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Delamination is one of the most critical failure modes of a PV module during service lifetime. Delamination within a backsheet primarily imposes a safety risk, but may also accelerate various other PV module degradation modes. The main aim of this paper is to present a peel test set-up, which is more practical in sample preparation and execution than the width-tapered cantilever beam test and overcomes some issues of standard peel tests like the influence of sample geometry and energy dissipation through deformation on the peel test results. The best results with respect to accuracy and effort were achieved by using a 180° peel geometry where an additional adhesive tape is applied to the peel arm in order to avoid plastic deformation or breakage. The additional support of the adhesive tape leads to comparable peel strength values without any influence of the plastic deformation behavior of the peel arms with different thickness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to reduce the heat transfer between indoor and outdoor environments and reduce the influence of outdoor ambient temperature fluctuation on the indoor environment, adding micro-PCM to the building envelope is one of the effective means. Micro-PCM can "intelligently" control temperature by absorbing or releasing heat during phase change to maintain temperature stability. In this paper, the phase change temperature-adjustable mortar was prepared by using micro-PCM with a phase change temperature of 25 °C, and was painted on the surface of cement wallboard (300 × 100 mm) to form a phase change thermostatic mortar layer with a cross-section size of 300 × 20 mm. The solar radiation on the outer surface of the building envelope was simulated by an incandescent lamp. The influence of micro-PCM on the temperature control performance of cement wallboard was tested. The thermal performance of the PCM wallboard was simulated by COMSOL software. Results show that compared with ordinary cement wallboard, when the micro-PCM content is 40%, the maximum temperature of the inner wall can be reduced by 5.17 °C, and the time to reach the maximum temperature is delayed by 145 minutes. The temperature fluctuation amplitude of the inner wall is reduced by 1.90 °C, and the maximum instantaneous heat transfer is reduced by 22.202 W/m². [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an innovative approach to analyse the energy behaviour of complex kinetic shading systems. Although several studies have analysed this topic, many are focused only on certain aspects or on simple shading systems due to a lack of tools for running reliable energy simulations on complex systems. This study aims to develop and validate a tool based on Python and EnergyPlus that can consider the continuous nature of the energy simulation and analyse complex kinetic systems. Simply providing an EnergyPlus model and a model of the shading configurations, the algorithm provides as output a comparison sheet to evaluate the performance of the system. The paper provides a description of the tools and studies focused on this topic; subsequently, a methodological insight is presented to explain the workflow, its validation, and the algorithm developed. Finally, the algorithm is tested on a case study to analyse a kinetic shading system. Abbreviations: DSF: Dynamic Shading File; EDSM: Equivalent Dynamic Shading Model; EMS: Energy Management System; ESSM: Equivalent Static Shading Model; Gf: Incident irradiance; Gf max: Incident irradiance threshold; PV: Photovoltaic; ST1/2/3: State 1/2/3; SSM: Static Shading Model; SF: Sunlit Fraction; SSF: Static Shading File; To: Outdoor temperature; To max 1/2: Outdoor temperature threshold 1/2; Tsol: Solar transmittance [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concerns the mitigation of voltage disturbances deteriorating power quality and disrupting the operation of LV distribution grids due to the high penetration of PV energy sources in prosumer installations. A novel control strategy for 3-phase 4-wire PV inverters is proposed, which ensures the transmission of PV active power and simultaneous compensation of load unbalance and reactive power, making the prosumer installation balanced and purely active. It results in the balance of phase voltages and the mitigation of their variability. Unlike other methods used for voltage regulation in LV grids, the proposed solution contributes to the reduction in losses, is simple, and does not require additional costs. In the paper, a control algorithm for the PV inverter is described. Its effectiveness was tested by simulation using a model of the real LV distribution grid developed in the PSCAD/EMTDC program. The results of the simulations are presented and evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the reduction of energy consumption and efficient energy use, particularly in the building stock, is the priority for contemporary societies, the ways of how to improve the existing buildings should be examined. Flat roofs, as a part of the existing building thermal envelope, are recognized as a field of intervention for improving efficient energy use for space cooling and heating. The topic of the paper is to determine to what extent different improved roof structures affect energy consumption intended to achieve thermal comfort. Comparative analysis of four roof structures was conducted for the building of Healthcare center Niš in Serbia, one improved non-walkable flat roof structure and three green roof systems. Urbancsape extensive green roof system was used in all tested green roof models: non-walkable extensive green roof, walkable extensive green roof, and extensive and intensive green roof systems within walkable terraces. DesignBuilder software was used for energy modelling. The obtained results indicate a slight decrease in energy consumption for building models with green roofs compared to the building model with the improved non-walkable roof structure, along the cooling period, by approximately 1.5%, which is correlated with previous studies in similar conditions. On the other hand, the reduction of energy consumption over the heating period was negligible (less than 1%). Considering the results and predominant usage of commercial Urbanscape extensive green roof system in all green roof models, being characterized by small thickness (10.64 cm) and light structure, and which is predicted to be installed over the already well-insulated roof, the system's role as an additional thermal mass was confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the biggest causes of worldwide environmental pollution is conventional fossil fuel-based electricity generation. The need for cleaner and more sustainable energy sources to produce power is growing as a result of the quick depletion of fossil fuel supplies and their negative effects on the environment. Solar PV cells employ solar energy, an endless and unrestricted renewable energy source, to generate electricity directly. The optimum output, energy conversion efficiency, productivity, and lifetime of the solar PV cell are all significantly impacted by environmental factors as well as cell operation and maintenance, which have an impact on the cost-effectiveness of power generation. This article presents an analysis of recent research on the impact of operational and environmental factors on the performance of solar PV cells. It has been discovered that temperature and humidity, combined with dust allocation and soiling effect, have a significant impact on the performance of PV modules. In addition, particularly in the lonely places, the wind itself carries a lot of dust and sand particles. The situation gets worse when dust builds up in humid circumstances and produces tenacious, sticky mud on the PV cell, which lowers power output by up to 60–70%. This paper covers cutting-edge methods for reducing these elements' effects, along with their proportional benefits and difficulties. This paper also explains about the parameters which involved in the solar power production and their influence on the efficiency analysis. The efficiency and energy conversion capacity of the semi conducting materials for power production is also discussed. It is also discussed about the general benefits of the solar PV power generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, there has been considerable research interest in the potential for DC distribution systems in buildings instead of the traditional AC distribution systems. Due to the need for performing power conversions between DC and AC electricity, DC distribution may provide electrical efficiency advantages in some systems. To support comparative evaluations of AC-only, DC-only, and hybrid AC/DC distribution systems in buildings, a new modeling toolkit called the Building Electrical Efficiency Analysis Model (BEEAM) was developed and is described in this paper. To account for harmonics in currents or voltages arising from nonlinear devices, the toolkit