We examine technology adoption and consumer welfare disparities across demographic groups using data from an online solar photovoltaic (PV) marketplace. Low-income households are 25% less likely to purchase solar through the platform and obtain 53% lower expected consumer surplus than...

Present work is focused on building a TRNSYS simulation model of solar water heating (SWH) system using heat pipe evacuated tubes, hybridized with conventional fuel (i.e., natural gas) backup to provide uninterrupted thermal energy supply. An experimental facility was developed to validate the...

Present work is focused on building a TRNSYS simulation model of solar water heating (SWH) system using heat pipe evacuated tubes, hybridized with conventional fuel (i.e., natural gas) backup to provide uninterrupted thermal energy supply. An experimental facility was developed to validate the...

This paper focuses on the climate change challenge faced by Central & Eastern European countries both those inside the European Union and those outside it. They have enormous energy intensity and associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, mainly from energy production, which is oil, and worse,...

This paper focuses on the climate change challenge faced by Central & Eastern European countries both those inside the European Union and those outside it. They have enormous energy intensity and associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, mainly from energy production, which is oil, and worse,...

Recent natural and human-induced emergencies have highlighted the vulnerability of the built environment. In order to immediately answer to people’s needs while managing an emergency, any intervention should be more proactive and take into account renewable technologies that can be applied in...

The presented paper focuses on different control strategies of a solar assisted ground source heat pump (SAGSHP) for cold climate. Dynamic simulation approach has been used through TRNSYS software. In particular, a SAGSHP solution operating with the strategies suitable for cold climate found in...

An experimental campaign has been conducted on a solar parabolic trough collector feeding a micro-CHP system (micro-cogeneration). The originality of the solar field is the DSG (direct steam generation) using a two axis tracker and a small size (46.5 m2) collector. The first step of the...

Low and medium temperature thermal energy with temperatures of 100°–150 °C is available from renewable energy sources such as solar thermal or geothermal energy. Recent progress in flat plate solar thermal collector technology indicates that economical solutions for this temperature range...

In this paper, experimental investigation into the basic characteristics of solar thermal conversion using supercritical CO2 natural convection are presented. Natural circulation of supercritical fluids can be easily induced and even a small change in temperature can result in large change in...

A novel hybrid solar chemical looping combustion (Hy-Sol-CLC) is presented, in which the oxygen carrier particles in a CLC system are employed to provide thermal energy storage for concentrated solar thermal energy. This hybrid aims to take advantage of key features of a chemical looping...

This paper considers life cycle environmental sustainability of solar water heating systems in regions with low solar irradiation, such as the UK. The results suggest that flat plate collectors have slightly lower environmental impacts than evacuated tube designs. Reducing the current energy...

The growth in the use of Renewable Energies in Spain has been remarkable. Among these energies is solar thermal energy. However, there are barriers which impede citizens from deciding to install the technologies that use this type of energy in their homes. Over recent years, various measures...

Based on the principle of cascade utilization of multiple energy resources, a gas-steam combined cycle power system integrated with solar thermo-chemical fuel conversion and CO2 capture has been proposed and analyzed. The collected solar heat at 550 °C drives the endothermic methane reforming...

Spanish local governments may offer, in accordance with Royal Decree 2/2004, tax credits up to 50% in Real Estate Tax for those with installed solar powered thermal or electrical energy systems. This paper analyzes by logistic regression estimation which factors influence the decision of...

Energy conserving is an important issue in greenhouse farming. Because greenhouse operations consume large amount of fossil fuel energy, energy conservation is necessary for securing famers’ income and alleviating global warming. Surplus air thermal energy (SATE) in greenhouses exists even in...

The cyclic operation of molten-salt thermal energy storage thermoclines for solar thermal power plants is systematically investigated. A comprehensive, two-temperature model is first developed for the cyclic operation of a thermocline operating with a commercially available molten salt as the...

Climate change due to greenhouse gases emission from fossil fuels has prompted several governments to channel resources in the commercial utilisation of renewable energy sources. Solar energy is one of the renewable energy sources that is highly untapped and underutilized. Australia has the...

Many efforts have been made in order to adequate the production of a solar thermal collector field to the consumption of domestic hot water of the inhabitants of a building. In that sense, much has been achieved in different domains: research agencies, government policies and manufacturers....

This paper describes heat driven cooling technologies in combination with solar thermal energy. A short overview about solar refrigeration systems is explained with a basic analysis of thermodynamic. Furthermore, new developments of open (desiccant cooling) and closed (absorption and adsorption)...

The desalination technology using membrane distillation driven by solar energy is a feasible solution for reducing the energy cost. A dynamic simulation model for a solar driven membrane distillation desalination system (SMDDS) is developed on the Aspen Custom Modeler® (ACM) platform for the...

Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) is a power generation method that utilizes small temperature difference between the warm surface water and cold deep water of the ocean. This paper describes the performance simulation results of an OTEC plant that utilizes not only ocean thermal energy but...

An advanced oxy-fuel hybrid power system (AHPS) is proposed in this paper. Solar thermal energy is used in the AHPS to produce saturated steam as the working fluid, and natural gas is internally combusted with pure oxygen. It is in configuration close to the zero emission Graz cycle. The...

The addition of MOx (M: di- or tri-valent transition metal ion) into cerium dioxide (CeO2) enhanced the ability of CeO2 for the oxygen (O2)-releasing reaction at lower temperature and swift hydrogen (H2)-generation reaction. CeO2–MOx (M=Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu) reactive ceramics having high melting...

Hydrogen, a promising and clean energy carrier, could potentially replace the use of fossil fuels in the transportation sector. Currently, no environmentally attractive, large-scale, low-cost and high-efficiency hydrogen production process is available for commercialization. Solar-driven...

A double reflector hot box solar cooker with a Transparent Insulation Material (TIM) has been designed, fabricated, tested and the performance compared with a single reflector hot box solar cooker without TIM. A 40 mm thick honeycomb made of polycarbonate capillaries was encapsulated between two...