Renewable Energy Sources Technologies Research Articles

Analysis of the Return on Investment in Solar Collectors on the Example of a Household: The Case of Poland

Background: The growing consumption is what drives the development of unsustainable energy and material-intensive production technologies that emit large quantities of pollutants into the atmosphere, water, and land. Obtaining green energy allows reduction of the interference with the environment and, consequently, fits into a sustainable energy development strategy. In order to achieve the emission targets set by the EU for Poland, it is necessary to prioritize the development of renewable energy sources (RES) technologies within the energy sector.Methods: The purpose of the study was to present the results of the research relating to the return on investment of solar collectors for single-family houses in Poland. The research was presented on the basis of the legal conditions applicable to micro installations in the light of the amendment of the RES Act, and the impact of these amendments on the aspects of such investment was determined.Results: On the basis of the constructed economic model used to assess the return on investment of increasing the area of solar collectors, it has been shown that an operating installation will bring measurable economic benefits in the form of reduction in the amount of energy purchased annually in the amount of 6,756 kWh and environmental benefits in the form of reduction of carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere 2.4–3.6 Mg per year. An installation subsidized under the “My Electricity” program can reach an NPV of EUR 6,000 over 20 years at a discount rate r = 0 and assuming that the electricity is EUR 0.15/kWh. If the price rises to 0.2 EUR/kWh, the NPV will be 10,000 EUR. For the analyzed installation, the investment consisting in increasing the collector area in accordance with NPV is economically effective for the absorber area in the range of 5.6–7.6 m2 and reaches the maximum value for the absorber area of 6.6 m2, while the absorber area above 7 m2 contributes to reduce the value of the economic return on investment. The obtained results have been generalized, which allows to use them in the process of selecting the size of collector area for similar installations.Conclusion: The return on investment analysis carried out in respect of a detached house allowed to demonstrate that this project is fully justified. Furthermore, pursuant to the Renewable Energy Sources Act in force in Poland, treating a small entrepreneur as a prosumer who may generally take advantage of favorable conditions for discounting the produced energy leads to very favorable possibilities of settling electricity. Considering an entrepreneur as a prosumer who may use one-off depreciation of a solar collectors installation as a fixed asset and request for VAT refund is what makes such an investment very attractive in financial terms and makes it difficult to find a safe investment alternative characterized by such a high rate of return.

Sustainable Investment—A Solution to Reduce Environmental Footprint

The environmental footprint (EF) indicator has emerged as a tool to measure human demand for productive land and water and it is used for the evaluation of the impact of products or economic activities on the environment. There are many indicators that are used in the decision making for the investment in the power sector, however, predominant are the economic indicators which underestimate the depreciation of natural capital (environment) and the value added generated by the public services. Many research studies have been carried out in an attempt to demonstrate the versatility of the EF by extending its applicability not only to environmental assessment, but also to use it, among other economic indicators, when assessing sustainable investment. Sustainable investment (SI) combines fundamental analysis and engagement with an evaluation of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors. The purpose of this article is, upon evaluating the EF, to identify the opportunities for the EF reduction through sustainable investment in the electricity production sector in EU countries. Environmental footprint analysis has been performed by using sustainable process index program SPIonExcel (SPI), which is one of the methods in the EF family. SPI is a useful tool for assessing ecological problems and finding sustainable solutions in the life cycle of energy production process. This research has revealed that the function of the footprint reduction depends directly on investments in renewable energy source (RES) technologies, but not all investments can be sustainable. Countries mainly invest in the development of wind energy and solar PV technologies and gradually reduce their inland production capacities from fossil fuel. Although SI in RES technologies reduces the EF, this is not enough to reduce it substantially because there are limitations for installing new power capacities. Consequently, countries tend to invest in the development of electricity networks. The conclusion can be drawn as follows: the reduction of the EF of electricity could be achieved by developing RES technologies since the major part of electricity is produced by using non-renewable resources. It is essential to develop new technologies as soon as possible in order to reduce EF as much as possible, and this can only be achieved through systematic sustainable investment.

Local Energy Trading in Future Distribution Systems

Today, the pace of development of decentralized transactive management systems has increased significantly due to growing renewable energy source technologies and communication infrastructure at the distribution system level. Such bilateral energy transactions have changed the structure of electricity markets and led to the emergence of a local energy market in electricity distribution. While examining this change of attitude, this paper analyzes the effects of local market formation on the performance and performance of distribution companies. Accordingly, the technical requirements in the three areas of operation, network control, and ICT in the new workspace are thoroughly examined. The hardware requirements will be presented in two parts for the end-user and the distribution systems. Then, the proposed local distribution market framework will be introduced, and finally, the conclusion will be presented.

