Growth Of Renewable Energy Technologies Research Articles

Renewable Energy Source Utilization Progress in South Africa: A Review

Renewable energy has emerged as a promising solution to address the challenges of climate change, energy security, and socio-economic development. South Africa, with its abundant renewable energy resources, has made significant strides in the utilization of renewable energy over the past decade. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the progress of renewable energy advancement in South Africa, examining the policies, initiatives, and achievements in various renewable energy sectors. This study explores the country’s transition from a heavily coal-dependent energy system to a diversified and sustainable energy mix. It analyses the growth of renewable energy technologies, such as wind power and solar photovoltaic (PV), highlighting the key milestones, challenges, and opportunities. Furthermore, this paper discusses the role of government support, regulatory frameworks, and private sector investments in driving renewable energy deployment in South Africa. Finally, it identifies the prospects and potential areas for further advancement in the renewable energy sector. This review aims to contribute to the understanding of South Africa’s renewable energy journey and provides valuable insights for policy-makers, researchers, and stakeholders involved in the sustainable energy transition.

The role of financial development, natural resources, and technology in determining green energy: New findings from the N‐11 countries

AbstractIn recent years, there has been a growing global emphasis on transitioning to renewable energy sources to mitigate the effects of climate change and promote sustainable development. The role of financial development, natural resources, and technology in determining the advancement of green energy has been a subject of ongoing research. This study examines the impact of financial development, natural resources, and technology on green energy development in N‐11 countries between 1990 and 2022, using economic growth and education as control variables. The empirical estimations are based on cross‐section dependence, testing for slope heterogeneity, second‐generation panel unit root tests, LM‐Bootstrap cointegration tests, fully modified ordinary least squares, and dynamic ordinary least squares. A 1% increase in natural resources is associated with a 0.0615% increase in the adoption of green energy. A 1% increase in education leads to a statistically significant increase of 1.0734% in the adoption of green energy financial development enables the deployment of renewable energy sources and access to financial resources. Natural resources determine the types of renewable energy technologies that are prioritized. Technological advancements drive the growth of renewable energy technologies and facilitate their integration into the energy mix. By analyzing the findings of recent studies on the N‐11 countries, we can gain valuable insights into the importance of these factors in advancing green energy and achieving sustainable energy development.

A Design and Optimization of A Renewable EnergyBased Smart Microgrid for Rural Electrification: Analysis of the Simulink Model for Different Loads

The rapid growth of renewable energy technologies has provided an opportunity to address the electrification challenges faced by rural communities. This research paper presents the design and optimization far smart micro grid system that integrates renewable energy sources to provide reliable and sustainable electricity to rural areas. The objective is to analyze the performance of the Simulink model under different load conditions, considering the system's stability, efficiency, and economic viability.

Effect of green taxation on renewable energy technologies: an analysis of commonwealth and non-commonwealth countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

African nations encounter difficulties enforcing regulations and providing incentives for using renewable energy sources. However, several nations are making efforts to encourage renewable energy through financial and tax advantages. Therefore, a shift to renewable energy is essential for African nations to experience sustainable growth and lessen environmental deterioration. Similarly, the extant literature examining green taxes' influence on renewable energy technology has documented equivocal findings. Hence, there is a need for a more thorough investigation. This study, therefore, explores the influence of green taxation on renewable energy technologies of emerging countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. We employed data from a sample of 28 countries of 54 African countries spanning 21years from 2001 to 2021, providing a panel of 588 country-year observations. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank Dataset provided all the study's data. A heterogeneous dynamic panel data modelling using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) has been adopted. The study found that green taxes might be used to mitigate the adverse effects of non-renewable energy activities on the environment in Africa. Considering the findings of the components of green taxes, it was recognised that an increase in energy-related tariffs would lead to a growth in Africa's use of renewable energy. It was further established that an increase in transport taxes increases the adoption of renewable energy technologies in Africa. A comparative analysis between the commonwealth and non-commonwealth countries showed that green taxes of commonwealth countries in Africa significantly contribute to the growth of renewable energy technologies compared to non-commonwealth countries in Africa. Primarily, the results of this study can be a valuable resource for African governments and policymakers as they develop policies and evaluate legislation about the usage of renewable energy sources and other green practices. Finally, the study can shed light on creating and using efficient tax laws that support renewable energy sources.

