Journal of Renewable Energy
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Submission to final decision87 days
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CFD Simulations and Experimental Investigation of a Flat-Plate Solar Air Heater at Different Positions of Inlet and Outlet

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Journal of Renewable Energy publishes papers relating to the science and technology of renewable energy generation, distribution, storage, and management. It also covers the environmental, societal, and economic impacts of renewable energy.

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Journal of Renewable Energy maintains an Editorial Board of practicing researchers from around the world, to ensure manuscripts are handled by editors who are experts in the field of study.

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Research Article

Bioenergy Production Potential of Available Biomass Residue Resources in Ethiopia

The study intends to present the bioenergy potential in Ethiopia using major sources of biomass generation. The study utilized data from secondary sources to generate the potential using the available biomass sources within the country. In order to determine the bioenergy potential, four residue biomass sources, including livestock manure, crop residues, forest residues, and municipal solid waste (MSW) from major cities, were considered. The Food and Agriculture Organization Corporate Statistical (FAOSTAT) Database as well as national and local reports were used to compile information on crops, forests, animals, and human populations. The potential of each source is estimated for 2020-21 as the base year. The total bioenergy potential of the country is estimated to be 2955 petajoule (PJ) per year, with 56.01% of it coming from forest residue, 28.29% from crop residue, 15.36% from livestock waste, and 0.33% from MSW. In addition, it is estimated that 819.7 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity may be generated from all sources yearly. This is equivalent to around 8, 58, and 89 times Ethiopia’s total primary energy consumption, electricity production, and electricity net consumption in 2020, respectively. Results also demonstrated that the total potential (819.7 TWh·y−1) is roughly 56% greater than the forest residues’ potential alone (459 TWh·y−1). This implies that biomass resources might be crucial in assisting Ethiopia to fulfill its future energy needs. To fully realize the availability of biomass energy, the study suggests performing integrated development research, choosing the best feedstock and value chains for bioenergy, and creating a bioenergy database.

Research Article

A Bottom-Up Approach to PV System Design for Rural Locality Electrification: A Case Study in Burkina Faso

This work evaluates the performance of optimal hybrid PV/battery and PV/diesel generator renewable energy systems for a remote village in Burkina Faso. Based on socioeconomic data and the household sample survey, a technoeconomic simulation and optimization model of electrical loading are presented. Ant colony optimization (ACO) and the loss of power supply probability (LPSP) algorithms were used for the search of the optimal hybrid power system. For the selected village location, the results have shown that the hybrid PV/battery system represents the best renewable energy solution due to abundant solar irradiation and carbon emission free compared to the conventional diesel generator (DG) or PV/DG system. To reach the estimated load power demand of 2150 kWh for the studied location, optimized PV/battery configuration sizing required 650 PV modules of 250 W and 715 batteries of 300 Ah. The economical evaluation reveals a cost investment of about 1,293 025.7 USD for a lifetime of 25 years in comparison of that of PV/DG and DG systems, which are 1,088 701.9 USD and 1,682 850.6 USD, respectively. However, environmental and atmospheric pollution is minimized with a saving of more than 17943 tons of CO2. Therefore, the production of electricity from the PV/battery system leads to better competitiveness reliability for a socioeconomic development of studied remote villages.

Research Article

Determinants of Electricity Transmission and Distribution Losses in South Africa

The increased electricity demand amidst inadequate electricity generation in South Africa has plunged the country into frequent power outages and load shedding. However, the country still has the lowest electricity transmission and distribution losses in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite low losses, there is still an opportunity to reduce losses further and reduce power outages and load shedding. This study examines the determinants of electricity transmission and distribution losses in South Africa. The results will inform policymakers on avoiding higher electricity transmission losses to alleviate the current electricity shortfall. Using the time-series data from 1971–2020 and the autoregressive distributed-lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to cointegration, the study confirmed a long-run relationship between electricity transmission, distribution losses, and income, price, investment, political regime, and economic integration. Regression analysis from the ARDL methods revealed that investments, political administration, and economic integration positively influence electricity transmission and distribution losses. At the same time, income reduces electricity transmission and distribution losses in the long run. However, income, price, and economic integration minimize electricity transmission losses in the short run while the remaining variables maintained their positive effects. The implication is that without proper checks in place, an expansion in South Africa’s economic integration, investment, and democracy may negatively affect the electricity sector of the country through an increase in electric power losses, while higher income will help the industry via lower electric power losses. The paper, among other things, recommends building a robust economy to ensure lower levels of electricity transmission and distribution losses.

