Sustainable production of distilled water using solar desalination systems is becoming more attractive in recent years. Many researchers are trying to enhance the efficiency of such systems. In this study, an improved Parabolic Dish Solar Water Desalination System (PDSWDS) is developed utilizing solar tracking system and finned tube to produce distilled water. The improved solar system consists of solar collector dish to collect solar energy and reflect it to a still tank (receiver) that has the sea water and the system tested in the hot environmental conditions of Iraq. Due to the increased concentration of solar radiation, the temperature is increased inside the still tank causing the water to evaporate. To increase the condensation rate of water vapors, fines are provided over the surface along the length of the main receiver. Sun tracking system is equipped with the dish collector to enhance the efficiency of the solar desalination system. The system used to provide 40 to 50 L of pure water per day, assuming that the structure works about 8 h per day. Results showed increase in temperature of the still tank by 120°C when sun tracking system was employed compared with the system without it in which temperature reached to 71°C. The overall findings of this study show that the thermal efficiency increased by 30
This paper investigates the impact of the incorporated reflector on the dynamic performance of a flat-plate solar collector. To this end, a mathematical model was developed based on the energy balance of the collector’s various components. The equations were then solved using a numerical algorithm. The results show that incorporating the reflective surface into the collector envelope, and despite the energy losses that may result, improves performance by increasing the energy received by the absorber. Within the scope of this study the heat gain between configurations with and without reflection results in a temperature rise of 10.85°C. In particular, temperatures fall with the mass flow rate of the fluid, while they increase with the number of tubes. When the number of tubes increases from 5 to 10, outlet temperatures rise from 38.8–53.95°C for lengths of 1–2.5 m. When the number of tubes increases from 5 to 10, thermal efficiency drops from 60.0–41.6
Thermal energy storage (TES) systems have become advanced technologies for storing and releasing thermal energy during periods of imbalance between energy generation from renewable energy sources and consumption. Phase change materials (PCM) have the capability to store significant amount of thermal energy through latent heat absorption and release. However, thermal energy storage (TES) systems should be designed to accelerate the melting process of the phase change materials. In this study, the influences different fin designs (annular shaped, longitudinal shaped, extruded shaped) on the heat transfer process and phase transition characteristics of a PCM in Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) systems are numerically investigated using finite element method (FEM). Additionally, only charging process was considered in this comparative analysis. Through the thermal assessment, it was found that Model 4 LHTES with extruded fin demonstrated more uniform temperature distribution and faster phase transition during 6-h time interval when compared to other designs of fins. The complete melting of PCM within the Model 4 LHTES with extruded fin was observed at around 3 h and 20 min, whereas the PCM in Model 3 LHTES with longitudinal fins fully transitioned to the liquid at the 3 h and 42 min. In contrast, the PCM in the Model 2 LHTES with annular fins had entirely melted at 4 h, the melting process on Model 1 LHTES without fins was still continue during 6 h period. These numerical results facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of key aspects of fins integration to optimizing future LHTES system design.
One of the main elements contributing to heat loss in buildings is the exterior envelope, which can be improved by employing passive solar systems. This research aims to investigate the Barra–Costantini system’s performance through simulation to obtain the best thermal performance with varying system characteristics, enhance thermal comfort, and reduce energy demand. Three types of glass—single-layer, two-layer, and three-layer—along with various channel dimensions (0.05, 0.1, and 0.15 m) and vent configurations were simulated in a residential building in Mashhad. For a room with a volume of 33.6 m3, the maximum heat gained with a 15 cm depth channel and single-layer glass resulted in an energy saving of 29.1
Use of glass facades is increasing day by day in modern buildings in order to improve the daylight availability and aesthetic views of the building. Lighting load of the building is directly influenced due to daylight through the glass window of the building. Controlling artificial lighting system according to available daylight into the building space reduce energy consumption of the building. However penetration of daylight into the building space increases heat gain which results higher cooling load in most of the places in hot and worm climatic zones in India. External shadings devices are useful means to control heat gain inside the building space and reduces cooling as well as lighting load of the building. The present study focuses on the effect of daylight integration into the building modelled according to National Building Code 2016 (NBC) and Energy Conservation in Building Code 2017 (ECBC 2017) in India through window combinations. Three different daylight conditions and five different windows to wall ratio (WWR) have been studied in Kolkata, India and the result is validated with two other locations situated in higher and lower latitude compared to study location to verify the applicability of the result to other places. The result is compared to a reference building to quantify the benefits of daylight integration with artificial lighting system in terms of long term energy savings and economic benefit.
