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Energies
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Distributed Energy Production by Means of Renewable Resources
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Distributed Energy Production by Means of Renewable Resources

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "F: Electrical Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2021) | Viewed by 14437

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Alessandro Bianchini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Industrial Engineering (DIEF), Università degli Studi di Firenze, Via di Santa Marta 3, I-50139 Firenze, Italy
Interests: energy; wind; aerodynamics; engineering; centrifugal compressors; energy systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Renewable energy is finding increasing room in the world energy scenario as a valuable integration of traditional sources, which still cover a majority of the demand. Increasing efforts need to then to be devoted to further expanding the penetration of renewable energy sources in the global energy mix.

In this view, if it is indeed true that upscaling devices usually leads to a lower levelized cost of energy, distributed production is on the other side one of the key elements for renewables. Producing environmentally-friendly power where it is needed most (e.g., in built or populated areas) could in fact provide some remarkable benefits to human wellbeing. Moreover, distributed production could enable the transition towards smart-grid concepts.

Moving from this background, the present Special Issue of Energies aims to gather innovative simulations and/or experimental research, and highlight the recent advances on various aspects devices for distributed energy production from renewable energy sources. More specifically, topics of interest for the Special Issue include (but are not limited to) devices connected to the following:

  • wind energy (HAWTs, VAWTs, and new concepts)
  • solar energy (thermodynamic, PV, thermal, and new concepts)
  • hydro energy (hydraulic and hydrokinetic turbines, and new concepts)
  • tidal and wave energy (wave converters, wells or impulse turbines, and new concepts)
  • geothermal energy
  • biomass energy
  • osmotic energy
  • devices for smart grid systems
  • storage devices (thermal/electrical)
  • new concepts

Prof. Dr. Alessandro Bianchini
Guest Editor

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.

Keywords

  • renewable energy
  • distributed production
  • innovative concepts
  • sustainability
  • energy systems

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 73066 KiB  
Article
GIS-Based Distribution System Planning for New PV Installations
by Pawita Bunme, Shuhei Yamamoto, Atsushi Shiota and Yasunori Mitani
Energies 2021, 14(13), 3790; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14133790 - 24 Jun 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2398
Abstract
Solar panel installations have increased significantly in Japan in recent decades. Due to this, world trends, such as clean/renewable energy, are being implemented in power systems all across Japan—particularly installations of photovoltaic (PV) panels in general households. In this work, solar power was [...] Read more.
Solar panel installations have increased significantly in Japan in recent decades. Due to this, world trends, such as clean/renewable energy, are being implemented in power systems all across Japan—particularly installations of photovoltaic (PV) panels in general households. In this work, solar power was estimated using solar radiation data from geographic information system (GIS) technology. The solar power estimation was applied to the actual distribution system model of the Jono area in Kitakyushu city, Japan. In this work, real power consumption data was applied to a real world distribution system model. We studied the impact of high installation rates of solar panels in Japanese residential areas. Additionally, we considered the voltage fluctuations in the distribution system model by assessing the impact of cloud shadows using a novel cloud movement simulation algorithm that uses real world GIS data. The simulation results revealed that the shadow from the cloud movement process directly impacted the solar power generation in residential areas, which caused voltage fluctuations of the overall distribution system. Thus, we advocate distribution system planning with a large number of solar panels. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Distributed Energy Production by Means of Renewable Resources)
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18 pages, 18675 KiB  
Article
Performance Enhancement of Roof-Mounted Photovoltaic System: Artificial Neural Network Optimization of Ground Coverage Ratio
by Ali S. Alghamdi
Energies 2021, 14(6), 1537; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14061537 - 10 Mar 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2383
Abstract
Buildings in hot climate areas are responsible for high energy consumption due to high cooling load requirements which lead to high greenhouse gas emissions. In order to curtail the stress on the national grid and reduce the atmospheric emissions, it is of prime [...] Read more.
Buildings in hot climate areas are responsible for high energy consumption due to high cooling load requirements which lead to high greenhouse gas emissions. In order to curtail the stress on the national grid and reduce the atmospheric emissions, it is of prime importance that buildings produce their own onsite electrical energy using renewable energy resources. Photovoltaic (PV) technology is the most favorable option to produce onsite electricity in buildings. Installation of PV modules on the roof of the buildings in hot climate areas has a twofold advantage of acting as a shading device for the roof to reduce the cooling energy requirement of the building while producing electricity. A high ground coverage ratio provides more shading, but it decreases the efficiency of the PV system because of self-shading of the PV modules. The aim of this paper was to determine the optimal value of the ground coverage ratio which gives maximum overall performance of the roof-mounted PV system by considering roof surface shading and self-shading of the parallel PV modules. An unsupervised artificial neural network approach was implemented for Net levelized cost of energy (Net-LCOE) optimization. The gradient decent learning rule was used to optimize the network connection weights and the optimal ground coverage ratio was obtained. The proposed optimized roof-mounted PV system was shown to have many distinct performance advantages over a typical ground-mounted PV configuration such as 2.9% better capacity factor, 15.9% more energy yield, 40% high performance ratio, 14.4% less LCOE, and 18.6% shorter payback period. The research work validates that a roof-mounted PV system in a hot climate area is a very useful option to meet the energy demand of buildings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Distributed Energy Production by Means of Renewable Resources)
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28 pages, 5399 KiB  
Article
Wave-to-Wire Model of an Oscillating-Water-Column Wave Energy Converter and Its Application to Mediterranean Energy Hot-Spots
by Lorenzo Ciappi, Lapo Cheli, Irene Simonetti, Alessandro Bianchini, Giampaolo Manfrida and Lorenzo Cappietti
Energies 2020, 13(21), 5582; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13215582 - 26 Oct 2020
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 3198
Abstract
Oscillating water column (OWC) systems are among the most credited solutions for an effective conversion of the notable energy potential conveyed by sea waves. Despite a renewed interest, however, they are often still at a demonstration phase and additional research is required to [...] Read more.
Oscillating water column (OWC) systems are among the most credited solutions for an effective conversion of the notable energy potential conveyed by sea waves. Despite a renewed interest, however, they are often still at a demonstration phase and additional research is required to reach industrial maturity. Within this framework, this study provides a wave-to-wire model for OWC systems based on an impulse air turbine. The model performs a comprehensive simulation of the system to estimate the attendant electric energy production for a specific sea state, based on analytical models of the primary (fixed chamber) and secondary (air turbine) converters coupled with the tertiary converter (electric generator). A rigid piston model is proposed to solve the hydrodynamics, thermodynamics, and hydrodynamics of the chamber, in a coupled fashion with the impulse turbine aerodynamics. This is solved with a novel method by considering the cascades as sets of blades, each one consisting of a finite number of airfoils stacked in the radial direction. The model was applied for two Mediterranean sites located in Tuscany and Sardinia (Italy), which were selected to define the optimal geometry of the turbine for a specified chamber. For each system, the developed analytical wave-to-wire model was applied to calculate the performance parameters and the annual energy production in environmental conditions typical of the Mediterranean Sea. The selected impulse turbines are able to convert 13.69 and 39.36 MWh/year, with an efficiency of 4.95% and 4.76%, respectively, thus proving the interesting prospects of the technology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Distributed Energy Production by Means of Renewable Resources)
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Graphical abstract

