Global advancement of solar thermal energy technologies for industrial process heat and its future prospects: A review

Energy is the essential need for the development, modernization and economic growth of any nation in the industrial sector. About 32–35% of the total energy of the world is used in the industrial sector. Solar thermal energy application is an initiative towards the sustainable and zero-carbon energy future. Solar thermal collectors are recognized as promising alternatives for fossil fuels in the industrial sector for process heat due to energy security, economic feasibility and environmental benefits. This work is an extensive compilation and review of the recent literature concerning research works carried out to solar thermal collectors and its industrial applications, global advancements in solar thermal technologies, collectors and the solar thermal energy storage system with a focus on the sun tracking system, thermal performance, and modeling techniques. In this review paper, current industrial process-heat systems are classified based on solar collector technologies and heat demand temperatures for the identification of typical applications for solar process heat. These classifications are pertinent to every country within the same industry type along with similar weather and economic conditions. Moreover, future prospects to integrate solar heat in the heat supply level of an industrial company in Pakistan is outlined for a sustainable energy system. It is found that solar thermal technologies can be used for a variety of industrial applications for sustainable energy system in industries and these should be used for industrial applications which are more compatible to be integrated.