Site Selection of Solar Power Plants Using Hybrid MCDM Models: A Case Study in Indonesia

Among developing countries in Asia, Indonesia has realized the importance of transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources such as solar power. Careful consideration must be given to the strategic placement of solar power installations to fully leverage the benefits of solar energy. This study proposes a methodology to optimize the site selection of solar power plants in Indonesia by integrating Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (F-AHP), and Fuzzy Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking according to Compromise Solution (F-MARCOS) models. The proposed methodology considers quantitative and qualitative criteria to evaluate potential locations for solar power plants. In the first stage, DEA is used to identify the most efficient locations based on quantitative measures such as solar radiation, land availability, and grid connectivity. In the second stage, qualitative factors such as technological, economic, environmental, and socio-political aspects are evaluated using F-AHP to prioritize the most important criteria for site selection. Finally, F-MARCOS ranks potential locations based on the selected criteria. The methodology was tested using data from Indonesia as a case study. The results show that the proposed hybrid model optimizes Indonesia’s solar power plant site selection. The optimal locations can contribute to a cost-effective long-term renewable energy supply nationwide. The findings from this study are relevant to policymakers, industry stakeholders, and researchers interested in renewable energy development and site selection. However, to promote sustainable solar energy development, governments and local authorities must also enact supportive policies and mechanisms that encourage the adoption and growth of renewable energy technologies in Indonesia.

Rapid evaluation of the design and manufacture of cooling systems of photovoltaic solar panels

A new methodology is presented in this paper to encourage the growth of renewable energy technologies in hot and arid countries. PV solar panels are characterized by a decrease in efficiency with the increase in temperatures. This means in hot sunny countries, the actual output will decrease, affecting the power output despite the high availability of sun irradiation. In order to address this issue, a new methodology has been developed and presented in this paper to support system’s designers and manufacturers; which allows rapid testing and assessment of the design in consistent way within a short period of time. The approach, named Rapid Evaluation of Solar panels Cooling (RESC), is novel as it combines rapid laboratory testing, with in-situ experimental data to evaluate the cooling technologies that are integrated into solar panels. Modular and scalable designs of passive (chimney effect) and active (fan) cooling methods were tested. The results show that the suggested approach is successful in comparing between the cooling technologies to assess their performance and the payback period within a short period of time. Carbon savings are also calculated for the suggested cooling technologies. The results show that the best energy performance was found to be for the fan-cooled system with overall 12.3% improvement in annual energy output. However, when compared to the payback period on financial investment, the passive cooling is found to more appealing. The key advantage of cooling technologies is found to be in producing an additional significant level of power during summer days when the surface temperature of the panel is at 70 °C or above. Hence, in such conditions, the cooling process could result in an increase in power output of about 53.15% relative to the uncooled standard panels.

Prioritization of barriers to the development of renewable energy technologies in India using integrated Modified Delphi and AHP method

India has many renewable and sustainable energy sources like solar, wind, hydro, biomass energy etc. In India, the renewable energy (RE) growth rate has not touched a benchmark due to various barriers in its development pathway. Yet, it is difficult to identify the severity of barriers that mostly hampers the growth of RE technologies. A systematic structure has been developed to prioritize the barriers and bridge the above gap. This study aims to recognize and rank the barriers as per their severe impact on the development of RE technologies. The study comprises three phases; (1) Barriers were recognized from the available literature studies, project reports, and interactions with eight experts from academia and industries. (2) For the final selection, “Modified Delphi” method was used. Then, twenty barriers were selected and categorized into five groups: social and economic barriers (SEB), policy andpolitical barriers (PPB), technical barriers (TB),administrative and market barriers (AMB) and geographical and environmental barriers (GEB) and (3) AHP method was used to get the priority weight and rank among these barriers. The results showed that the “PPB” ranks highest among the main category barriers. Sensitivity analysis is used to confirm the stability of all prioritized barriers. Various recommendations are suggested for the removal of these barriers, which augments the implementation of renewable energy.

A Renewable Sedimentary Slurry Battery: Preliminary Study in Zinc Electrodes.