Development of a Sustainable Theoretical Framework for a Renewable Based Bathroom Unit

One of the major issues facing the world in the 21st century is climate change. However, sustainability has become a crucial concept to combat extreme consumption of environmental resources. The bathroom has been estimated to be the principal user of environmental resources in United Kingdom households. Therefore, the challenge that how a combined water and energy saving unit in the bathroom will contribute to the sustainability of the houses will remain unresolved. This study challenges and extends existing knowledge on sustainability related to the smart bathroom systems considering social, environmental, and economic principles to achieve a highly efficient water and energy consumption in the bathroom. This study gathers that a range of technological challenges are based on the individual components and technologies in the bathroom and concludes that a holistic approach is required for an effective modelling in the bathroom. This allows the examination of energy and water flows in the complex systems, shaped by various social, economic and environmental forces. The method this study presented adopts conceptual and holistic modelling to design and implement a bathroom unit that is sustainable and smart. This study uncovers the contribution of renewable energy source and smart control technologies in the bathroom and the significant contribution it makes in levels of energy consumption and carbon emissions. These sustainable features are subsequently used to develop framework for sustainable for implementing and evaluation of sustainable bathroom system. This study has established a strong quantitative and qualitative links between three dimensions of sustainability.

Forecasting of the group of power system’s technical condition composite index and demand for heat energy by office buildings using an artificial neural network

Support of a sustained reduction of energy resource consumption by implementing advanced energy-efficient technologies, including alternative and renewable energy sources, requires a well-reasoned selection of the cost-effective measures so it can be replicated at the «green construction» sites. One of the basic approaches in forming of the present-day policy in the ecofriendly and energy-saving trends became a scaling effect of what has been achieved from the «green construction» technologies implementation at similar sites in Moscow. The actuality and scientific novelty of this paper lie in the development of the evaluation algorithm of energy and as a result of echo-economic efficiency of different measures for energy-saving, the adaptation of the forecasting methodology for building’s technical condition index application, review of the alternative and renewable energy source technologies implementation at the «green construction» sites in the Moscow region, analysis of the technical and ecological efficiency actual values of the utilized energy-saving methods and technologies. Monitoring and dispatching of a large number of separate power plants require special ways of collecting, processing, and analyzing information about the condition of water, heat, fuel, and electricity supply systems to ensure reliability and stability of the equipment functioning. Failures necessitate maintenance works at facilities by way of equipment repair as well as replacement. The consumers may impose penalties on the heat supply company for violating heat energy supply obligations as well as on the building’s owner for incorrect equipment maintenance. The objective of this paper is to determine an approach that helps to develop a software program, based on the neural network programming, to calculate the forecasting composite index of building’s energy system, «green construction» facilities ecological and economic efficiency examination and feasibility evaluation of their further replication in Moscow region.

Standard, Point of Use, and Extended Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROI) from Comprehensive Material Requirements of Present Global Wind, Solar, and Hydro Power Technologies

Whether renewable energy sources (RES) will provide sufficient energy surplus to entirely power complex modern societies is under discussion. We contribute to this debate by estimating the current global average energy return on energy invested (EROI) for the five RES technologies with the highest potential of electricity generation from the comprehensive and internally consistent estimations of their material requirements at three distinct energy system boundaries: standard farm-gate (EROIst), final at consumer point-of-use (EROIfinal), and extended (including indirect investments, EROIext). EROIst levels found fall within the respective literature ranges. Expanding the boundaries closer to the system level, we find that only large hydroelectricity would currently have a high EROIext ~ 6.5:1, while the rest of variable RES would be below 3:1: onshore wind (2.9:1), offshore wind (2.3:1), solar Photovoltaic (PV) (1.8:1), and solar Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) (<1:1). These results indicate that, very likely, the global average EROIext levels of variable RES are currently below those of fossil fuel-fired electricity. It remains unknown if technological improvements will be able to compensate for factors, which will become increasingly important as the variable RES scale-up. Hence, without dynamically accounting for the evolution of the EROI of the system, the viability of sustainable energy systems cannot be ensured, especially for modern societies pursuing continuous economic growth.

