The development of novel solar power technologies is considered to be one of many key solutions toward fulfilling a worldwide increasing demand for energy. Rapid growth within the field of solar technologies is nonetheless facing various technical barriers, such as low solar cell efficiencies, low performing balance-of-systems (BOS), economic hindrances (e.g., high upfront costs and a lack of financing mechanisms), and institutional obstacles (e.g., inadequate infrastructure and a shortage of skilled manpower). The merits and demerits of solar energy technologies are both discussed in this article. A number of technical problems affecting renewable energy research are also highlighted, along with beneficial interactions between regulation policy frameworks and their future prospects. In order to help open novel routes with regard to solar energy research and practices, a future roadmap for the field of solar research is discussed.

Solar energy: Potential and future prospects

Building energy-consumption status worldwide and the state-of-the-art technologies for zero-energy buildings during the past decade

The most significant threat that mankind faces in the 21th century is global warming. Buildings, which account for 40% of global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, play a pivotal role in global warming. Estimates show that their destructive impact will grow by 1.8% per year through 2050, which indicates that future consumption and emissions will be worse than today. Therefore, the impact of cooling systems cannot be ignored, as they, along with ventilation and heating systems, account for 60% of the energy consumed in buildings. Passive cooling techniques are a promising alternative to conventional cooling systems. Of the various passive cooling strategies, thermal energy storage by means of latent heat is an efficient way to increase the thermal inertia of building envelopes, which would reduce temperature fluctuations, leading to the improved thermal comfort of occupants. Phase change materials (PCMs) with high density for thermal energy storage can be efficiently employed to this purpose. This paper reviews recent studies of the application of PCMs for passive cooling in buildings. From the literature, a comprehensive list of different organic, inorganic and eutectic PCMs appropriate for passive cooling in buildings are reviewed. Full-scale testing and numerical modeling were found to be the most popular investigative methods used for experimental and theoretical analysis of PCMs. The combination of these two methods can provide a detailed and valid technique for PCM investigations. Finally, incorporating PCMs into building walls with macro encapsulation was also a dominant interest in previous studies.

A review on phase change material (PCM) for sustainable passive cooling in building envelopes

A review of performance enhancement of PCM based latent heat storage system within the context of materials, thermal stability and compatibility

https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/preview/938493/Literature%20review%20PCM-first%20revision%20Jack%20Edited%20%281%29.pdf

A review of the applications of phase change materials in cooling, heating and power generation in different temperature ranges

A comparative study of thermal behaviour of a horizontal and vertical shell-and-tube energy storage using phase change materials

Solar energy is a clean, abundant and easily accessible form of renewable energy. Its intermittent and dynamic nature makes thermal energy storage (TES) systems highly valuable for many applications. Latent heat storage (LHS) using phase change materials (PCMs) is particularly well suited for solar domestic hot water (SDHW) applications as it offers high storage density and heat transfer at near-constant temperature. This article reviews TES technologies for solar water heating systems with a particular focus on techniques for integrating PCM into these systems. These techniques include integrated PCM storage vessels, integrated PCM solar collectors, and integrated a PCM unit inside the solar hot water circuit. It is found that the integrated PCM storage vessel is the most widely applied technique in SDHW systems using PCMs. The latent heat storage unit configuration and heat transfer mechanisms are further reviewed. Furthermore, this review presents recent findings on the performance comparison between conventional SDHW systems and SDHW systems containing PCMs and the long term performance of SDHW system using PCMs are discussed. This review highlights the need for further research in several areas including performance evaluation of different integration techniques, numerical model for system optimization, and long-term performance of solar domestic hot water systems featuring PCMs.

Saeid Seddegh

Papers

A comparative study of thermal behaviour of a horizontal and vertical shell-and-tube energy storage using phase change materials

Solar domestic hot water systems using latent heat energy storage medium: A review

Numerical investigation of heat transfer mechanism in a vertical shell and tube latent heat energy storage system

Investigation of the effect of geometric and operating parameters on thermal behavior of vertical shell-and-tube latent heat energy storage systems

Heat transfer enhancement of phase change materials by fins under simultaneous charging and discharging