A novel air-gap-lens-walled compound parabolic concentrator incorporated with photovoltaic/thermal system (ALCPC-PV/T) was proposed. The optical, electrical and thermal performances of the ALCPC-PV/T under the outdoor condition were analyzed for building integrated concentrating...

Evacuated tube solar water heater systems are widely used in China due to their high thermal efficiency, simple construction requirements, and low manufacturing costs. CPC evacuated tube solar water heaters with a geometrical concentration ratio <em>C</em> of less than one are rare. A comparison of the...

Solar membrane distillation is a promising solution to overcome water shortage. However, developing a portable and highly efficient solar membrane distillation system is still a complex task. This work proposes a novel portable bio-inspired solar direct-drive membrane distillation system for...

Energy crisis and environment deterioration are two major problems for 21st century. Thermoelectric device is a promising solution for those two problems. This review begins with the basic concepts of the thermoelectric and discusses its recent material researches about the figure of merit. It...

The receiver’s back surface radiative characteristics of a heat-pipe evacuated-tube solar collector (ETSC) may have a significant influence on its performance. This influence is generally related to the back surface emissivity and temperature; however it has been not studied previously. This...

This paper presents an experimental investigation of a novel multi-effect solar desalination based on humidification–dehumidification process. The main objective of this work is to determine the operational and performance characteristics of the system with use of packed porous plastic balls...

Solar energy and wind energy are two main renewable energy sources. Concentration of solar energy onto a smaller area may reduce the cost of PV modules and achieve high efficiency. On the other hand, wind augmentation allows lower trigger wind speed besides the reduced wind turbine size. For...

This paper presents theoretical investigations into a hybrid ejector and CO2 vapour compression (VC) system for road transport cooling. The purpose is to utilise the waste heat from exhaust gas and the VC sub-system to drive the ejector system, whose cooling effect will be employed to subcool...

Concentrating photovoltaic (PV) systems provide an effective way to reduce the cost of electricity production by reducing the amount of silicon required. The use of a Fresnel lens is one of the typical design options for the concentrating PV systems. Compared with a parabolic mirror, a Fresnel...