Fuzzy-based approach for power smoothing of a full-converter wind turbine generator using a supercapacitor energy storage

Wind turbine generators (WTGs) are one of the fastest growing renewable energy source technologies. Due to the nature of wind, power fluctuations of WTGs can cause significant problems in the distribution network. In this study a fuzzy-based approach is proposed for a full-converter WTG coupled with a supercapacitor energy storage system. The fuzzy system is designed to smooth out the wind power fluctuations and also maintain an energy reserve of the supercapacitor for short-term grid disturbances. The fuzzy approach is thoroughly tested and compared with a conventional power smoothing technique and with the case without an energy storage system (ESS). Closed-loop digital simulations showed that the proposed fuzzy scheme enhances wind power smoothing and properly manages the state of charge (SOC) of the supercapacitor during faults in the simulated microgrid. Having less power fluctuations and the availability of the ESS to comply with the low-voltage ride through (LVRT) requirement, the WTG and the microgrid operation were considerably improved.

State‐space modelling of an interconnected system of renewable energy sources and grid for rural electrification

This study deals with the development of a state-space model for an interconnected system of renewable energy sources (RES) with grid. The RES technologies considered for power generation in the interconnected system are doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) based wind energy conversion system and biogas genset. A linearised model for DFIG has been developed for the system. For biogas genset, the control of frequency and voltage is taken care by the electronic speed governor and IEEE type-I excitation system, respectively. The interconnected system takes a fixed feed of power supply from the grid and the rest of the consumer load is taken care by the RES. Finally, state feedback controllers have been developed for this interconnected system which maintains the active and reactive power balance between different sources of RES when small signal perturbations are given in load and input wind power. The comparative analysis has also been performed with the conventional PI controllers in order to demonstrate the superiority of proposed feedback controllers for the interconnected power system.

Voltage Ripple Mitigation in DC Microgrid with Constant Power Loads

Abstract With the evolving renewable energy source technologies and their integrations, the DC microgrids are going to play significant role in near future. When these DC microgrids are operational, the load on the system needs to be shared among different sources. For the sharing of the load, droop control methods are well accomplished by the industry and academia. In these droop methods, one has to make judicious choice between the voltage regulation and load sharing. Though near zero voltage regulation can be achieved by virtual droop compensation methods, they suffer from high ripple content in the dc bus voltage based on nature and variation in load. With increase in percentage of the constant power loads in the DC microgrid, the system will experience increased ripples in voltage and is prone to voltage instability. To overcome this limitation, a nonlinear control integrated virtual droop mechanism is proposed in this paper. The proposed droop control mechanism is evaluated for different kinds of loads, including constant power loads, at different operating conditions.

A review of water heating technologies: An application to the South African context

Abstract The process of water heating consumes enormous amounts of energy. South African households may see up to 40% of their total energy be allotted to the heating of water. The implementation of energy efficient or renewable energy source technologies, for the main purpose of heating water, may assist in reducing the magnitude of the energy crisis that South Africans are facing daily. This will, in turn, reduce energy consumption and costs, so that the energy price hikes do not affect the consumers as severely as it would otherwise. The purpose of this paper is to provide a survey of the most frequently used domestic water heating technologies. The paper aims to critically analyse and summarize recent advancements made in renewable and non-renewable water heating technologies, particularly in the South African case. These technologies include the electric storage tank water heater, solar water heaters (passive and active circulation), heat pump water heater, geothermal water heating, photovoltaic-thermal water heater, gas-fired tankless water heater, biomass water heater and oil-fired water heater. Substantial research works and other academic studies focusing on efficiency improvement, optimal design and control, were consulted and categorized in terms of contributions, focus and respective technologies. The key findings of the review conducted on the various water heating technologies are discussed and organized, based on the advantages, drawbacks, approximate initial investment, average life expectancy and payback period. The results of this survey identify gaps in existing research. The aim is to propose a new perspective on the importance of energy efficient hybrid water heating systems and the cost savings they might offer.

English

The rapid growth in the world economy has led to significant increases in energy demand. However, due to the limited formation of fossil fuel reserves such as petroleum, coal and natural gas, and the damage they cause to the environment,it has brought the trend towards renewable energy sources.The main renewable energy sources that can be effectively utilized in agriculture sector are; solar, biomass, geothermal and wind energies.The type of energy that can be used in agricultural production depends on the design of the renewable energy source and the agricultural structure and processes. The main energy consuming processes during production are irrigation, drying of products, heating and cooling of greenhouse gases and animal shelters. Fossil fuels are used during these operations. New technological applications in agriculture, further increases energy consumption. However, due to the increase in the cost of fossil fuels and environmental pollution; the use of renewable energy resources, which have a great potential in the agriculture sector, can be eliminated from this problem. This study examines examples of renewable energy sources that can be effectively utilized in the agricultural sector, Turkey. Proposals have been made for energy efficiency through the use of renewable energy source technologies that can be utilized in energy agriculture and agricultural production operations. Key words: Renewable energy sources, fossil fuels, agriculture, environmental impact. &nbsp

