In this paper, the grid-connected photovoltaic plant of the University of Calabria is presented. The photovoltaic plant has a peak power of 2.7kW, and has been projected and built near the Building Energy Research Laboratory of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Calabria.

Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plants are a promising technology of renewable energy production, as witnessed by the increasing public and private investments during the last decade. The assessment of the associated risks of business interruption (loss of production) and loss of assets due to...

Solar energy is an attractive renewable energy source because the sun's energy is plentiful and carbon-free. However, solar energy is intermittent and not suitable for base load electricity generation without an energy backup system. Concentrated solar power (CSP) is unique among other renewable...

This paper presents a method for multidisciplinary design optimization of offshore wind turbines at system level. The formulation and implementation that enable the integrated aerodynamic and structural design of the rotor and tower simultaneously are detailed. The objective function to be...

In this article, experimental investigation of 15 m2 solar parabolic trough collector with porous disc enhanced receiver is carried out according to ASHRAE 93-1986 test procedure. Six different receiver configurations are developed and investigated to compare their performance. The performance...

The purpose of this study was to develop an improved actuator surface model for wind turbine analyses. A new actuator surface model based on the lifting line theory has been suggested to eliminate the unexpected induced velocity due to the circulation, as well as to estimate the span-wise and...

A new wind turbine generator system (WTGS) is introduced, and its mathematical model, blade pitch control scheme, and nonlinear simulation software for the performance prediction are presented. The notable feature of WTGS is that it consists of two rotor systems positioned horizontally at upwind...

Four 3kW grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) generation systems have been installed and monitored at the Field Demonstration Test Center in Korea since October 2002. To observe the overall effect of meteorological conditions on their operation characteristics by field test, the monitoring system...

This work represents the Photovoltaic section of the European Project PERSIL, which includes also the study of solar thermal plants. The activity is twofold: the results of 1-year monitoring and checking of thirteen PV systems; the consequent guidelines for the design, installation and...

The combination of hydroelectric and photovoltaic sources of energy in a generation system may seem unfeasible due to the still quite high costs of the photovoltaic plants. However in the next few decades, significant reductions in those costs are to be expected. Moreover, this combination may...