A photovoltaic system using a phase change material as cooling technology (PV-PCM) is analyzed under Morocco’s climatic environment in order to evaluate the performance of the system in terms of daily energy saving. A paraffin wax type of PCM with a melting temperature of 25°C is integrated in the back of photovoltaic panel to analyze the effect of this added material on temperature profile and also on the output power generated by the PV panel used. A numerical simulation with finite element method, contains a coupling between the Navier–Stokes equation and the general heat equation is developed and validated with an experimental setup in the aim to predict the thermal behavior of the phase change material used in the back of PV panel under daily temperature and illumination conditions. As a result, an important reduction in PV temperature is observed and also a significant increase in PV output power due to cooling produced by PCM has been noticed and quantified presented by a gain in daily PV productivity more than 10
Hydrogen, when produced from renewable energy sources (RES), emerges as a highly desirable and sustainable fuel, offering a pathway toward decarbonizing energy systems. Among the various methods of green hydrogen generation, water electrolysis powered by renewable energy stands out as the most environmentally benign approach. This study presents experimental findings and software modeling developed in MATLAB for a small-scale solar hydrogen generation system utilizing proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis. The experiments were conducted in the Ouargla region of southeastern Algeria, characterized by its arid desert climate, to evaluate the system’s performance under real-world conditions. The system integrates two NM 54 polycrystalline photovoltaic (PV) panels, each with a capacity of 250 W, a power control unit equipped with DC-DC converters, and a PEM electrolyzer. Key experimental results revealed that the system produced approximately 295 dm3 of hydrogen during the trial period. These findings provide a foundational benchmark for scaling up and optimizing hydrogen production systems capable of year-round operation in similar climatic conditions. In addition to the technical analysis, an economic assessment was conducted to estimate the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCoH). Sensitivity analysis highlighted the significant influence of the electrolyzer’s capital cost on the LCoH. The projected results indicate that the cost of producing hydrogen from solar energy in Ouargla is economically competitive, with an estimated LCoH of 8.8 per kilogram of hydrogen. This study underscores the feasibility of solar-driven hydrogen production in desert regions and contributes valuable insights for advancing renewable hydrogen technologies in resource-abundant areas.
A transient analysis of a standalone hybrid system that integrates atmospheric water harvesting of desorption solar still and PV solar panels supplying power to an electrolyzer for green hydrogen production is proposed and analyzed. The study is carried out and assessed under the climate conditions of Alexandria, Egypt. The harvesting unit produces the freshwater and the panels produce the power required for powering the electrolyzer. The subsystem models for the PV panels, harvesting silica gel unit, and electrolyzer, as well as the linkage model of the overall hybrid system, are presented using MATLAB, validated, and analyzed. Subsystems and the hybrid system performance parameters are investigated and evaluated. Moreover, the impact of solar intensity on the performance of the system is evaluated. The results show that the PV current, voltage, and power for the electrolyzer input rise with rising the solar intensity yielding together hydrogen and freshwater production rates with electrolyzer efficiency in the range of 70–71
Many researchers have turned to studying and developing vortex technologies for generating clean electrical energy. Vortex technologies generate an upward swirling air stream when operating in a moderate temperature range. The conventional air solar collector with a swirling engine is inadequate for creating and keeping updrafts by a previous design. The solar air vortex generator (SAVG) is one of the new alternative energies utilising solar energy to create artificial vortices (AV). The principle of its operation is similar to that of the solar updraft tower (SUT) plan. The research sought to propose, design, and optimise an artificial air vortex generator (AAVG) system by performing a set of calculations using the ANSYS 2024 R1 simulation software. Therefore, there are two aims in this research the first one is the effect of the engine diameter of the solar air vortex generator (SAVG) system in one air inflow slot and the second aim is to study the effect of the number of air inflow slots on artificial air velocity vortex flow behaviour inside the (SAVG) model in single guide blades, these facts were not mentioned in previous studies. Reducing the diameter of the solar air vortex generator (SAVG) system in one slot inflow for [36] by 50