ВИБІР КРИТЕРІЇВ ОЦІНКИ ЕФЕКТИВНОСТІ ПОЛІТИКИ ПІДТРИМКИ ВІДНОВЛЮВАНИХ ДЖЕРЕЛ ЕНЕРГІЇ

At the moment, Ukraine has set targets for expanding the use of renewable energy sources (RES), while one of the key tasks is to substantiate and accurately assess the economic efficiency of using RES with the use of various criteria and indicators. The purpose of the article is to research and develop scientific and economic decisions on the assessment of the efficiency of the use of renewable energy sources, and to justify the selection of criteria for assessing renewable energy support policies. Renewable energy policy is a matter of ongoing assessment, because it implies significant financial support that should be monitored continuously and thoroughly. The article highlights five criteria for assessing renewable energy support policies: efficiency, efficiency, equity, institutional feasibility, reproducibility (long-term functioning). The article substantiates the choice of criteria for assessing the effectiveness of the policy of supporting renewable energy sources, namely the criterion of economic efficiency, which includes static and dynamic efficiency. Effectiveness shows the ratio of realizing the goals of developing RES to the cost of resources that have been spent to achieve these goals. The article presents the calculation and justification of the use of indemnification indicators that characterize the criterion of economic efficiency. The criterion of justice and its estimation are analyzed. Comparison of the use of the provided indicators of political support for renewable energy sources has been com pared. The parameters of dependence of dynamic efficiency are determined. Advantages of RES technologies relative to traditional generation depend to a large extent on local conditions: where there are favorable conditions for implementation of RES technologies, it is possible to achieve lower generation costs based on RES, rather than fossil fuels. In most cases, generation costs based on RES are higher than in traditional generation. Over time, these costs will fall, but by the time that renewable energy reaches the parity with traditional generation, the state will have to bear additional support for the industry with appropriate political support using a variety of criteria with the appropriate set of indicators.

Employment creation in EU related to renewables expansion

Expansion of renewable energy is a key element in the EU Energy and Climate policy framework, as is contributes to Greenhouse Gas reduction and improved energy security, while they can also create employment opportunities. There has been an intense debate on the quantification of these employment effects. Most studies have focused on estimating gross employment impacts and ignored the effects between different sectors, while they commonly use aggregate data and sectoral classification. This paper investigates the net employment impacts from the projected transformation of the EU energy sector towards Renewable Energy Sources (RES), by combining the employment factor approach and general equilibrium analysis. Detailed, up-to-date data at a very disaggregated level are used to compare the labour intensities of RES relative to fossil fuels and assess the employment impacts of the recent Clean Energy Package proposals. RES technologies are estimated to be on average more labour intensive and have a higher domestic job content relative to fossil fuels. The low-carbon transition would lead to the net creation of 200,000 direct jobs in energy sectors. Direct RES jobs represent about 1% of the EU workforce in 2050 and are mostly created in the construction of solar photovoltaics, the supply and production of advanced biofuels and in the manufacturing and installation of wind turbines. In contrast, employment would be eliminated in conventional energy supply sectors, especially in coal mining (which is a labour intensive activity), refineries and refuelling stations. The economy-wide general equilibrium modelling confirms the positive employment impacts of RES expansion and shows that the low-carbon transition would lead to the reallocation of 1.3% of the EU’s workforce across sectors by 2050.

Valuating renewable microgeneration technologies in Lithuanian households: A study on willingness to pay

Abstract Promoting clean energy requires finding the right balance among economic, social and environmental factors as the renewable energy generation technologies are often more costly than the conventional ones and imply additional requirements for their operation. Measurement of willingness to pay (WTP) can be a very useful tool for eliciting the possibilities for developing the renewables considering multiple determinants. This approach, indeed, reflects the preferences of energy consumers towards different renewable energy sources (RES) technologies and represents them in monetary terms. In this paper, we present a discrete choice experiment that was applied to gauge the WTP of individual houses owners for different RES micro generation technologies. As regards the theoretical novelty of the research, we account for willingness to share micro-generation technologies. The unlabelled discrete choice experiment has been carried out in Lithuania – a Central and Eastern European country – and thus offers a contribution to scientific discussion on the development of renewables in the region. The mixed logit model was applied in order to account for differences in tastes (preferences). Based on the results of mixed logit model, WTP was estimated for the selected RES micro generation technologies (solar photovoltaic, biomass boilers, solar thermal and micro-wind). The results show that owners of detached houses in Lithuania households are ready to pay for solar energy-based technologies (some 3300 EUR and 1363 EUR per solar panel and solar thermal installations, respectively), whereas the other two options are less desirable. As regards willingness to share, the households did not consider the latter criterion as a significant factor.