implements harmonic power flow, along with nonlinear device behavioral descriptions derived from empirical measurements. This paper describes the framework, network equations, device representations, and an implementation of the toolkit in an open source software package, including a component library and graphical interface for creating circuits. Simulations of electrical behavior and device and system efficiencies using the toolkit are compared with experimental measurements of a small office environment in a variety of operating and load configurations. A detailed analysis of uncertainty estimation is also provided. Key findings were that a comparison of predicted versus measured efficiencies and power losses in the validation testbed using the initial toolkit implementation predicted device- and system-level efficiencies with reasonably good accuracy under both balanced and unbalanced AC scenarios. An uncertainty analysis also revealed that the maximum estimated error for system efficiency across all scenarios was 3%, and measured and modeled system efficiency agreed within the experimental uncertainty in approximately half of the scenarios. Based on the correspondence between simulation and measurement, the toolkit is proposed by the authors as a potentially useful tool for comparing efficiency in AC, DC, and hybrid AC/DC distribution systems in buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy used in buildings is mainly attributed to provide the desired thermal comfort, which could result in an increase in carbon emission and, in turn, lead to further environmental degradation. A Building-Integrated Photovoltaic Double-Skin Façade (BIPV-DSF) is a promising way to maintain indoor thermal comfort, obtained with low environmental impact and energy consumption. The appropriate design of BIPV-DSFs can maximise indoor thermal comfort and energy efficiency for buildings. This paper presents optimal BIPV-DSF design solutions, which are dedicated to offering comfortable and energy-efficient buildings, through optimisation of the most important design parameters of a BIPV-DSF under three different climate conditions in Australia. The results illustrate how thermal transmittance (U-value) and solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) of windows of the BIPV-DSF, as the most important design parameters, were optimised for application in the context of different climates, operation modes, and orientations. The paper contributes to the matters concerning the integrated effect of BIPV-DSFs on thermal comfort and energy performance in buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyze and discuss the risks facing construction projects by reviewing some of the processes and procedures that address risks through the use of the digital twin technology. The paper studies generic risks and their treatment, and it develops a proposal for risk management systematization using the Digital Twin for Construction Projects approach, previously developed by the authors. It addresses how to classify risks so that the digital system is fed with the proper information and data, which is based on processing and analysis, to reach understandable decisions and overcome anomalies. The research reached a set of results, the most prominent of which is that the digital twin can be used to enhance risk management in construction projects through adapted techniques such as the ones proposed in the paper; namely, a risk treatment procedure and a custom risk matrix. In addition, risk management treated according to a digital approach helps to improve the prediction capabilities, and this helps human decision-makers to avoid potential unplanned costs and failures, and to maximize efficiency. The study also recommends new investigations in the field of safeguarding shared information and data to protect from intentional and accidental mismanagement in order to reach a comprehensive digital system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilization of efficient technologies, renovation of buildings and construction of new passive buildings, replacement of coal, natural gas, and nuclear power plants with "clean" technologies such as photovoltaics and wind, transition to 4-D in industry, and electrification are parts of the objectives set out in the Green Deal of the EU. The Green Deal foresees a transformation to a "green" economy while maintaining economic growth, as well as creating new "green" jobs. To meet these goals, each country needs to develop its own strategic documents that will guide the transition, taking into account its own specific conditions, the current state of the energy sector as well as geographical location. This paper aims to present a vision for the energy transition of a developing country, a member of the Energy Community, and a country that expects to join the EU. The vision of the development of the energy system of North Macedonia foresees a transformation from a system based on fossil fuels, where the share of RES in the gross final energy consumption is about 18%, to a 43% share of RES in 2040, while maintaining import dependence at the current level and guaranteeing the security of energy supply. For exploring the way and the pace at which such a vision can be achieved it is necessary to develop different models and simulations, including different technologies on the generation and consumption side. Such alternatives, packaged in different scenarios, allow policymakers to assess the effects of taking certain actions and the direction in which such decisions will lead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To solve the problem of permanent-shadow shading of photovoltaic buildings, a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) strategy to determine the search range by pre-delimiting area is proposed to improve MPPT efficiency. The single correspondence between the solar-cell current–voltage (I – V) curve and the illumination conditions was proved by using the single-diode model of photovoltaic cells, thus proving that a change in the illumination conditions corresponds to a unique maximum power point (MPP) search area. According to the approximate relationship between MPP voltage, current and open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current of a photovoltaic module, the voltage region where the MPP is located is determined and the global maximum power point is determined using the power operating triangle strategy in this region. Simulation carried out in MATLAB proves the correctness and feasibility of the theoretical research. Simulation results show that the MPPT strategy proposed in this paper can improve the average efficiency by 1.125% when applied in series as building integrated photovoltaics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photovoltaics have the advantages of being clean and renewable and have gained a wide range of applications. It is promising to use photovoltaic energy for the power supply of buildings, as the building sector accounts for a large portion of global energy consumption with a constantly increasing trend. However, photovoltaics are greatly affected by time and environment, and it is usually combined with batteries to form a photovoltaic – battery energy storage system to meet the load demand. This paper aims to analyze and compare energy management strategies of an on-grid solar photovoltaic – battery system for a real building project in a typical May and October region, but unlike other studies, the strategies used in this paper are very simple and easy to implement. It can also realize photovoltaic, battery and grid to meet the load power demand. Two strategies are used in this paper. Strategy 1 is to maximize the utilization of the energy generated by photovoltaics: while the energy generated by photovoltaics cannot meet the load demand, the battery will provide energy, and while the battery cannot meet the load demand, the grid will provide energy. The photovoltaic energy is given priority to the battery under the premise of meeting the load demand. Strategy 2 is to use the time-of-use electricity price, and the battery obtains cheap electricity at night to meet the load of the high electricity price the next day. The feasibility of the strategy used is demonstrated by actual data of buildings and photovoltaic – battery energy storage systems. This study can provide theoretical references for the energy management and system operation to facility managers and building occupants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital twin (DT) is a prolific buzzword in this era, where digitization plays a significant role. The perception of solar energy harvesting has been gaining popularity with the advent of solar panels. Solar asset maintenance is a need of the hour for investors because of the smart city scheme and green building certificate evaluation for all industries, educational institutions, etc. Among the list of factors that reduce PV system efficiency, the issue of partial shading is a vital distress