Vol. 3 No. 1 (2025)

  • Open Access

    Article

    Article ID: 1764

    Biogas as fuel for the lowest-level power plants

    by Miłosz Ciurkot, Piotr Olczak

    Energy Storage and Conversion, Vol.3, No.1, 2025;

    In the face of European climate policy, the aim of which is to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, we are still looking for alternatives to traditional fossil fuels. Apart from the obvious solutions offered by wind and solar energy, it is worth paying attention to a still undeveloped, but potentially developing branch of energy, which is generating energy from biogas. Poland currently produces 638 million m3 of biogas per year and has biogas installations with a total installed capacity of 276 MW. However, these numbers still do not fully satisfy both Polish possibilities and needs. This study analyzes the current use of this fuel in the Polish energy sector, as well as the possibilities and future prospects for biogas as a fuel for distributed generation power plants in Poland. The current review of the use of biogas as a fuel clearly indicates that biogas is not a commonly used renewable energy source with a total share of power among other RES sources of 4.2%. The analyses also indicated that the maximum theoretical Polish potential for biogas production may reach even 4.2 billion m3. At the end of the article, simple financial analyses were made regarding the profitability of investments in agricultural biogas plants, and their results showed a high profitability of investments in such energy units (theoretical payback periods of financial outlays are only 4 years).

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  • Open Access

    Article

    Article ID: 1957

    Modeling of energy gain in bifacial vertical PV fences

    by Aasim A. Azooz, Zeyad T. Ali

    Energy Storage and Conversion, Vol.3, No.1, 2025;

    A quantitative model-based analysis was conducted to estimate the percentage output energy ratio of vertically installed bifacial PV modules in fences, cattle barriers, and roadsides compared to the output energy of two types of monofacial PV installations. The first comparison is between the output of the vertical bifacial PV fence and the output of the same fence furnished with vertically installed monofacial PV modules. The second comparison is between the output of the vertical bifacial fence and the output of south-facing monofacial PV modules installed at the optimal inclination angle for the particular latitude. The results show that bifacial fences can produce net yearly energy outputs up to 80% higher than those of monofacial PV modules. Additionally, vertical bifacial PV fences produce only a few percent lower energy compared to optimally installed monofacial PV modules. A MATLAB software program was written to calculate the gain of fences of any geometry, and it has been made freely available. Examples of gain results for a few such geometries are presented.

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  • Open Access

    Article

    Article ID: 1956

    Impacts of wind turbine characteristics on wake turbulence

    by Shifeng Wang, Sicong Wang

    Energy Storage and Conversion, Vol.3, No.1, 2025;

    The enhanced wake turbulence generated by wind turbine has remarkable effects on the power generation and fatigue loads of wind farm and the environment. The paper investigates the mechanism of the impacts of the wind turbine characteristics on the wake turbulence, to provide new knowledge on the design of wind turbine to wind turbine manufacturing factories. A novel wake turbulence coefficient is developed to quantify the ratio of the generated turbulence kinetic energy to the captured wind energy, and is derived as the function of wind turbine characteristics. This wake turbulence coefficient model is explored under optimal conditions. Results show that the wake turbulence coefficient decreases sharply with the increasing power coefficient of wind turbine. The larger the power coefficient is, the smaller the decrease of wake turbulence coefficient. Therefore, it is an effective way to reduce the enhanced wake turbulence through increasing the power coefficient, especially when the power coefficient is small. The wake turbulence intensity is the strongest around the hub of rotor and the weakest around the tip of rotor. It is therefore important to design the structure of the hub of rotor to reduce the enhanced wake turbulence.

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  • Open Access

    Article

    Article ID: 1984

    Thermal imaging-based fault detection and energy efficiency analysis in a 1.6 MW photovoltaic system in Bağyurdu OIZ, Türkiye

    by Cihan Yalçın

    Energy Storage and Conversion, Vol.3, No.1, 2025;

    The present study assesses the influence of thermal imaging defect detection on the energy efficiency of a 1.6 MW solar power facility in the Bağyurdu Organized Industrial Zone (OIZ) in İzmir, Turkey. Thermal imaging has demonstrated efficacy in detecting serious problems in photovoltaic (PV) panels, including hot spots, inoperative modules, faulty connections, and shadowing, which substantially impact system performance. A comprehensive investigation revealed that around 15% of the photovoltaic panels displayed defects, resulting in a 16% decrease in system performance and an estimated yearly energy loss of 0.35 GWh. The study emphasizes the benefits of thermal imaging compared to conventional fault detection techniques, including its capacity for swift and non-invasive identification of localized overheating, which may lead to fires, and its ability to discern fluctuations in energy output due to shading or malfunctioning modules. The results underscore the necessity for routine thermal evaluations and maintenance to guarantee photovoltaic systems’ operational efficacy and dependability. This study enhances the sparse data on large-scale photovoltaic systems in Türkiye and illustrates the effectiveness of thermal imaging as an economical and accurate diagnostic instrument. Future studies should amalgamate thermal imaging with sophisticated diagnostic techniques, like electroluminescence testing and machine learning, to augment fault detection precision and optimize photovoltaic system efficacy.

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  • Open Access

    Review

    Article ID: 1920

    A review on MXene (Ti3C2Tx) composites with varied sizes of carbon for supercapacitor applications

    by Ruby Garg

    Energy Storage and Conversion, Vol.3, No.1, 2025;

    MXenes belongs to a family of two‐dimensional (2D) layered transition metal carbides or nitrides which shows outstanding potential for various energy storage applications because of their high‐specific surface area, phenomenal electrical conductivity, outstanding hydrophilicity, and variable terminations. Of these different types of MXenes, the most widely studied member is Ti3C2Tx especially in supercapacitors (SCs). However, due to the problem of stacking and oxidation in MXene sheets, significant loss of electrochemically active sites happens. To overcome these issues, incorporation of carbon materials is carried out into MXenes for enhancing its electrochemical performance. This review aims to introduce various common strategies employed in synthesizing Ti3C2Tx, followed by a brief overview of latest developments in fabricating Ti3C2Tx/carbon electrode materials for SCs. The composition of Ti3C2Tx/carbon are summarized based on different dimensions of carbons, such as 0D carbon dots, 1D carbon nanotubes and fibers, 2D graphene, and 3D carbon materials (activated carbon, polymer‐derived carbon, etc.). Further, this review also aims in highlighting several insights on fabrication of novel MXenes/carbon composites as electrodes for application in SCs.

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