Simple moving average based capacity optimization for VRLA battery in PV power smoothing application using MCTLBO

Rapid depletion of fossil fuel reserves and alarming increase of environmental pollution shift the researchers’ attention towards renewable energy sources technologies like solar photovoltaic (PV). But solar radiation being affected by natural factors, result in uncertain power generation which leads to lower power system reliability. This paper proposes a smoothing strategy of generated PV power using gelled electrolyte valve regulated lead acid (VRLA) type battery energy storage system (BESS). The BESS stores the excess energy and releases it to meet the load demand in case of power surplus and deficit, respectively. The IEEE-RBTS is considered as the basic system for the study. But using large BESS incur humungous cost. Hence Multi-course teaching learning based multi-objective optimization technique (MCTLBO) is utilized to find out the optimal size of the PV panel, the BESS and the smoothening duration. Here, the objectives are to obtain minimum financial loss due to power outage as well as minimum BESS life cycle cost. MCTLBO is proposed here to improve the performance of the traditional teaching learning based optimization technique and it shows promising results. Factors affecting the power output of the PV panels are also considered here. The simulation is performed considering real time solar irradiance and temperature data of a city located on the eastern coast of India and the results obtained are both technically and economically viable in Indian context.

Highly resolved optimal renewable allocation planning in power systems under consideration of dynamic grid topology

The system integration of an increasing amount of electricity generation from decentralised renewable energy sources (RES-E) is a major challenge for the transition of the European power system. The feed-in profiles and the potential of RES-E vary along the geographical and temporal dimension and are also subject to technological choices and changes. To support power system planning in the context of RES-E expansion and allocation planning required for meeting RES-E targets, analyses are needed assessing where and which RES-E capacities are likely to be expanded. This requires models that are able to consider the power grid capacity and topology including their changes over time. We therefore developed a model that meets these requirements and considers the assignment of RES-E potentials to grid nodes as variable. This is a major advancement in comparison to existing approaches based on a fixed and pre-defined assignment of RES-E potentials to a node. While our model is generic and includes data for all of Europe, we demonstrate the model in the context of a case study in the Republic of Ireland. We find wind onshore to be the dominating RES-E technology from a cost-efficient perspective. Since spatial wind onshore potentials are highest in the West and North of the country, this leads to a high capacity concentration in these areas. Should policy makers wish to diversify the RES-E portfolio, we find that a diversification mainly based on bioenergy and wind offshore is achievable at a moderate cost increase. Including solar photovoltaics into the portfolio, particularly rooftop installations, however, leads to a significant cost increase but also to a more scattered capacity installation over the country.

Towards a low-carbon electric power system in Mexico

The energy sector is one of the largest sources of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions in Mexico and the World due to the intensive use of fossil fuels. This article is developed on and examines from an environmental and economical approach an alternative scenario towards a Mexican Low Carbon Electric Power System, by analyzing 36 GHG mitigation options on the electric demand side, namely −23 for an energy-efficient use and 4 for distributed generation, across the residential, commercial, public, industrial and energy sectors and, 9 options of electric power generation with Renewable Energy Sources (RES) on the electric power supply side. Our results reveal that, regarding the GHG baseline, towards 2020, this alternative scenario minimizes 33% of the GHG emissions, and towards 2035 these emissions are dramatically minimized at 79%. Furthermore, results also show that there is a possibility to reach a GHG peak in the electric power industry in very few years with this alternative scenario. Moreover, it is found that this alternative scenario will entail no cost in the analyzed period; on the contrary, it creates a global economic benefit of over 8000 MUSD, where 74% is related to the application of the mitigation options in the electric demand sectors and the remaining 26% comes from RES technologies in the electric power supply. Results show that the implementation of this alternative scenario requires an incremental investment of almost than 2 Billion USD/year within the analysis period. Lastly, it is shown that national goals for the electric power sector that have been recently established in the General Climate Change Law, the Energy Transition Law as well as the proposed Intended Nationally Determined Contribution in the Paris COP21 Agreements are feasible for achievement in this alternative scenario.