that must be resolved. This paper focuses on the development of a digital twin framework that is proactively driven by shading patterns and a proposed optimization-based reconfiguration embedded controller that electronically relocates the panel in the physical world. The real-time system has been created for a three-by-three series parallel panel arrangement. The proposed switching matrix controller achieves the maximum power, i.e., 40% of increased power output, row current difference is made almost zero from 3 to 4 A, and fill factor increases by 20% by reconfiguring the solar array. It is done based on a decision taken by a nature-inspired (equal irradiation distribution algorithm) or puzzle-based (skyscraper) optimization algorithm. Switching matrix controllers overcome the disadvantages of physical relocation. The users can query the digital twin build to know the historical performance and current operating conditions of the system. It can trigger alarms as early warnings and make predictions about possible system anomalies, if and when they occur using a digital twin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photovoltaic (PV) panels are prone to experiencing various overlays and faults that can affect their performance and efficiency. The detection of photovoltaic panel overlays and faults is crucial for enhancing the performance and durability of photovoltaic power generation systems. It can minimize energy losses, increase system reliability and lifetime, and lower maintenance costs. Furthermore, it can contribute to the sustainable development of photovoltaic power generation systems, which can reduce our reliance on conventional energy sources and mitigate environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in line with the goals of sustainable energy and environmental protection. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey of the existing detection techniques for PV panel overlays and faults from two main aspects. The first aspect is the detection of PV panel overlays, which are mainly caused by dust, snow, or shading. We classify the existing PV panel overlay detection methods into two categories, including image processing and deep learning methods, and analyze their advantages, disadvantages, and influencing factors. We also discuss some other methods for overlay detection that do not process images to detect PV panel overlays. The second aspect is the detection of PV panel faults, which are mainly caused by cracks, hot spots, or partial shading. We categorize existing PV panel fault detection methods into three categories, including electrical parameter detection methods, detection methods based on image processing, and detection methods based on data mining and artificial intelligence, and discusses their advantages and disadvantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate photovoltaic (PV) identification is critical for the effective and healthy development of PV industry. PV recognition is hampered by the complex background and variable shape and color of PV panels in high-resolution remote sensing images. This paper proposes a method for accurately extracting photovoltaic land from high-resolution remote sensing images. The encoder and decoder functions in this network combine multi-layer features to combine rich semantic data. Important spatial and channel properties are captured using the global convolution and the dual attention mechanism, while some lost channel data are recovered using the channel fusion module. The proposed method can effectively solve the problems of photovoltaic panel blurred edges and adhesion. Experiments on open PV datasets show that the IoU of the proposed method in PV01, PV03, and PV08 is 87.02%, 92.98%, and 88.43%, respectively, when compared to U-Net, SegNet, DeepLabv3, and DeepLabv3+. Experimental results show that the proposed method can achieve high accuracy segmentation of photovoltaic panels in high-resolution remote sensing images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a detailed model of a photovoltaic (PV) panel is used to study the accumulation of dust on solar panels. The presence of dust diminishes the incident light intensity penetrating the panel's cover glass, as it increases the ref lection of light by particles. This phenomenon, commonly known as the "soiling effect", presents a significant challenge to PV systems on a global scale. Two basic models of the equivalent circuits of a solar cell can be found, namely the single-diode model and the two-diode models. The limitation of efficiency data in manufacturers' datasheets has encouraged us to develop an equivalent electrical model that is efficient under dust conditions, integrated with optical transmittance considerations to investigate the soiling effect. The proposed approach is based on the use of experimental current-voltage (I-V) characteristics with simulated data using MATLAB/Simulink. Our research outcomes underscores the feasibility of accurately quantifying the reduction in energy production resulting from soiling by assessing the optical transmittance of accumulated dust on the surface of PV glass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prefabricated modules are being used to renovate the building envelope. However, compared to manual methods, the design and prefabricated module's definition is time consuming. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the efficiency of the prefabricated layout definition processes by incorporating automation and computational design. The purpose of this paper is to present a semi-automated definition of the layout of the prefabricated modules with the only input of the existing building facade being the Point Cloud. In this research, a novel step-by-step workflow was developed. More precisely, an algorithm was developed that processes the coordinates of each point of the cloud and generates the layout of the prefabricated modules. To validate the workflow and the algorithm, four facades were tested, considering two parameters: (a) working time and (b) output accuracy. According to the results, it was concluded that spending more time achieving an accurate laser data acquisition can be a good strategy to obtain the primary layout with sufficient precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photovoltaic panels play a pivotal role in the renewable energy sector, serving as a crucial component for generating environmentally friendly electricity from sunlight. However, a persistent challenge lies in the adverse effects of rising temperatures resulting from prolonged exposure to solar radiation. Consequently, this elevated temperature hinders the efficiency of photovoltaic panels and reduces power production, primarily due to changes in semiconductor properties within the solar cells. Given the depletion of limited fossil fuel resources and the urgent need to reduce carbon gas emissions, scientists and researchers are actively exploring innovative strategies to enhance photovoltaic panel efficiency through advanced cooling methods. This paper conducts a comprehensive review of various cooling technologies employed to enhance the performance of PV panels, encompassing water-based, air-based, and phase-change materials, alongside novel cooling approaches. This study collects and assesses data from recent studies on cooling the PV panel, considering both environmental and economic factors, illustrating the importance of cooling methods on photovoltaic panel efficiency. Among the investigated cooling methods, the thermoelectric cooling method emerges as a promising solution, demonstrating noteworthy improvements in energy efficiency and a positive environmental footprint while maintaining economic viability. As future work, studies should be made at the level of different periods of time throughout the years and for longer periods. This research contributes to the ongoing effort to identify effective cooling strategies, ultimately advancing electricity generation from photovoltaic panels and promoting the adoption of sustainable energy systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing demand for energy-efficient and sustainable solutions in the building sector has driven the need for innovative approaches that integrate renewable energy sources and advanced control systems. This paper presents an integrated energy management solution for solar-powered smart buildings, combining a multifaceted physical system with advanced IoT- and cloud-based control systems. The physical system includes a heat pump, photovoltaics, solar thermal panels, and an innovative low-enthalpy radiant wall and ceiling, providing self-sufficient heating and cooling. The control system makes use of advanced IoT and communication engineering technologies, using Modbus, HTTP, and MQTT protocols for seamless interconnectivity, monitoring, and remote management. The successful implementation of this solution in an average-sized model house in Paris and a deep energy retrofit of a semidetached single-family house