SummaryLow-cost, scalable energy storage is the key to continuing growth of renewable energy technologies. Here a battery with sedimentary slurry electrode (SSE) is proposed. Through the conversion of discrete particles between sedimentary and suspending types, it not only inherits the advantages of semi-solid flow cell but also exhibits high energy density and stable conductive network. Given an example, the zinc SSE (ZSSE) delivers a large discharge capacity of 479.2 mAh g−1 at 10 mA cm−2. More importantly, by renewal of the slurry per 20 cycles, it can run for 112 and 75 cycles before falling below 80% of designed capacity under 10 mA cm−2 (20% DODZn) and 25 mA cm−2 (25% DODZn), respectively. The lost capacity after cycles is able to recover after slurry renewal and the end-of-life SSE can be easily reused by re-formation. The concept of SSE brands a new way for electrochemical energy storage.

MACRO ECONOMICS OF VIRTUAL POWER PLANT FOR RURAL AREAS OF BOTSWANA

The growth of renewable energy technologies as an alternative source of power is a great boon to the rural masses where energy is predominantly a challenge. This paper focuses on studying the microeconomic benefits of the virtual power plant as a solution to the rural masses who either have no access to energy or has limited access. The model here uses HOMER as a tool for modelling the design. The simulation results discuss the profitability of the virtual power plant as a solution not only to the virtual power plant operator but also to the rural households while ensuring a sustainable income source with the use of solar power PV as a generator.Keywords: Virtual Power Plant; Levilised cost; Annualised Cost;JEL Classifications: D0, E0, Q4DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.9602

Performance study on eutectic molten salt as a high temperature working fluid in the parabolic trough collector

The growth of renewable energy technologies has made remarkable changes in the engineering field. In this paper, a progressive study has been made on the Solar Parabolic Trough Collector (SPTC) using molten salt as an effective high temperature Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF). Molten salt blend is formed with 60% of sodium nitrate (NaNO3) as and 40% of potassium nitrate (KNO3) since this ratio can tackle a temperature of about 550°C. The experiment has been conducted in two phases, one with a cylindrical circular cross-section absorber tube and another with a new model tube with elliptical cross-section. The test also records outlet temperature by altering three mass flow rates of HTF, 0.014, 0.021 and 0.028 kg/s, from August 2017 to July 2018. The efficiency with the elliptical absorber is 14.5% which is higher than that of circular absorber tube while using molten salt as an HTF.

Heterogeneities in energy technological learning: Evidence from the U.S. electricity industry

While the role of organizational learning in improving firm performance is well documented, there are still questions on what drives technological learning. This is evident in the electricity industry where the growth of renewable energy technologies has been pervasive. Vicarious learning contributes to the adoption of emerging technologies through successful inter-firm knowledge sharing and transfer. However, there is hesitation to adoption that characterizes vicarious learning especially in the context of intra-firm learning. This paper investigates the differences in knowledge acquisition within and across electricity firms in the U.S. The learning curve model is applied to a longitudinal study of 5573 plants belonging to 1542 U.S. electricity firms between 1998 and 2010. This study finds: (i) The capacity growth of the solar photovoltaic technology is positively associated with intra-firm knowledge acquisition; (ii) The effect of financial incentives on the adoption of solar and wind technologies is higher under inter-firm learning; (iii) The higher the stringency of policy mandates, the more varied is the progress on technological change across technologies; (iv) Knowledge sharing between firms are higher for wind technology than for solar technology. These findings combine to show disparities in the learning trends of technologies across and within firms’ boundaries.

Investing in Renewable Energy: Reconciling Regional Policy With Renewable Energy Growth

