ABSTRACT
Electricity in Bali majorly is supplied by power plants in Java which use fossil-fuelled. With petroleum and coal reserves to run out by 2025, Bali Government has issued Governor Ordinance No. 45/2019 concerning clean energy in encouraging Balinese to use rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV). As backboned tourism industry, Bali has drastically been declining due to COVID-19 causing most hotels and their supporting industries closed, the government then has changed the orientation from urban tourism to rural tourism. This paper proposes rooftop solar PV power plant program in the tourism village representing all 8 regencies and 1 municipality (Sudaji in Buleleng, Catur and others in Bangli, Tenganan in Karangasem, Kerta in Gianyar, Blimbingsari in Jembrana, Paksebali in Klungkung, Bongan in Tabanan, Bongkasa in Badung, and Sanur Kauh in Denpasar). Recent studies show huge potential for solar energy in Bali and the program is aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (Bali SDGs). The study elaborates problems in implementing the program since solar PV is still new and traditions could hinder the people in the tourism village to utilize it. Behaviour approach must be explored to make the program can be successfully done.
ABSTRACT
Solar drying is one of the important application of out of several applications of solar thermal technologies. Solar drying is generally preferred for the drying of different agricultural products and several designs of such dryers are developed and investigated around the globe. However, the solar dehydration/disinfection of the cloths/utensils (clothes drying rack/device) and development of appropriate designs for the same is one of the neglected aspect. Such designs of "solar cloth dehydrators and/or devices"may play an important role in the humid and cloudy weather conditions. More importantly, in the present pandemic of COVID 19, solar dehydrators/disinfectors can be a crucial device for disinfection of cloths and other utensils. Thus, the present work is aimed to design, develop and investigate the novel design of Solar Disinfectant Closet (SDC)/Solar Disinfection Device (SDD) for inactivation of COVID-19 Virus (SARS-COV-2). A primary small prototype of SDC/SDD made of metallic structure is designed and fabricated which can be used during day as well as night. The present design of SDC/SDD is manufactured taking into account the heat inactivation protocol of 5- log viral load reduction (56°C-30min and 60°C-60min) and can be modified to follow the protocol 6-log viral load reduction (92°C -15min). The present experiments discusses the disinfection of stainless steel utensils (SSUs) using the proposed device. The primary results depicts that the novel design of SDC/SDD can reach a temperature of 70°C within 30 minutes and able to dehydrate/disinfect the rated load of cloths/utensils in short span of 70 to 90 minutes. It is proposed that the same device can be used for the inactivation for the different crucial viruses like Tuberculosis, Influenza etc. © 2022 Author(s).
ABSTRACT
The blind spot can be defined as the area around the vehicle where the driver cannot see through the mirrors without turning their head or taking their eyes off the road. Similar blind spots occur in energy policy. Blind spots can occur in forecasting economic development and creating policy documents. This study uncovers potential blind spots and controversies in the sustainability assessment of energy supply technologies. A composite sustainability index was constructed to compare district heating with four individual heating technologies—wood pellet boilers, natural gas boilers, solar collectors, and heat pumps. A total of 19 indicators were selected and grouped into four dimensions of sustainability—technical, environmental, economic, and social. The results reveal that district heating can compete with individual heating technologies in all dimensions of sustainability;however, a possible blind spot lies in evaluating environmental performance indicators of the different heating technologies. This study provides a novel decision-making tool that policy-makers could use to identify and avoid potential blind spots and uncertainties in energy policy at an early stage.
ABSTRACT
Energy consumption is steadily increasing with the ever-growing population, leading to a rise in global warming. Building energy consumption is one of the major sources of global warming, which can be controlled with renewable energy installations. This paper deals with an advanced evacuated hybrid solar photovoltaic–thermal collector (PVT) for simultaneous production of electricity and domestic hot water (DHW) with lower carbon emissions. Most PVT projects focus on increasing electricity production by cooling the photovoltaic (PV). However, in this research, increasing thermal efficiency is investigated through vacuum glass tube encapsulation. The required area for conventional unglazed PVT systems varies between 1.6–2 times of solar thermal collectors for similar thermal output. In the case of encapsulation, the required area can decrease by minimizing convective losses from the system. Surprisingly, the electrical efficiency was not decreased by encapsulating the PVT system. The performance of evacuated PVT is compared to glazed and unglazed PVTs, and the result shows a 40% increase in thermal performance with the proposed system. All three systems are simulated in ANSYS 18.1 (Canonsburg, PA, USA) at different mass flow rates and solar irradiance.
ABSTRACT
Clearly and accurately communicating the economic, environmental, and social benefits of solar PV prosumerism poses significant challenges. Previous research shows that government policies and public engagement campaigns can positively impact solar prosumerism;however, little is known about the quality and accuracy of information exchanged between rooftop solar installers and potential prosumers. This study addresses part of this gap with a mixed methods approach. First, a multimodal discourse analysis of installation proposals from seven home solar installers in Madrid shows accurate and reasonable financial benefits alongside incongruent social and environmental benefits. Second, the calculated efficiency of the seven proposed solar installations is compared with the efficiency of four different PVSC solar arrays using actual load and generation profiles. The results show that (i) the high variability of actual household demand on the minute-by- minute level significantly decreases self-consumption rate and profitability in comparison with the rates estimated using hourly or monthly, and (ii) the grouping of households into solar communities should significantly increase self-consumption and profitability. Therefore, using minute by minute time series in home solar estimations would reveal an added value and social benefit that is commonly overlooked. We conclude with recommendations for future research and multimodal communication campaigns that balance benefits of individual prosumerism and community solar.