Evolution from the renewable portfolio standards to feed-in tariff for the deployment of renewable energy in Japan

Following the dominant firm-competitive fringe model, this paper analyses the response of Japan’s nonrenewable electricity utilities to the renewable portfolio standards (RPS) and feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme. The output of electricity from renewable energy sources (RES-E) is primarily correlated with the magnitude of the RPS requirement and the fixed tariff. Nonrenewable firms suffer a reduction in revenue due to increased RES-E production under both schemes. The RPS requirement has direct impact on the renewable energy certificate (NEC) price. If the incumbent nonrenewable electricity utilities gain market power in both electricity and NEC markets, they can suppress the RPS quota to preserve their vested benefits. In the FIT scheme, the above-market RES-E generation cost is passed on to consumers via a surcharge. Since grid-connected RES-E accelerated rapidly under FIT, nonrenewable electricity utilities would face a substantial increase in costs to maintain network reliability due to the intermittent and variable nature of RES-E technologies. The Japanese government should therefore take measures to ensure variable renewable power occupies a higher share of the electricity system, and to do so in a cost-effective manner.

Applying Building-integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) in Existing Buildings, Opportunities and Constrains in Egypt

The fight against climate change and the continued trend of the rising prices of the fossil energy products in the international market have focused on the need to develop Renewable Energy Sources (RES) worldwide. In Egypt, enjoying more than 250 uninterrupted sunshine days, the development potentials of Solar Energy appears very obvious, despite the relatively higher cost of this energy (in kW/h) compared to other RES technologies such as wind energy. Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) are one of the best ways to harness solar power, which is the most abundant, inexhaustible and clean of all the available energy resources. Considering the above, the aim of this paper is to present in a coherent and integrated way the major potentials and constraints affecting the development of applying solar energy to existing buildings in Egypt. The scope of the paper is to provide insight to the possible opportunities of applying solar energy in existing buildings, based on a current analysis of case studies from Egypt which introduced photovoltaic in roofs, facades, skylights and solar shades. The paper is structured along three sections. In Section 1, emphasis is given to describe an overview of the significance of applying solar energy in the Egyptian real estate market. The available methods and various issues are included along with the presentation of a list of (BIPV) applications. In Section 2, the supporting opportunities for (BIPV) applications in Egypt are analyzed through some case studies such as (Egas Building) in Cairo which has integrated 389 panel of monocrystalline on the top of the building to produce approximately 40% of the building needs with benefit of grid connection. The last section includes conclusions and a summary of the main points that have arisen in thispaper.

Innovative High Efficiency Closed Loop Ground Coupled Heat Exchanger (GCHE)

The current paper describes an innovative high efficiency closed loop ground coupled heat exchanger (GCHE), which is already protected by a Greek patent, while protection at European level is pending.Closed loop GCHEs are used in shallow geothermal energy systems, which are a relatively widespread renewable energy sources (RES) technology. The exploitation of shallow geothermal energy is achieved through energy systems which provide heating/cooling and/or domestic hot water in several types of buildings (houses, offices, hotel complexes, schools, shopping centers, etc.) and in other applications (such as swimming pools, greenhouses, ice melting, etc.). It is noteworthy that the above mentioned energy systems are widely known as ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) or simply shallow geothermal energy systems. It should be emphasized that GCHEs are one of the main parts of a closed loop GSHP system. The installation of closed loop GCHEs is achieved, mainly, through two geometrical patterns: horizontal and vertical.The innovative high efficiency closed loop GCHE is going to be used for the exploitation of the internal thermal energy (U) of the medium (ground or aquatic environment) with which it comes into contact. In particular, this innovative high efficiency closed loop GCHEconsists of plastic piping which has been mounted to a specific metallic mechanism. Furthermore, the innovative high efficiency closed loop GCHEhas several advantages in relation to a conventional closed loop GCHE, such as: a) higher degree of exploitation of the internal thermal energy (U) of the medium, b) decrease of the manufacturing and installation costs, c) decrease of the length (m) of the borehole drilling in vertical systems and d) decrease of the required application area (m2) in horizontal systems.In conclusion it is expected that the use, production and commercialization of the innovative high efficiency closed loop GCHEsmay facilitate further diffusion of GSHPs contributing, among others, to the reduction of CO2 and other gas emissions, to environmental protection, to energy savings and to the creation of new jobs —a glimmer of hope against the economic recession of Greece.