This study systematically investigates the role of thiourea (TU) as an additive in optimizing the performance of (FAPbI3)0.85(MAPbBr3)0.15 perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Using controlled fabrication in an inert glove-box environment, we examined how varying TU concentrations (0–0.15 mM) influences film morphology, crystallinity, and photovoltaic performance. More specifically, X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements revealed that 0.1 mM TU significantly enhances film quality, producing larger, more uniform grains (∼2 μm) with improved crystallographic orientation along the (001) and (002) planes with less pinholes. The champion solar cell devices achieved a PCE of 19
This work reports the formulation and performance assessment of composite phase change materials (C-PCMs) for solar thermal energy storage, comprising stearic acid (SA), recycled aluminum (Al) powder (5–25 wt
To enhance the effectiveness of solar power (SP) prediction, particularly in the face of variability and uncertainty, this study proposes an advanced prediction approach focusing on three key areas: feature extraction, data training, and online learning. The feature extraction process involves clustering historical data using a self-organizing map network and reducing dimensionality through kernel principal component analysis (KPCA) to extract the most relevant features from input-output pairs. The data training phase employs interval prediction methods, which address uncertainty and variability more comprehensively than conventional point prediction methods. Finally, the proposed method incorporates online learning, which is not widely used in SP prediction. This method enhances adaptability to real-time weather uncertainties by continuously validating and updating models with new data, thereby improving SP interval prediction accuracy. Simulation results, based on a set of comparisons using real-world SP datasets, demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
This study aims to evaluate a solar chimney-based natural ventilation evaporative cooling (NVEC) system in pig housing environments as a low-cost and sustainable solar energy solution for cooling pig housing environments across growth stages. The system was tested in four pig growth stages: weaning, nursery, growing, and finishing. The results showed that solar energy-driven chimney ventilation can maintain a desirable thermal environment for pigs at weaning, nursery, and growing stages, but cannot for pigs at the finishing stage, as they require a much cooler environment. There is a significantly strong positive correlation (r = 0.96, p < 0.05) between solar chimney temperature and ventilation rate, highlighting the significance of solar thermal energy in the solar chimney to initiate and facilitate airflow, and passively remove heat from the pig house environment. Solar chimney ventilation had a 37
This research article evaluates the performance of an Inverted Solar Collector (ISC) dryer for drying Sandfish in the Sahara region of Algeria (El-Oued City). Experimental studies compared an ISC dryer equipped with copper fins (CF) and paraffin wax (PCM) latent heat storage to an ISC dryer without CF-PCM, as well as to natural sun drying. Performance assessment considered both thermal efficiency and product quality. Sandfish with an initial moisture content of 73.18
The integration of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems with thermoelectric generator (TEG) and composite phase change material (CPCM) represents a transformative approach to overcoming the inefficiencies associated with standalone solar technologies. This review critically analyzes recent advances in hybrid SPV-TEG-CPCM systems, focusing on material innovations, system configurations, and their collective impact on energy efficiency and thermal regulation. The novelty of this integration lies in its ability to harness waste heat from SPV modules and utilize it for secondary power generation and thermal storage, thus improving energy conversion rates and ensuring operational stability under fluctuating environmental conditions. The paper synthesizes state-of-the-art research, highlights technical challenges, and outlines future research directions, offering a structured and in-depth perspective for researchers and engineers.
This study compares the performance of Long Short-Term Memory and Transformer models in predicting wind speed, optimized using the hybrid PSO-SA algorithm. Accurate wind speed prediction is critical for efficient wind farm management, reducing carbon emissions and reliance on fossil fuels. Hourly wind speed, air pressure, relative humidity, and air temperature data from the Alta Wind Energy Center (2020–2022) were used. Key hyperparameters for both models were optimized, and ensemble methods like Random Forest, XGBoost, CatBoost, and Stacking were applied. Random Forest emerged as the most accurate model, demonstrating superior performance in integrating LSTM and Transformer outputs. This research emphasizes the strengths and limitations of each approach and underscores the role of advanced machine learning techniques in enhancing the efficiency and reliability of wind power generation.