Research Article

Year-Round Experimental Analysis of the Productivity of Vapour-Based Multistage Solar Still: A Developmental Study

The standalone vapour-based multistage solar still with stacked stages (MSS-SS) belongs to a pool of widely studied small-scale water desalination devices through solar thermal energy. This work contributes to the body of knowledge by presenting a system with new configurations. There is a need to develop small-scale systems to be reliable devices for freshwater provision, as brackish water is available for processing. The experimental study was conducted in a field under actual weather conditions, with the data logged and analysed to study the systems’ behaviour under varying meteorological conditions. A maximum distillate yield of 7790 ml, corresponded to a maximum daily average solar radiation at high range. There was a 21.8% decrease to 6090 ml at moderate daily average range and a further decline of 80.5% to 1190 ml in the low daily average range, representing a significant drop in the distillate yield caused by the insufficient heat collection at low range. The high, moderate, and low ranges corresponded to summer, spring and autumn, and winter, respectively. The lower values of the moderate range were the most optimum operationally. The impulsive modes were ideal for high rates of the heat inputs, while the continuous were for low rates. The assumption of a continuous mode and a further increase in the rate of thermal energy input caused thermal damage necessitating the augmentation of the thermal energy storage (TES) device due to a larger collector-to-basin area (CBA) ratio. The distillate yield trends from the stages were dynamic and were the inverse of the stage temperature, which was dictated by the mode and rate of the thermal energy input. These trends were such that stage 5 > 3 > 2 > 1 > 4 at moderate to high ranges and changed a low range. The summer season enhanced the cumulative saline water (SW) preheating and heat recovery to 66.8°C. The economic analysis found that at its most productive level, the cost of producing water per litre (CPL) from the vapour-based MSS-SS was R 4.05. The small-scale water purification systems are helpful, especially in remote areas.

Research Article

Modeling of an Electrical Energy Switching System in Multisource Power Plants: The Case of Grid Connected Photovoltaic and Wind Power Systems

This paper proposes a multisource power plant management strategy for the proposed structure. This power plant consists of photovoltaic, wind, and grid. The principle of this management strategy is based on the reference currents and defines two components of the current namely a harmonic component related to the harmonics contained in the load current and current called fundamental related to the fundamental of the load current. This proposed strategy allows the different renewable sources to supply the load partially or totally. The harmonic component performs the power quality function while the fundamental component feeds the load and injects the surplus production into the grid. The power management is done according to the established scenarios and responds to the demand of the load. The simulations were carried out with Matlab software, and these results show the performance of this strategy for this structure studied to fulfill the following functions: power supply to the load, power factor (PF) correction, harmonic elimination, reactive energy compensation, and injection in the network of a current with a low rate of harmonic distortion lower than 1% in accordance with the IEEE Std 519-2014 standard.

Research Article

DFT Studies of p-N,N-(Dimethylamino) Benzoic Acid with Para or Meta–Electron Withdrawing or Donating Moieties for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs)

Solar energy is receiving considerable attention worldwide. Our contribution here focuses on fabricating p-N,N-(dimethylamino) benzoic acid (4-DMABA) donor-π-acceptor derivatives for use in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The gas-phase and solvated 4-DMABA and some of its electron donating or withdrawing ortho or meta derivatives were studied theoretically. Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) were applied to visualize their structural, molecular, photoelectrical, electronic, and photophysical parameters. The parameters for monitoring DSSC efficacies include HOMOs, LUMOs, energy gaps, wavelengths, oscillator strengths, light harvesting efficiencies (LHE), electron injection driving forces (ΔGinject), regeneration driving forces (ΔGregen), open circuit voltages (VOC), and short-circuit current densities (Jsc).

Journal of Renewable Energy
 Journal metrics
See full report
Acceptance rate10%
Submission to final decision87 days
Acceptance to publication8 days
CiteScore-
Journal Citation Indicator-
Impact Factor-
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