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The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of the purchase power of the higher education system to catalyze the economy of scale necessary to ensure market competitiveness for solar photovoltaic electricity.

The approach used here was to first determine the demand necessary to construct “Solar City factories”, factories that possess equipment and processes sized, dedicated and optimized to produce only solar photovoltaic systems. Inexpensive solar cells from these factories could produce solar electricity at rates comparable to conventional fossil‐fuel derived electricity. Then it was determined if sufficient demand could be guaranteed by green purchasing from the international university system.

A focused effort from the university community to purchase on‐sight produced electricity would make it possible to construct truly large‐scale dedicated solar photovoltaic factories rather than follow the piecemeal production increases currently observed in the industry.

Direct economic competitiveness of an energy source having markedly lower environmental, social and health externalities would have a positive‐spiral (virtuous cycle) effect encouraging the transition of the global energy infrastructure away from polluting fossil fuels to green solar energy.

Despite significant commercial progress in the conversion efficiency of sunlight into electricity with solar photovoltaic cells, their widespread adoption is still limited by high costs relative to conventional fossil fuel‐based sources of electricity. The concept outlined and critically reviewed in this paper represents a novel and economical method of transitioning the electric supply system to renewable solar energy.

The purpose of this paper is to explore citizens’ willingness to invest in photovoltaics.

To meet the aim of the research, a questionnaire survey was conducted in the island of Evia in Greece using the method of random stratified sampling. A total of 366 responses were analyzed using both descriptive and inductive statistics methods, such as principal components analysis, K-means cluster analysis, discriminant analysis and binary logistic regression.

The research results indicate that 73per cent of the respondents would invest in renewable energy sources, whereas 55per cent of them would specifically invest in photovoltaics. Regarding their views on photovoltaics, three components were extracted; photovoltaics positive effects, facilitations for investments in photovoltaics and photovoltaics’ performance. Area of residence, annual income and the above-mentioned three components of views on photovoltaics were found to be statistically significant for the dichotomous variable of willingness to invest in photovoltaics. Among the examined variables, photovoltaics performance found to contribute the most in increasing respondents’ willingness to invest in photovoltaics.

The study filled the literature gap concerning citizens’ willingness to invest in photovoltaics in Greece. Furthermore, the research results made feasible to understand the factors that can lead in an investment decision for photovoltaics.

The roofs of houses located at middle latitudes receive significant solar radiation useful to supply their own energy demands and to feed back into the urban electricity network. However, solar panels should be properly integrated into roofs. This study analyzed roof geometry and integrated solar performance of Photovoltaic, thermal-photovoltaic, and hybrid solar collection technologies on dwelling cases selected from a sample of recent housing developments in Concepción, Chile. Hour-by-hour energy generation estimates and comparisons with demand levels were calculated for representative days during seasons of maximum, minimum as well as mid-season. These estimates took into account the roof tilt and orientation effects also. Trnsys@ software was used to determine electricity supply and F-Chart tool for thermal energy supply. The results show five times more panels can be placed on the largest and most regular shaped roof sections than on those with the smallest and most irregular shapes. The house model with the largest roof section can provide up to six times more energy than the model with the smallest second roof section in different seasons and systems. This paper thus provides new findings on the performance of solar technologies when related to home energy demands and roof geometry.

This study aims to estimate the electric power production of the 20 MWp solar photovoltaic (PV) plant installed in the Adrar region, South of Algeria using minimal knowledge about weather conditions.

In this study, simulation models based on linear and nonlinear approaches were used to estimate accurate energy production from minimum radiometric and meteorological data. Simulations have been carried out by using multiple linear regression (MLR) and artificial neural network (ANN) models with three basic types of neuron connection architectures, namely, feed-forward neural network, cascade-forward neural network (CNN) and Elman neural network. The performance is measured based on evaluation indexes, namely, mean absolute percentage error, normalized mean absolute error and normalized root mean square error.