To address the effects of climate change, it is imperative for economies to proactively invest in, and deploy, low carbon energy technologies to meet current energy demands. To this effect, several states in the U.S. have implemented policies to incentivize the growth of renewable energy technologies. One of these policies is the renewable portfolio standards (RPS), which mandates that a certain percentage of the total electricity sales of utilities be sourced from renewable energy sources. This paper examines the effectiveness of these policies in driving the growth of specific renewable technologies across different regional transmission organizations (RTOs). It evaluates the adoption of renewable energy technologies across these RTOs to provide insights on the varying successes of these policies. The paper develops a ranking system for the correlations between the strength of RPS and renewable energy capacity growth across the RTOs. Two central observations emerge. First, despite the presence of positive correlations between RPS and renewable energy capacity additions, the capacity growth of renewable energy is not monotonic in time as technological differences characterize regional attributes. Second, the technology returns on RPS mandates are location-specific. Managerial Relevance Statement . The value proposition of this paper is the information it provides to energy technology managers that are constantly faced with tough decisions on what technologies to invest in and where to invest in such technologies. The benefits to be derived from such investments and their enhancement of societal welfare are useful to policymakers in the crafting of these instruments. Thus, understanding the effectiveness of strategies to enhance renewable energy adoption will help to reinforce our knowledge about what works and where. While several policy pronouncements have catalyzed the growth of renewable energy technologies, the capacity increase of these technologies has not been uniformly distributed. This stems from the disparities in energy technology investments because of the conundrum that technology managers, developers and investors face. This ambivalence of investment outcomes impacts the intent to embrace renewable energy. Of relevance to the practice of engineering management, this paper suggests the following: (i) there is a very strong support for the growth of wind technology across all the regions especially where there is abundance of the resource. For example, the ERCOT region is fertile for wind growth; (ii) solar photovoltaic technology has not seen as much growth as wind despite the provision of alternative markets for solar credits. However, there are strong indications that the policy enacted in regions including CAISO, ISONE and some non-RTO states in the north-west will provide investors and technology developers with more incentives for solar technology investments; (iii) It is counterintuitive, but significant, for technology developers and managers to know that investing in renewable energy technology is not always a function of the strength of the policies in the regions. Specifically, developers will do well to consider non-RTO states, or states without such mandates, for their technology investments; (iv) For investors considering where the policies have been effective, then considerations should be given to regions including PJM, ERCOT, and MISO.

Effect of different economic support policies on the optimal synthesis and operation of a distributed energy supply system with renewable energy sources for an industrial area

Economic support policies are widely adopted in European countries in order to promote a more efficient energy usage and the growth of renewable energy technologies. On one hand these schemes allow us to reduce the overall pollutant emissions and the total cost from the point of view of the energy systems, but on the other hand their social impact in terms of economic investment needs to be evaluated. The aim of this paper is to compare the social cost of the application of each incentive with the correspondent CO2 emission reduction and overall energy saving. A Mixed Integer Linear Programming optimization procedure is used to evaluate the effect of different economic support policies on the optimal configuration and operation of a distributed energy supply system of an industrial area located in the north-east of Italy. The minimized objective function is the total annual cost for owning, operating and maintaining the whole energy system. The expectation is that a proper mix of renewable energy technologies and cogeneration systems will be included in the optimal solution, depending on the amount and nature of the supporting policies, highlighting the incentives that promote a real environmental benefit.

Why We Need High-tech Politics to Make Renewables a Success Story

AbstractWith the continued growth of renewable energy technologies, major changes are under way in a growing number of energy systems across the globe. Wind, solar, biomass, hydroelectric and geothermal solutions experience an impressive boom and have created a new business sector worth US$243 billion in 2011. This trend is not caused by recent breakthroughs in engineering; in fact most of the technology has been around for some time. The way we organize our energy infrastructure is not primarily a technical matter; it is above all a political decision. The scale-up of renewable energy supplies at the cost of today's fossil-fuel dominated energy infrastructure is a systemic transition from one technology regime to another and thus requires political leadership for setting the targets, guiding institutional change, freeing resources and deciding on the relevant regulations. Today's energy systems are based on well-established routines and – as any other existing societal arrangement – are governed by a certain degree of lock-in: because people are generally happy to do things the way they have done it in the past, they are unlikely to embrace change quickly. These “lock-ins” shape, to a large extent, the speed of change as well as the type of solutions required in order to leave behind what works for today in favor of what we want to work for tomorrow. This article provides an overview of recent developments in the energy systems in Germany, California and Japan. We show that in order to appreciate the dilemma's that arise when creating a more sustainable energy system, we need to understand the local political landscape and how it influences decision-making processes. Looking at the three regions, it becomes evident that the level of political leadership determines much of what technology can do to facilitate innovation in the field of sustainable energy.