in Oviedo, northern Spain, demonstrates increased energy efficiency, improved thermal comfort, and reduced environmental impact compared with conventional alternatives. This study illustrates the potential of integrating solar energy, IoT, and communication technologies into smart buildings, contributing to the global effort to reduce the environmental impact of the building sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of photovoltaic (PV) and thermoelectric (TE) modules in PV-TE systems has shown potential for expanding the utilization of the solar spectrum, enhancing the total power output, and reducing the space that is required for PV power plants. This paper discusses the characteristics of a practical PV-TE system model. Typically, to boost the power output of the TE component, a significant temperature difference is induced across the thermoelectric generator (TEG) module using various heat removal methods. These cooling techniques not only enhance the TEG module's efficiency but may also improve the performance of the PV component. In this study, we evaluate the efficiencies of PV-TE systems that are equipped with polycrystalline silicon solar cells and seven distinct TEGs under four different conditions. Initially, the PV-TE hybrid systems are tested without a cooling mechanism at an ambient temperature of 25 °C (Standard Test Conditions EN/IEC 61215). Subsequently, we examine the systems with a passive cooling approach, employing aluminum heat sinks to facilitate improved heat dissipation. Further tests involve an active cooling system using water and then nanofluid as coolants. The results from these assessments aim to establish a benchmark for enhancing the efficiency of future PV-TE systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In connection with renewable energy sources, the courtyards of the buildings provide space for the installation of agrivoltaics for sustainable development. This paper proposes the use of courtyards of low-rise buildings for agrivoltaics. This will increase the area for installing photovoltaic systems, which have so far only been installed on roofs or facades or on open fields. The advanced design of the photovoltaic systems will enable the dual use of the area both for the cultivation of crops and for the production of electricity at the same time. The increased amount of electricity produced in photovoltaic systems also contributes to reducing the carbon footprint. On the courtyard as well as on the open fields, it is possible to grow agricultural crops between rows of photovoltaic panels. The partial shading of seedlings during summer sunny days reduces their heat stress and slows down soil drying. Solar eclipses are rare, but their impact on electricity generation is significant. We evaluated the measured data and we assessed the electricity production and the influence of a solar eclipse on the electricity production in photovoltaic power plants in the Czech Republic. The daily loss in production depends on the size of the eclipse. A comparison of the annual electricity production in two selected PV power plants with the expected values according to PVGIS testifies to the quality of the construction and the PV panels used in both power plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analytical hierarchy model of the impact of solar reflectance, thermal emittance, heat transfer coefficient, and heat storage coefficient on building energy consumption was established through the implementation of orthogonal design experiments. The EnergyPlus software (v9.0.1) was utilized to simulate building energy consumption across diverse climatic regions in China, providing essential benchmarks for the orthogonal design. The results of the range analysis consistently indicate that, barring regions characterized by extremely cold climates, solar reflectance emerges as the predominant factor exerting an influence on building energy consumption. As geographical latitude increases, the impact of the heat transfer coefficient becomes progressively larger, while the weight of thermal reflectance concurrently diminishes. Drawing upon the principles rooted in the gradient refractive rate theory and the concept of atmospheric window radiation, a range of high-reflectance and high-emittance cool roof coatings in various colors were meticulously developed. A spectrophotometer was employed to precisely quantify their reflectance properties, and simulations were subsequently conducted to scrutinize their energy-saving characteristics. The results demonstrate that the cool roof coatings that were developed using the methodology described in this paper exhibit substantial enhancements in reflectance, with increases of 0.24, 0.25, 0.37, and 0.35 for the yellow, red, blue, and green cool roofing materials, respectively, in comparison to conventional colored coatings. Under typical summer conditions, these enhancements translate to significant reductions in roof temperatures, ranging from 9.4 °C to 14.0 °C. Moreover, the simulations exploring the cooling loads for the roofs of differing colors consistently revealed remarkable energy savings. These savings were quantified to be 4.1%, 3.9%, 5.5%, and 5.4%, respectively, when compared to conventional coatings of the corresponding colors. These findings offer valuable insights into strategies for optimizing the energy efficiency of buildings through the application of high-reflectance cool roofing materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The visual comfort of building occupants may be directly affected by stochastic modulation of shading. In this paper, simulations combined with statistical analysis were used to investigate and evaluate the visual comfort of different seating positions in an office. The dynamic daylighting indicators (UDI, DGP, sDA, and ASE) were used to analyze the visual comfort within an office. The main findings show the following: (1) The DGP and ASE metrics show that the probability of glare in positions near windows is not always the highest. The influence of line-of-sight direction should also be considered. (2) By running 50 simulations, the average value of sDA300/50% was 0.97, and the average value of ASE1000/250 was 11.4%. This shows that the office has good daylighting quality. (3) The optimal visual comfort positions were determined based on four indicators, and alternative options for different indoor occupant preferences were provided. The research results of this paper aim to provide references for the improvement of visual comfort of office occupants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise in the temperature severely affects photovoltaic cell efficiency and hence its power output. Moreover, it also causes the development of thermal stresses that may reduce their life span. Thus, there is a need for an accurate estimation of the cell's working temperature. In this paper, a detailed thermal model based on various heat transfer modes involved and their governing equations has been presented to estimate the cell temperature of a PV module using MATLAB software under different climatic and solar insolation conditions. In order to validate the presented model, an experimental setup has been built and operated under actual outdoor conditions of Jodhpur, a city in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan. For the peak summer month of June, the predicted glass cover outer surface temperature has been found to be within 0.2–4.5°C of experimentally measured values and the back sheet temperature is found to be within 0.5–5.5°C. The predicted and measured power outputs have been found to be within 0.85–1.2 W while the efficiency values are within 0.17–0.38%. For the early summer month of April, the variations are 0.13–4.1°C, 0.2–4.1°C, 0.44–1.65 W, and 0.1–0.5% for glass cover temperature, back sheet temperature, power output, and efficiency, respectively. Thus, the predictions of the developed thermal model have exhibited a good agreement with the experimental results. The maximum glass cover temperatures recorded were 60°C and 65.5°C when the ambient temperatures were 35°C and 42°C near the noon for the early summer and peak summer day experiments, respectively. The presented model can be used to generate a year-round cell temperature data for the known environmental data of a location, which can help in the selection or development of appropriate cooling technology at the planning stage of the installation of a solar PV plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The power system network is complex and diverse in nature because of the random and irregular existence of renewable sources, various types of varying and constant loads. Under these circumstances, the stabilization of DC link voltage and obtaining reduced power fluctuations are the main control aspect of DC microgrid (MG) system. This paper explores a Kalman filter (KF) based voltage–current control algorithm for the battery unit to control the medium voltage direct current (MVDC) bus voltage accurately with