A comparison of the proposed ANN models has been made with MLR models. The performance analysis indicates that all the ANN-based models are superior in prediction accuracy and stability, and among these models, the most accurate results are obtained with the use of CNN-based models.

The considered model will be adopted in solar PV forecasting areas as part of the operational forecasting chain based on numerical weather prediction. It can be an effective and powerful forecasting approach for solar power generation for large-scale PV plants.

The operational forecasting system can be used to generate an effective schedule for national grid electricity system operators to ensure the sustainability as well as favourable trading performance in the electricity, such as adjusting the scheduling plan, ensuring power quality, reducing depletion of fossil fuel resources and consequently decreasing the environmental pollution.

The proposed method uses the instantaneous radiometric and meteorological data in 15-min time interval recorded over the two years of operation, which made the result exploits a fact that the energy production estimation of PV power generation station is comparatively more accurate.

Solar photovoltaic energy is the fastest growing renewable energy in South Africa, and deployment at public universities is critical in order to meet the high energy demand on campuses in a more sustainable manner. To promote and support deployment, it is necessary to know the factors that drive adoption of the technology. Thus, the aim of this study was to identify the factors which engender deployment of photovoltaic energy in public universities in South Africa.

Through an extensive literature review, the factors which drive photovoltaic energy deployment were identified and a three round Delphi survey was conducted for panellists to rate the drivers. The data were analysed using SPSS Version 27, and the mean and inter-quartile range values were used to identify the significant drivers within the public university sector.

The findings suggested that the deployment of photovoltaic energy is engendered by the direct and indirect benefits, social influences and the relative advantage of photovoltaic energy usage. For instance, universities install photovoltaic energy because of the financial gains that are made through reduction of energy cost. The deployment is also motivated by the reduction of energy-related greenhouse gases, enhancement of university sustainability performance, and the contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals.

A significant contribution to the body of knowledge regarding the drivers of photovoltaic energy deployment has been made in the paper from the perspective of a public university. The contribution fills the knowledge gap in South Africa by contributing valuable information to enable decision-makers to gain better understanding of the key issues that call for more attention in promoting and supporting photovoltaic energy deployment in the sector.

This chapter seeks to place the Paris agreement on anthropogenic greenhouse gases (COP21) in a wider picture on how the global solar photovoltaic (PV) market has been created and shaped over decades. The chapter discusses the role of solar PV actors, as well as other actors in the market-shaping process. The aim is to show how the COP21 can be interpreted in a wider historical perspective.

The chapter builds on expert interviews conducted after the COP21, as well as secondary data on historical studies on evolution of solar energy markets in various countries.

Although scientists and entrepreneurs have been important in creating and shaping the global solar PV market, it is noted that other actors have also had an influence on the market development. Particularly, politicians are seen as playing a crucial role through legislation and funding. Unfortunately for the solar PV market, support has fluctuated over time. The COP21 provides a clear pathway for positive support, and it is expected to bind governments for pro-solar politics even during low prices of fossil fuels and economic downturn.

The chapter provides an overview of what has happened in the history of global solar PV market. It gives reasoning as to why the COP21 is important in securing support for the solar PV market. Thus, it can provide reasoning as to why the COP21 can make a difference.

This is the first academic study that portrays the COP21 against historical evolution of the global solar PV market.

The purpose of this paper is to identify green envelope building components of residential buildings applicable under hot and humid climates and to analyze the effect of these components on building value.

The authors place an emphasis on green envelope components that influence building value and which are derived based on their integration into a building envelope structure that is applicable under hot and humid climates. This is performed through identification of green benefits of each green envelope component based on literature reviews and in relation to green criteria listed by the Malaysia Green Building Index (GBI). Consequently, a quantitative analysis has been conducted to determine the effect of these green envelope components on building value by means of a questionnaire distribution among 550 property valuation practitioners in Malaysia. However, in order to certify respondents’ credibility, the authors analyzed questionnaires answered by property valuation practitioners with experience in green valuation.