Standalone Photovoltaic systems (PV) with battery storage are considered to be the economical and environmentally beneficial option as an alternative to conventional electricity. In this research, detailed technical, and economic comparison of PV systems with different batteries have been considered. Lead Acid Batteries, and Lithium-ion batteries are considered as an energy storage medium. In technical analysis, the capacity requirement for both cases have been examined by considering the daily energy demand for a residential building in Karachi, Pakistan. The technical analysis also includes the battery capacity and mass requirement. Further, the energy payback has been thoroughly studied to explore the overall impact of the system on the environment. The PV system with Lead Acid Batteries achieves an energy payback of 5 years and save around 50 tons of CO2 production over the lifespan of 20 years. On the other hand, PV system with Lithium-ion significantly longer energy payback of 17.5 years and just save around 10 tons of CO2 production. To assess the performance of both systems in real time scenario, simulation through PVsyst has been conducted. The economic aspects are also compared by determining the Net Present Value (NPV), Life Cycle Cost (LCC), Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE), Life time Benefit (LTB), and simple payback and from overall analysis, PV with Lead Acid Batteries, with LCOE of 0.041/kWh was proved to be more economically beneficial as the other one using Lithium-ion batteries,0.07/kWh as energy storage.
This paper presents a systematic review of the engineering aspects of thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membrane fabrication and their integration with renewable energy sources (RES) to enhance the efficiency of desalination systems. Particular attention is given to a synergistic approach that combines the advantages of nanomodified membranes with solar and wind energy systems. The review analyzes types of nanophases, integration methods, interfacial interaction mechanisms, and their impact on operational performance. The results show that TFN membranes provide a 30–100
For the synthesis of precursors and ceramics with the nominal composition Bi1.7Pb0.3Sr2Ca29Cu30Oᵧ, the solar gradient melt alloy quenching technology was employed. The obtained precursors and ceramics expel a magnet along the direction of the external magnetic field. This expulsion effect is also observed under the action of a directed light flux. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed a layered morphology of the precursors and ceramics, featuring caverns formed within the volume of the plate-like layers. Submicron-sized particles are located inside these caverns. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the existence of superconducting homologous phases differing in stoichiometry. Such a structure can be interpreted as quasi-heterophase. Electrical resistance and magnetic properties were investigated in the temperature range of 79–460 K under ambient air conditions. Anomalous changes in resistance and magnetic induction were detected at temperatures of 280, 320, and 420 K. Ceramics are subject to thermal treatment for 1–3 h exhibit behavior characteristic of semiconductors, namely a decrease in resistance with increasing temperature. However, after thermal treatment exceeding 24 h, a transition to a superconducting-type dependence is observed. Samples that were not subject to annealing (i.e., retaining defects formed during melt quenching) demonstrate transitions at temperatures above 200 K. An explanation for the formation of high-temperature superconductivity (HTSC) is proposed based on the formation of a system of homologous phases constituting a quasi-heterophase system.
The rapid increase in global energy demand and the limited availability of traditional energy resources require the development of renewable energy sources. Solar energy is one of the renewable energy sources with a very high potential for use. Accordingly, solar dryers are one of the areas of use of solar energy, which is relevant in issues such as ensuring food security, preventing crop losses, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This work provides a short review of research published in the journal Applied Solar Energy (English translation of Geliotekhnika) on solar dryers. A total of 41 articles from 2007 to 2025 (as of May 1, 2025) were found and downloaded in Applied Solar Energy (English translation of Geliotekhnika). After analyzing the annotations of these articles, it was found that 20 articles presented the results of scientific research on solar dryers designed for drying agricultural products based on solar energy. The full text of these articles was analyzed and the main data and experimental results were summarized. The main parameters of solar dryers, such as thermal efficiency, drying efficiency, activation energy, product loading volume, and thin drying model for drying speed, were studied.
