Evaluation and Optimization of an Innovative Low-Cost Photovoltaic Solar Concentrator

Abstract

Many researches showed that the cost of the energy produced by photovoltaic (PV) concentrators is strongly reduced with respect to flat panels, especially in those countries that have a high solar irradiation. The cost drop comes from the reduction of the expensive high-efficiency photovoltaic surface through the use of optical concentrators of the solar radiation. In this paper, an experimental innovative PV low-concentration system is analysed. Numerical simulations were performed to determine the possible reasons of energy losses in the prototype, primarily due to geometrical factors. In particular, the effect of the shadows produced from the mirrors on the prototype performances was analysed: shadows are often neglected in the design phase of such systems. The study demonstrates that shadows may affect the performances of a hypothetical optimized PV low-concentration system up to 15%. Finally, an economical evaluation was carried out comparing the proposed optimized system to a traditional flat PV panel.

Hydrate-based removal of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide from biogas mixtures: Experimental investigation and energy evaluations

“…Nevertheless, many researches showed that the energy costs of innovative technologies, as well as renewable energies, at a prototype scale are expected to strongly decrease [50]. The cost drop may come from an efficient control of kinetics and thermodynamics of the hydrate formation through the use of proper promoters which can significantly minimize the time and energy demand of hydrate-based technologies.…”

Development of Clay Tile Coatings for Steep-Sloped Cool Roofs

“…In fact, parallel to the concept of cool materials optimization [28], the appreciation of traditional techniques and natural local materials and technical elements, i.e., clay tiles, contributes to the purpose of providing important advantages from a global environment point of view [29][30][31], such as: low embodied energy, ability to regulate indoor humidity, reduced toxicity, and relatively low price [14].…”

A Building Energy Efficiency Optimization Method by Evaluating the Effective Thermal Zones Occupancy

“…(i) innovative strategies for energy conservation coupled with indoor comfort improvement [4]; (ii) advanced procedures for envelope system optimization [5,6] toward zero energy buildings; (iii) elaboration of new high performing renewable energy plants, i.e., PV panels, to optimize the building-plant integrated system performance and environmental impact [7]; (iv) increasingly detailed tools for simulating the thermal-energy performance of buildings and their components with respect to specific climatological contexts [8]; (v) development of the building occupants' awareness and its effect in energy saving [9]; (vi) elaboration of environmental strategies spanning the single-building boundary, for energy optimization of urban inter-building networks at neighborhood level [10][11][12].…”