25 pages, 6601 KiB  
Article
Integration Design and Operation Strategy of Multi-Energy Hybrid System Including Renewable Energies, Batteries and Hydrogen
by Yi Zhang, Hexu Sun and Yingjun Guo
Energies 2020, 13(20), 5463; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13205463 - 19 Oct 2020
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 2972
Abstract
In some areas, the problem of wind and solar power curtailment is prominent. Hydrogen energy has the advantage of high storage density and a long storage time. Multi-energy hybrid systems including renewable energies, batteries and hydrogen are designed to solve this problem. In [...] Read more.
In some areas, the problem of wind and solar power curtailment is prominent. Hydrogen energy has the advantage of high storage density and a long storage time. Multi-energy hybrid systems including renewable energies, batteries and hydrogen are designed to solve this problem. In order to reduce the power loss of the converter, an AC-DC hybrid bus is proposed. A multi-energy experiment platform is established including a wind turbine, photovoltaic panels, a battery, an electrolyzer, a hydrogen storage tank, a fuel cell and a load. The working characteristics of each subsystem are tested and analyzed. The multi-energy operation strategy is based on state monitoring and designed to enhance hydrogen utilization, energy efficiency and reliability of the system. The hydrogen production is guaranteed preferentially and the load is reliably supplied. The system states are monitored, such as the state of charge (SOC) and the hydrogen storage level. The rated and ramp powers of the battery and fuel cell and the pressure limit of the hydrogen storage tank are set as safety constraints. Eight different operation scenarios comprehensively evaluate the system’s performance, and via physical experiments the proposed operation strategy of the multi-energy system is verified as effective and stable. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Distributed Energy Production by Means of Renewable Resources)
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Graphical abstract

23 pages, 2590 KiB  
Article
Proposed Fuzzy Logic System for Voltage Regulation and Power Factor Improvement in Power Systems with High Infiltration of Distributed Generation
by Ndamulelo Tshivhase, Ali N. Hasan and Thokozani Shongwe
Energies 2020, 13(16), 4241; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13164241 - 17 Aug 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2808
Abstract
Recently, the awareness of the severe consequences of greenhouse gases on the environment has escalated. This has encouraged the world to reduce the usage of fossil fuels for power generation and increase the use of cleaner sources, such as solar energy and wind [...] Read more.
Recently, the awareness of the severe consequences of greenhouse gases on the environment has escalated. This has encouraged the world to reduce the usage of fossil fuels for power generation and increase the use of cleaner sources, such as solar energy and wind energy. However, the conventional power system itself was designed as a passive power system, in which power generation is centralised, and power flows from substations towards the loads. Decentralised renewable energy sources, also called distributed generators, were introduced to create an active power system in which power generation can occur anywhere in the power system. Decentralised power generation creates challenges for the conventional power system, such as voltage fluctuations, high voltage magnitudes, reverse power flow, and low power factor. In this paper, an adaptive control system that coordinates different distributed generators for voltage regulation and power factor correction is introduced and designed. The control system will decrease the total reactive power that flows in the transmission network through a reactive power exchange between distributed generators. Therefore, power factor will improve, power system losses will reduce, and the total apparent power on lines will reduce, giving more room to active power to flow. The results obtained showed that the control system is effective in regulating voltage and improving the power factor when multiple distributed generators are connected. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Distributed Energy Production by Means of Renewable Resources)
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