trivial oscillations as compared to the traditional VI algorithm. The stability and monitoring of DC microgrids are greatly influenced by gathering sufficient and precise information. Since installing several sensors on DC MGs is costly and increases DC MG ripple. In this work, an extended Kalman filter (KF) is used to estimate the current of the lead-acid battery. Hence the current represents an important factor in guaranteeing safe operations. Where the Kalman Filter, which improves the estimation efficiency, to reach a good performance in the current prediction. By updating the proposed approach provides smooth and noise-less operation from the measured DC voltage. The control strategy established for electric vehicle (EV) in this paper is to improve the overall charging ability of the EV only if the system's total power is greater than the load level by means of the current loop management technique. The feasibility of the designed MG system with the established battery management mechanism and the Escape Ford EV performance is studied using MATLAB/Simulink platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a Modified Reptile Search Algorithm (MRSA) designed to optimize the operation of distribution networks (DNs) considering the growing integration of renewable energy sources (RESs). The integration of RESs‐based Distributed Generation (DG) systems, such as wind turbines (WTs) and photovoltaics (PVs), presents a complex challenge due to its significant impact on DN operations and planning, particularly considering uncertainties related to solar irradiance, temperature, wind speed, consumption, and energy prices. The primary objective is cost reduction, encompassing electricity acquisition, PV and WTs unit costs, and annual energy losses. The proposed MRSA incorporates two strategies: the fitness‐distance balance method and Levy flight motion, enhancing its searching capabilities beyond standard Reptile Search Algorithm and mitigating local optima issues. The uncertainties in load demand, energy prices, and renewable energy generation are represented through probability density functions and simulated using Monte Carlo methods. Evaluation involves typical bentchmark functions and a real 112‐bus Algerian DN, comparing MRSA's efficacy with other optimization techniques. Results indicate that the proposed DN optimization program with WTs and PVs integration reduces annual costs by 21.43%, from 6.2715E + 06 to 4.9270E + 06 USD, reduce voltage deviations by 21.67%, from 77.1022 to 60.4007 USD, and enhance system stability by 2.59%, from 2.3699E + 03 to 2.4314E + 03 USD, compared with the base case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: The Louisiana State University (LSU) Windstorm Impact, Science, and Engineering (WISE) Open-Jet Testing facility is instrumental in enhancing structural resilience under windstorms. The facility represents a Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure to address grand challenges and the need for experimental capabilities in the mid-scale range. Its unique capabilities enable the comprehensive testing and evaluation of critical infrastructure components, encompassing low- and high-rise buildings, photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, wind turbines, bridges, vegetation (nature-based solutions), power transmission lines, and more. Through controlled wind conditions, researchers can gain invaluable insights into the behaviour and performance of these critical infrastructures. The facility is pivotal in advancing the design and engineering of robust, climate-resilient systems capable of withstanding the challenges posed by dynamic environmental conditions. The potential impact of this wind testing facility extends far beyond the boundaries of conventional engineering, offering a pathway towards a more sustainable and resilient built environment on a global scale. Experimental wind engineering is crucial for global structural design. This paper addresses limitations in aerodynamic testing, particularly in wall-bounded and small-scale scenarios. Open-jet testing, introduced as an advanced tool, overcomes turbulence modelling constraints, providing a more accurate representation of real-world conditions. The LSU WISE open-jet facility produces complete turbulence at a large scale, eliminating the need for corrections accompanied by partial turbulence simulation. This discovery holds significant implications in wind engineering and unsteady aerodynamics. Integrating photovoltaic panels with gable-roofed buildings may not require additional structural reinforcement, with a reduction in wind uplift forces by 45–63%. Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) offer design flexibility and aesthetic appeal despite potential higher upfront costs. Strategic interventions, such as design optimization and cost-effective installation methods, can enhance the economic viability of BIPV systems. Contrary to long-held beliefs, the findings challenge the notion that wind loads on structures with sharp corners are insensitive to Reynolds number. Open-jet testing produces higher peak pressures, providing real-world justification for actual damage in high-rise buildings. These results validate the author's hypothesis regarding the underestimation of peak loads (in small-scale testing) leading to cladding failure in high-rise buildings. They emphasize the superiority of large-scale open-jet testing, underscoring its critical role in designing resilient structures. The LSU WISE open-jet facility's unique capabilities hold immense promise for revolutionizing wind engineering, addressing grand challenges, and creating more resilient and sustainable infrastructure. Its applications span critical infrastructure, promising significant economic, societal, and educational impacts in STEM fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building solar protection regulations is essential to save energy in hot climates. The protection performance is assessed using a shading factor computation that models the sky irradiance and the geometry of shadow obstructing the surface of interest. While Building Information Modeling is nowadays a standard approach for practitioners, computing shadow geometry in BIM authoring tools is natively impossible. Methods to compute shadow geometry exist but are out of reach for the usual BIM authoring tool user because of algorithm complexity and non-friendly BIM implementation platform. This study presents a novel approach, dubbed solid clipping, to calculate shadow geometry accurately in a BIM authoring tool. The aim is to enhance project delivery by enabling solar control verification. This method is based on typical Computer Aided Design (CAD) in BIM authoring tools. The method is generic enough to be implemented using any BIM authoring tool's visual and textual API. This work demonstrates that a thermal regulation, here the French overseas one, can be checked concerning solar protection, thanks to a BIM model. Beyond automation, this paper shows that, by directly leveraging the BIM model, designs presently not feasible by the usual process can be studied and checked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advancements of the virtual power plant (VPP) concept have aggregated buildings as their power plants and/or service providers. This paper proposes a peer-to-peer transactive computation–electricity trading framework for multiple-building virtual power plants (BVPPs). In this framework, the interconnected BVPPs can proactively trade their available computation–electricity with each other. Multiple BVPP trading is an intractable optimization problem due to its strong computation–electricity decision-making couplings. Thus, the original problem is described as a game theoretic problem and resolved into the sequential subproblems of social computation–electricity allocation and payoff allocation. By considering the local decision-making of heterogeneous BVPPs, a fully distributed algorithm is further designed to optimize the trading problem by sharing only limited trading information. Finally, a three-BVPP system is used to verify the merits of system resource utilization and operational economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In practical engineering applications, natural air cooling is often utilized for photovoltaic (PV) facades. However, the natural-air-cooling method is not effective at cooling PV wall panels, and the high temperatures accumulated on the surface of PV panels not only affect the electrical efficiency and service life of the PV modules, but also increase the energy consumption of the building. In this paper, we propose the vertical installation of heat dissipation fins in naturally ventilated PV wall panels. We used ANSYS Fluent to establish the simulation model of naturally ventilated PV wall panels and validate it. By simulating the air-cooled channels in PV wall panels with different sizing parameters, the temperature and flow rate variations were comparatively analyzed in order to