axis solar tracking system compared to the fixed system. This study possesses potential value in small- and medium-sized photovoltaic applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Design and Research on Solar Thermal Systems)
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16 pages, 1606 KiB  
Article
Cosimulation of Integrated Organic Photovoltaic Glazing Systems Based on Functional Mock-Up Unit
by Santiago Riquelme, Adrien Gros, Bruno Klemz, Luís Mauro Moura and Nathan Mendes
Energies 2023, 16(2), 951; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16020951 - 14 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1226
Abstract
This study presents an approach to simulating building-integrated photovoltaic glazing systems composed of semitransparent organic photovoltaic (ST-OPV) elements. The approach consists of a mathematical cosimulation model based on the energy balance of complex glazing systems, considering heat transfer as conduction, mixed convection, and [...] Read more.
This study presents an approach to simulating building-integrated photovoltaic glazing systems composed of semitransparent organic photovoltaic (ST-OPV) elements. The approach consists of a mathematical cosimulation model based on the energy balance of complex glazing systems, considering heat transfer as conduction, mixed convection, and radiation effects. The cosimulation method is based on a functional mock-up unit (FMU) developed in Python and the building simulation program Domus. This work aims at presenting a cosimulation technique that can be easily applied to building energy simulation tools for the assessment of photovoltaic energy generation in glazing systems. The cosimulation glazing model was verified according to ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 140-2011, and the zone temperature was kept within with a root medium square error (RMSE) of 1.45 °C. The simulated building with an ST-OPV system showed promising results and could be applied to near-zero energy buildings since each 6-m2 glazing has a power generation of around 77 W, equivalent to 9% of available solar resource. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Design and Research on Solar Thermal Systems)
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