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Recent Developments in Solar Thermal Energy

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: 10 March 2025 | Viewed by 1829

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Electromagnetism and Electronics, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Interests: solar thermal energy; renewable energies (general overview); energy efficiency in industry and buildings; heat transfer enhancement; teaching of energy; sustainable mobility; other energetics: energy policies, gender and energy, energy poverty, etc.; network simulation methods (numerical methods); experimentation in solar thermal; testing PVT solar collectors; testing nanofluids in FPSC; FPSC numerical models

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Guest Editor
Department of Thermal and Fluid Engineering, Technical University of Cartagena, 30202 Cartagena, Spain
Interests: heat transfer; thermal engineering; fluid mechanics; computational fluid dynamics; solar thermal convection; engineering thermodynamics; heat exchangers; CFD simulation; applied thermodynamics; numerical simulation and modeling; computational fluid mechanics; refrigeration and air conditioning; heat transfer enhancement by means of extended surfaces; network simulation method (numerical method); heat transfer experimentation and modeling; thermal radiation; thermography and applications

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The journal Energies is pleased to invite you to submit research and/or review papers for a Special Issue on “Recent Developments in Solar Thermal Energy”.

Thermal energy is currently even more in demand than electrical energy in industry and buildings, solar thermal being one of the most widespread renewable technologies that is adequate to provide a supply for this demand, although this solution has thus far been implemented to provide hot water mostly for domestic or service applications. Solar thermal energy is currently seen by the International Energy Agency, the European Union, etc., as an important tool for the decarbonization of society and particularly as a pathway to attain zero-carbon-ready buildings by 2030 (Solar thermal technologies deployed in around 400 million dwellings by 2030 – Analysis - IEA).

Although sometimes seen as a mature technology, new developments and uses of solar thermal energy are being identified by researchers all over the world, as the list of topics below shows.

We are writing to invite you to submit your original experimental, theoretical, and review work to this Special Issue. We look forward to receiving your outstanding research. 

Topics of interest for this Special Issue include but are not limited to the following:

  • Optics, new materials, and coatings for solar thermal devices
  • Solar thermal concentration and tracking
  • Energy, exergetic and economic analysis of solar thermal systems. Static and dynamic analysis.
  • Solar thermal modelling and simulation
  • Direct photo-thermal conversion
  • Solar forecasting for thermal applications
  • New fluid carriers. Nanofluids and ionafluids
  • Heat transfer enhancers in solar applications
  • Sensible and latent heat and thermo-chemical storage in solar applications. Phase change materials (PCM)
  • Solar hot water and air devices. Flat plate, vacuum and unconventional devices
  • Solar thermal power generation
  • Photovoltaic and thermoelectric modules—thermal hybridization
  • Solar dryers
  • Solar stills—water purification and distillation, ponds, and desalination
  • Solar chimneys
  • Solar thermal–heat pump hybridization
  • Material testing using solar thermal energy
  • Solar stoves, cookers, and furnaces
  • Solar thermal refrigeration and air conditioning
  • Solar thermal-biomass and other renewables hybridization
  • Integration of solar thermal energy in district heating and refrigeration
  • Solar thermal industrial applications
  • Solar thermal integration in buildings and bioclimatic applications
  • Chemical and biological applications of solar thermal energy
  • New solar thermal applications
  • Control, management, and optimization of solar thermal plants
  • Life cycle assessment of solar thermal plants
  • Economics and policies around solar thermal plants

Prof. Dr. Mariano Alarcón
Dr. Juan Pedro Luna-Abad
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.

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 10487 KiB  
Article
Study of Ionanofluids Behavior in PVT Solar Collectors: Determination of Thermal Fields and Characteristic Length by Means of HEATT® Platform
by Mariano Alarcón, Juan-Pedro Luna-Abad, Manuel Seco-Nicolás, Imane Moulefera and Gloria Víllora
Energies 2024, 17(22), 5703; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17225703 - 14 Nov 2024
Viewed by 635
Abstract
Solar electric and solar thermal energies are often considered as part of the solution to the current energy emergency. The pipes of flat plate solar devices are normally heated by their upper surfaces giving rise to an asymmetric temperature field in the bulk [...] Read more.
Solar electric and solar thermal energies are often considered as part of the solution to the current energy emergency. The pipes of flat plate solar devices are normally heated by their upper surfaces giving rise to an asymmetric temperature field in the bulk of the fluid, which influences the heat transfer process. In the present work, a study of the characteristic length of tubes, or most efficient distance at which heat transfer occurs, in flat photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) hybrid solar devices has been carried out using three heat transfer fluids: water, [Emim]Ac ionic liquid and ionanofluid of graphene nanoparticles suspended in the former ionic liquid. The mean objective of the study was to know whether the heat transfer occurs in optimal conditions. Experimental measurements have been made on a commercial PVT device, and numerical simulations have been performed using the HEATT® platform to determine the characteristic length of the process. The tests conducted showed a clear improvement in the temperature jump of the fluid inside the collector when INF is used compared to water and ionic liquid and even a higher overall energy efficiency. Electricity generation is not greatly affected by the fluid used, although it is slightly higher when water is used. Slower fluid velocities are recommended if high fluid outlet temperatures are the goal of the application, but this penalizes the overall thermal energy production. The characteristic process length is not typically achieved in parallel tube PVT collectors with ordinary flow rates, which would require a speed, and consequently, a flow rate, about 10 times lower, which penalizes the performance (up to four times), although it increases the fluid outlet temperature by 234%, which can be very interesting in certain applications. Ionanofluids may in the medium term become an alternative to water in flat plates or vacuum solar collectors for applications with temperatures close to or above 100 °C, when their costs will hopefully fall. The results and methodology developed in this work are applicable to solar thermal collectors other than PVT collectors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments in Solar Thermal Energy)
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15 pages, 3403 KiB  
Article
Experimental Study on the Heat Pump Performance Combined with Dual-Purpose Solar Collector
by Kwang-Am Moon, Seong-Bhin Kim, Hwi-Ung Choi and Kwang-Hwan Choi
Energies 2024, 17(12), 3038; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17123038 - 20 Jun 2024
Viewed by 774
Abstract
In this study, we proposed and experimentally investigated a novel solar-assisted heat pump (SAHP) system integrated with a dual-purpose solar collector (DPSC). The DPSC is a solar collector designed to produce both heated air and hot water, and the proposed configuration of the [...] Read more.
In this study, we proposed and experimentally investigated a novel solar-assisted heat pump (SAHP) system integrated with a dual-purpose solar collector (DPSC). The DPSC is a solar collector designed to produce both heated air and hot water, and the proposed configuration of the SAHP utilizes both heated air and water simultaneously to improve the performance of the heat pump. The experiment was conducted under natural weather conditions on a clear day. The performance of the proposed system was evaluated and compared to that of a conventional air-type SAHP system. The results showed that the coefficient of performance (COP) of the proposed system, which takes into account the performance of the DPSC, heat pump, and the power consumption of both the blower and pump, was 3.14. In contrast, the system COP of the SAHP operated as conventional air-type SAHP was 2.33. This finding clearly demonstrated that the proposed SAHP performed better than the traditional SAHP mode. Additionally, the results of this research are useful as fundamental data related to SAHP combined with DPSC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Developments in Solar Thermal Energy)
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