optimize the air-cooled-channel sizes. The results show that installing the fins vertically in the air-cooled channel provided better cooling for the PV panels and enhanced the air heat collection effect. Additionally, it improved the airflow rate in the channel. As the thickness of the finned air-cooled channel increased or the width decreased, the temperature on the surface of the PV panels showed a decreasing trend. Compared to the flat-plate air-cooled channel, the finned air-cooled channel, with a thickness of 100 mm and a width of 20 mm, decreased the peak and average temperatures of the PV-panel surface by 3.9 °C and 8.1 °C, respectively, and increased the average temperature of the air at the outlet by 11.2 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire/smoke barriers are designed to isolate building spaces into manageable compartments that resist the spread of fire and/or smoke, but there are situations in which these life-safety barriers are purposely compromised. Firestopping is a construction and postconstruction activity used to maintain the integrity of fire/smoke barriers. The activity of firestopping is typically the responsibility of either the contractor(s) that caused the penetration or a designated specialty contractor whose primary project function is to monitor and remediate barrier penetrations. There has been limited research on the classification and/or quantity of penetrations that are typically installed in the built environment. This case study collected data from the construction of two separate healthcare construction projects along Colorado's Front Range. Results of this case study across both buildings showed that the majority of penetrations were the results of electrical/low-voltage scopes of work, followed by plumbing, mechanical, fire, structural, and pneumatic tube system penetrations. Life-safety barriers are common in certain building types, and penetrating these barriers is often necessary. This paper provided a method and classification for penetrations of these barriers. Being able to classify the type of penetration and responsible party allows contractors and designers the ability to manage the mitigation efforts. This process also provides a benchmark for owners and designers to quantify the impact of barrier penetrations on building design and maintenance requirements. This may result in building designs that minimize the number of penetrations and provide access areas for building operators to easily inspect and maintain these penetrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar panel performance is affected by ambient temperature, sunlight, module surface temperature, dust, and shadows. Dust inhibits sunlight from reaching photovoltaic modules, reducing power generation. Dust is aerosol pollution from natural or human-made sources. Dust on photovoltaic (PV) panels reduces power generation and raises the surface temperature, shortening panel life. This work uses a Fluke TiS60 Thermal Imager for detection of hotspot created by the accumulation of dust and further classification of the faulty and healthy images is done. The image classifiers used in this paper are SqueezeNet and AlexNet transfer learning methods, the accuracy of both methods is compared, and AlexNet performs best with an accuracy of 99.3%. Further, the effect of dust on PV modules is studied, and hotspots are created intentionally with the help of dust for study purposes. Initially, 50% of a solar module is covered with dust and then 100% of the solar module is covered with dust particles to find the power loss, when a thin layer of dust was spread over 50% of a module power loss is of 4.7% and when a thick layer of dust is spread over 50% the power loss is 5.9%, when thin layer of dust was applied over 100% of a module power loss is of 6.49% and when thick layer of dust is spread over 100% the power loss is 10.17%. This analysis for a healthy and faulty panel is done that helps PV module inspection by facilitating a more precise and cost-effective identification of PV defects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a dynamic control strategy of air-conditioning air supply volume based on statistical data of the spatial and temporal distribution of occupants in the building, aiming at reducing overheating in buildings under local heat island effect. Nowadays, energy consumption in air-conditioning system is relatively high when considering the limited number of occupants and chiller plants operating inefficiently because the traditional central air-conditioning system was not designed to operate at different cooling load demands. Therefore, variable air volume (VAV) air-conditioning system is applied in this paper with corresponding wind volume control method. To address the above issue, in this paper: (1) A spatiotemporal distribution of occupants in the building is analyzed, and the relationship between occupant distribution and characteristics of the thermal dissipating load is established; (2) A strategy for dynamic controlling of the air supply volume in time and space is proposed; (3) A distributed photovoltaic system supplies power to cooling load of the building, and a strategy is proposed for optimizing the match between cooling power and photovoltaic (PV) output power using competitive swarm optimization algorithm; and (4) Air blower total amount of wind control method is adopted in VAV air-conditioning system for dynamic controlling of the air supply volume. This paper uses a simulation to verify the feasibility and optimality of the above strategies. The simulation results show that the building energy consumption is greatly reduced by 39.52%, the PV accommodation is improved as 77.14%, and four control indicators are well satisfied due to the air blower total amount of wind control method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the purpose to solve the problem that it is difficult for solar cells to maintain stable electrical output under high concentration ratio, this paper studies the method of combining spray cooling and solar cells. The objective of this paper is to study the effect of liquid film generated during spray cooling heat transfer on the performance of solar cells. In this paper, the model was built by ANSYS, compared with jet cooling, the solar cell integrated spray cooling has the superiority of the performance. When the angle of the nozzle is tangent to the solar cell and the nozzle height ranges from 4 mm to 6 mm, the solar cell can obtain the optimal electrical performance. Properly increasing the flow rate enables the distribution of the liquid film on the solar cell more uniform, so that the uniformity of the temperature can be better maintained. Considering the electrical properties and temperature uniformity, the combination of solar cell and spray cooling is more suitable under concentration ratio of 800. Solar cell can not only obtain more than 20W/cm2 of electrical energy, but also the temperature difference (Tsurface,max- Tsurface,min) can be kept below 10K. Above results have implications for cooling methods of solar cells in the field of high concentration photovoltaic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing awareness of climate issues in recent decades has led to new policies on buildings' energy consumption and energy performance. The European Union (EU) directive 2010/31/EC, i.e., the energy performance of buildings directive (EPBD), is one of the measures initiated to achieve climate and energy goals by reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector. The EPBD required all new buildings to be nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEBs) by 2021. Nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEBs) are buildings with a very-high-energy performance and nearly zero or low-energy requirements covered to a very significant extent by energy from renewable sources produced on-site or nearby. The utilisation of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels is a common approach for achieving the nZEB standard. The carbon footprint of PV panels is often not discussed as a parameter. This paper aimed to analyse the environmental performance of an existing nearly zero-energy university building in a Norwegian use case scenario. This analysis is performed by assessing annual electricity and heat consumption from both energetic and environmental perspectives. The energy required for the building during the studied period is then used to analyse the environmental and energy performance of the building. When it comes to the environmental assessment, the commercial software SimaPro was used. The proposed revision EPBD and nZEB definition from 2021 suggests that nZEBs should also consider operational greenhouse gas emissions and life-cycle global warming potential from 2027. The life cycle assessment (LCA) of the building's energy sources looks at the global warming potential (GWP) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and how they compare to Norwegian grid electricity. The