The findings show that there are ten green envelope components currently certified under GBI Malaysia and applicable for hot and humid climates. There are three green envelope components that can increase property values, specifically: solar photovoltaic, green living wall and green roof. However, eight of the green envelope components have no effect on building value.

Due to the relative immaturity of the green building market in Malaysia, the authors were unable to analyze the actual percentage of increment on building value as conveyed by each green envelope component.

This paper aims to provide understanding of the effect of individual green envelope components on building value rather than merely the value of green buildings in general. It proves that green building envelope components do in fact contribute to an increase in green building values. As the green building market in Malaysia is still in its infancy, this study is significant in that it prepares the Malaysian green building market to attain a new level by providing valuation practitioners with awareness of green building values and new knowledge concerning the effect of individual green components on building values. Hence, it is anticipated that this study can assist property valuation practitioners in conducting valuations of green buildings in the future.

The aim of this study is to develop a mathematical model for solar power generation system which starts with the quantification of solar resources on different characteristic surfaces at any location.

This study is based on a detailed quantitative analysis of solar potential at three different cities of Saudi Arabia: Riyadh, Mecca and Sharura. Direct normal insolation is calculated for one-axis tracking surfaces with rotation about East–West (EW) and North–South (NS) horizontal axes, a two-axes tracking surface and a fixed surface tilted at the latitude of each location and facing south. One-axis tracking parabolic trough collector with rotation about horizontal EW and NS axes, and photovoltaic systems are modeled; their performances and heat and optical losses from both systems are quantified for each location.

The findings demonstrate that energy output from the selected solar technologies is maximum and relatively stable in Sharura, whereas Mecca and Riyadh showed large variations during the course of the year.

A comparative analysis between the solar technologies would be very helpful for policy decisions to choose the best option.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the chemical, optical and photovoltaic properties of titanium dioxide/reduced graphene oxide (TiO₂/rGO) photoanodes immersed in natural Roselle and synthetic (N719) dyes for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) application.

TiO₂ mixed with rGO were doctor-bladed on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrate. The chemical and optical properties of TiO₂/rGO photoanodes immersed in Roselle and N719 dyes were characterized using Fourier-transformed infrared (FTIR) and ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectroscopies, respectively. The DSSC’s photovoltaic performances were tested using Visiontec Solar I-V tester at standard illumination of AM1.5 and irradiance level of 100 mW/cm².

The presence of anthocyanin dye from Roselle flower was detected at 604 nm and 718 nm. TiO₂/rGO+Roselle dye sample revealed the smallest energy gap of 0.17 eV for ease of electron movement from valence band to conduction band. The TiO₂/rGO-based DSSC fabricated with Roselle dye had a power conversion efficiency, ƞ of 0.743 per cent higher than TiO₂/rGO photoanode sensitized with N719 dye (0.334 per cent). The obtained J-V curves were analyzed by a single-diode model of Lambert W-function and manual optimization to determine the internal electrical parameters of the DSSC. The average and uncertainty values of J_sc and ƞ were evaluated at different R_sh range of 1362 Ω to 32 k Ω.

R_s values were kept constant during optimization work.

New ideality factor of TiO₂/rGO-based DSSC was re-determined around 0.9995.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework for handling end of life (henceforth EoL) scenarios of solar photovoltaic (solar PV) panels, which includes different options available to businesses and end-users, as well as promoting the collaboration between government and all relevant stakeholders.

This paper adopts purposeful sampling, secondary data and content analysis to develop an appropriate conceptual framework that helps to create awareness of the appropriate options for dealing with the EoL cases of solar PV panels.

From the data analysis, it is revealed that reuse, repair and recycling of solar PV panels can ensure value creation, public-private partnership and a solution for education in sustainability, and thus, prolonging the useful life cycle of the products.

This paper limits the analysis on developing economies and the use of selected literature based on the recycling of solar PV panels.

This paper is an initial attempt to create an awareness by identifying, analyzing and educating the stakeholders to handle appropriately any EoL scenario of solar PV panels.