results of the analysis highlights potential challenges to justifying the use of alternative energy sources to fulfil the criteria of nZEBs. When installing solar PV, it is important to consider the energy mix of the country where the solar PVs are produced. To solely consider the energy performance of the building, the installation of solar PV panels in countries with a high share of renewable energy may result in a reduced impact in terms of emission reduction from a life cycle perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past few years, modular buildings have become an important form of environmentally friendly architecture. Prefabricated construction methods have gained a lot of attention because they produce less construction waste and require less labor and water. However, the seismic performance of modular buildings needs to be improved. This paper proposes a prefabricated steel module with a suspended floor, which is based on a multi-tuned mass damped floor system. This paper also derives the form of a motion equation which is unified with the construction process of modular buildings, which can describe the change law of the mass, stiffness, and damping matrix of the structure in the processes of connecting the main structure with the suspended floor slab and of joining different floors. Since the performances of tuned mass damping devices are closely related to the dynamic characteristics of the structure, this paper uses ABAQUS for numerical analysis and mathematical induction (MI) to propose and verify a simplified method for calculating the lateral stiffness of the entire story from a single module's lateral stiffness. Based on the principle of reducing the stiffness difference in the structure along different directions, a standard scheme of the horizontal extension of the module building is also specified. The results show that the simplified calculation method is reasonable and that the lateral stiffness of the structure increases linearly with the number of modules. Finally, the recommended values for the tuned frequency ratio and tuned damping ratio are given by investigating the dynamic response of the structure under Gaussian white noise excitation. The results show that the recommended tuning frequency ratio and damping ratio ranges in modular buildings are close to those for FIS buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For each photovoltaic power plant, it is extremely important to perform an analysis of its efficiency, as well as an analysis of all parameters that may affect efficiency. The electric energy of the photovoltaic system, which is delivered to the electric power system on a daily basis, is determined through the average daily insolation, the surface of the panel and the average efficiency value. One of the parameters that affect the conversion efficiency of a photovoltaic power plant is a decrease in the conversion efficiency due to an increase in panel temperature. In this paper an example is a real photovoltaic power plant with a nominal power of 50 kW, which is installed on the rooftop of the building of the Institute "Mihajlo Pupin", located in Zvezdara forest, Belgrade, Serbia. The correlation analysis of the estimated temperature of the photovoltaic panel was performed using two models and the measured temperature of the photovoltaic panel. The temperature of the photovoltaic panel was estimated using models, one of which does not take into account, and the other takes into account the influence of wind speed on the temperature of the panel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants tend to be set in desert areas, which enjoy high irradiation and large spaces. However, due to frequent sandstorms, large amounts of contaminants and dirt are suspended in the air and deposited on photovoltaic modules, which greatly decreases the power efficiency and service life. To clean PV to improve efficiency, many methods were proposed. It was found that the application of the self-cleaning coating on PV modules can effectively reduce dust deposition and improve the efficiency of PV. This paper reviews the dust deposition mechanism on photovoltaic modules, classifies the very recent dust removal methods with a critical review, especially focusing on the mechanisms of super-hydrophobic and super-hydrophilic coatings, to serve as a reference for researchers and PV designers, and presents the current state of knowledge of the aspects mentioned above to promote sustainable improvement in PV efficiency. It was found that the behaviors of dust on photovoltaic modules are mainly deposition, rebound, and resuspension. Particles with a diameter of 1–100 μm are most easily deposited on photovoltaic modules. The use of self-cleaning coatings, especially super-hydrophobic coatings, is beneficial to the rebound and resuspension of particles. The research gaps and development prospects of self-cleaning coatings are also discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Power systems face more uncertainty by increasing photovoltaic system installations on the roof of buildings. To optimally manage energy and available flexibility in a building, stochastic optimization is used to take an optimal decision under uncertainty and minimize the operational cost. In stochastic optimization, a scenario set is used as an input to represent the uncertainty in a random variable, PV energy generation in this case. In this paper, a data‐driven method is proposed to obtain the distribution of the random variable and later generate scenario sets representing the uncertainty on day‐ahead PV energy generation installed on the roof of a building. This method is only based on historical PV generation and it does not require any other external data such as weather forecasts. A machine learning‐based technique is applied to forecast the PV energy production following by generating a scenario set for day‐ahead decision‐making. Later, the day‐ahead PV‐battery system management problem is formulated as a two‐stage stochastic optimization while the generated scenario set is the input of this optimization. The proposed algorithm is tested in the day‐ahead scheduling of a PV‐battery system for a commercial building, informed by real‐life measurement data. The results show that the proposed algorithm is able to capture the uncertainty in PV system while providing a cost‐optimal and reliable solution to the application problem. Without using any weather data, the error of the proposed PV energy forecast method reaches to NRMSE = 11.89, while there is 5% reduction in the operational cost of the proposed two‐stage stochastic optimization. Moreover, the proposed algorithm is easy to implement in the energy management system of a building to manage PV‐battery system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a case study aimed at determining a billing plan that ensures customer loyalty and provides a profit for the energy company, whose point of view is taken in the paper. The energy provider promotes new contracts for residential buildings, in which customers pay a fixed rate chosen in advance, based on an overall energy consumption forecast. For such a purpose, we consider a practical Bayesian framework for the calibration and validation of a computer code used to forecast the energy consumption of a building. On the basis of power field measurements, collected from an experimental building cell in a given period of time, the code is calibrated, effectively reducing the epistemic uncertainty affecting the most relevant parameters of the code (albedo, thermal bridge factor, and convective coefficient). The validation is carried out by testing the goodness of fit of the code with respect to the field measurements, and then propagating the posterior parametric uncertainty through the code, obtaining probabilistic forecasts of the average electrical power delivered inside the cell in a given period of time. Finally, Bayesian decision-making methods are used to choose the optimal fixed rate (for the energy provider) of the contract, in order to balance short-term benefits with customer retention. We identify three significant contributions of the paper. First of all, the case study data were never analyzed from a Bayesian viewpoint, which is relevant here not only for estimating the parameters but also for properly assessing the uncertainty about the forecasts. Furthermore, the study of optimal policies for energy providers in this framework is new, to the best of our knowledge. Finally, we propose Bayesian posterior predictive p-value for validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing amount of energy consumed by the operation of buildings results in an increasing environmental burden. This has a direct impact on the innovation of renewable energy technology and its application in building industry. In accordance with the requirements of the "Europe 2020 Strategy" and "Europe 2030 Project", the long-term goal is to achieve the maximum use of renewable energy sources in the buildings´ operation. One of the solutions is the building-integrated photovoltaic power plant. The paper analyses efficiency and incorporation of photovoltaic (PV) systems into the roofs and perimeter walls. PV systems are a renewable energy source used in the construction of zero energy buildings producing minimal environmental pollution. Semi-transparent building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) are one of the technologies that have the potential to increase the building´s energy efficiency as well as aesthetically complete the building´s design. The paper deals with material characteristics of PV panels in terms of the fire risk and definition of the fire hazardous area that arises during their combustion. It is focused on the incorporation of various types of PV technology into the facades and roofs, structural and material solutions of fire-dividing structures to which PV systems are fastened considering their location in the fire hazardous area. Based on the external fire simulations, conclusions in this paper bring the optimal position of PV systems in the building envelope in relation to fire open areas, fire lines and fire hazardous areas. The safety of firefighters during the intervention also depends on the position of PV systems. The case study presented in this paper uses a model solution to give the optimal position of PV systems in the building envelope considering the fire safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric power generated by photovoltaic (PV) systems is generally unstable because of uncertain meteorological conditions. Stably maintaining the supply‐demand balance of power systems requires an accurate prediction of the performance of PV systems. Especially for predicting the performance of the PV systems containing modules with different electrical characteristics or installed in different angles, it is necessary to calculate the generated power of the system by combining the current‐voltage (I‐V) characteristics of each module in series and parallel. Therefore, an accurate method is required for estimating the I‐V characteristics in various meteorological conditions. In this paper, a simple modeling method of the I‐V characteristics for crystalline silicon PV modules is proposed. The I‐V characteristics can be simulated in a good accuracy for practical use based on a simplified equivalent circuit of PV modules and a temperature correction of the short‐circuit current, open‐circuit voltage, and the current and voltage at maximum power point. The validity of the proposed method is examined by comparing simulated and measured I‐V characteristics of a PV module. Furthermore, to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed modelling method, it was applied to simulating the power generation of a PV system containing modules installed in different angles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an experimental validation of the Extremum Seeking and Sliding mode-based control for an autonomous PV system under uniform and non-uniform irradiance conditions. The modeling of the PV system and the control MPPTs adopted in this study are fully formulated and then implemented via a DSpace 1104 single card. The experimental setup comprises two cases: a healthy state (case 1) and a shaded state with two selected ratios (15% and 5%), which have been used to carry out the results. The obtained results show notable skills of the ESC-based strategy to extract the maximum power under shaded conditions for all the proposed scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep learning technology, such as fully convolutional networks (FCNs), have shown competitive performance in the automatic extraction of buildings from high-resolution aerial images (HRAIs). However, there are problems of over-segmentation and internal cavity in traditional FCNs used for building extraction. To address these issues, this paper proposes a new building graph convolutional network (BGC-Net), which optimizes the segmentation results by introducing the graph convolutional network (GCN). The core of BGC-Net includes two major modules. One is an atrous attention pyramid (AAP) module, obtained by fusing the attention mechanism and atrous convolution, which improves the performance of the model in extracting multi-scale buildings through multi-scale feature fusion; the other is a dual graph convolutional (DGN) module, the build of which is based on GCN, which improves the segmentation accuracy of object edges by adding long-range contextual information. The performance of BGC-Net is tested on two high spatial resolution datasets (Wuhan University building dataset and a Chinese typical city building dataset) and compared with several state-of-the-art networks. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms several state-of-the-art approaches (FCN8s, DANet, SegNet, U-Net, ARC-Net, BAR-Net) in both visual interpretation and quantitative evaluations. The BGC-Net proposed in this paper has better results when extracting the completeness of buildings, including boundary segmentation accuracy, and shows great potential in high-precision remote sensing mapping applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles represent a very popular tool used in dramatically wide range of applications: indeed, their high flexibility, ease of use, and in certain cases quite affordable price make them a very attractive solutions in a number of applications, including surveying and mapping. Despite such a wide range of uses, their usage in automatic/autonomous mode is still restricted by the requirement of the availability of a reliable positioning and navigation system, which in practically all the commercial solutions is represented by the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Unfortunately, the availability and reliability of GNSS cannot be ensured in all the working conditions of interest. In particular, such condition may not hold downtown, close to high buildings. Since this can also be an operative condition of wide interest, this paper aims at investigating the use of an alternative positioning method that can be integrated with GNSS in order to compensate its unavailability. To be more specific, this paper investigates the positioning performance of an Ultra Wide-Band (UWB) system when an UWB rover is attached to a drone flying close to a building facade, whereas a set of UWB anchors are on the ground, close to the facade. The results obtained in the case study of a building of the University of Padua show that the UWB system positioning performance is quite good (quite less than 1 meter error for most of the time) up to approximately 15–20 meters of distance from the anchors. Close to the top of the building the error significantly increases when using an Extended Kalman filter (EKF) positioning approach, probably mostly due to the low UWB measurement success rate at such heights and to the poor geometric configuration of the UWB network. Nevertheless, a Gauss-Newton-based positioning strategy outperforms the EKF in such critical case, still ensuring errors at 1 meter level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photovoltaic installations (PVs) are currently one of the fastest-growing sources of renewable energy. Expanded forms of financial support and higher electricity prices have resulted in a large increase in its installed capacity. PV installations are increasingly being ordered by industry and privates, often for installations capacity of several hundred kilowatts. In addition to the advantages, photovoltaic installations also have drawbacks. One of these is that the increase in the voltage in the power grid leads to the exclusion of individual installations from the grid. An important issue in the operation of photovoltaic installations is also their reliability during their lifetime. The reliability of photovoltaic installations depends on the random nature of the cloud cover as well as the material's mechanical degradations. This paper presents a literature analysis using Citespace software in terms of reliability. A detailed bibliometric analysis has been performed to outline the main drawbacks of the PV installations cited by researchers. This literature review forms the basis for further analysis. The paper also presents a new approach to implementing the Multiple-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) method for assessing the risk of failure of PV panels. The obtained results showed the main interests of scientists in the field of failure analysis of photovoltaic installations and countries having the largest share in research on this issue. The applied Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis enables supporting the process of managing photovoltaic installations by analyzing installation operations in terms of reliability as reliability impacts the profitability of investments and operating costs. The proposed method can be used by the operators of photovoltaic installations or farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]