• Energy Research
• 13. Climate action close
• 8. Economic growth close
• Research Repository of Catalonia close

The environmental profile of a dielectric-based 3D Building-Integrated Concentrating Photovoltaic(BICPV) device is investigated. Several scenarios and life-cycle impact assessment methods are adopted,including the newly-developed method ReCiPe. Multiple environmental indicators are evaluated fordifferent cities: Barcelona, Seville, Paris, Marseille, London and Aberdeen. The results from the mate-rial manufacturing phase demonstrate that the PV cells and the concentrator are the components withthe highest contribution to the total impact of the BICPV, based on ReCiPe, Eco-indicator 99, USEtox,CED (cumulative energy demand), GWP (global warming potential) according to different time hori-zons (20a, 100a, 500a) and Ecological footprint. Among the studied cities, Barcelona, Marseille andSeville present the lowest GWP and CED: less than 142 g CO2.eq/kWh and less than 2.9 MJprim/kWh,based on all the studied scenarios. Moreover, by considering 30-years lifespan, Barcelona, Marseille andSeville show 0.0107–0.0111 ReCiPe Pts/kWh while London, Paris and Aberdeen present 0.0161-0.0173ReCiPe Pts/kWh. Results about greenhouse-gas-, energy-, ReCiPe-payback times and energy-return-on-investment are also presented and critically discussed. In addition, comparisons with the literature andissues for the improvement of the environmental profile of the proposed system are included. The authors would like to thank “Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad” of Spain for the funding (grant reference ENE2013-48325-R).

The environmental profile of a dielectric-based 3D Building-Integrated Concentrating Photovoltaic(BICPV) device is investigated. Several scenarios and life-cycle impact assessment methods are adopted,including the newly-developed method ReCiPe. Multiple environmental indicators are evaluated fordifferent cities: Barcelona, Seville, Paris, Marseille, London and Aberdeen. The results from the mate-rial manufacturing phase demonstrate that the PV cells and the concentrator are the components withthe highest contribution to the total impact of the BICPV, based on ReCiPe, Eco-indicator 99, USEtox,CED (cumulative energy demand), GWP (global warming potential) according to different time hori-zons (20a, 100a, 500a) and Ecological footprint. Among the studied cities, Barcelona, Marseille andSeville present the lowest GWP and CED: less than 142 g CO2.eq/kWh and less than 2.9 MJprim/kWh,based on all the studied scenarios. Moreover, by considering 30-years lifespan, Barcelona, Marseille andSeville show 0.0107–0.0111 ReCiPe Pts/kWh while London, Paris and Aberdeen present 0.0161-0.0173ReCiPe Pts/kWh. Results about greenhouse-gas-, energy-, ReCiPe-payback times and energy-return-on-investment are also presented and critically discussed. In addition, comparisons with the literature andissues for the improvement of the environmental profile of the proposed system are included. The authors would like to thank “Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad” of Spain for the funding (grant reference ENE2013-48325-R).

Hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) are a trendy alternative to enhance the renewable energy deployment worldwide. They effectively take advantage of scalability and flexibility of these energy sources, since combining two or more allows counteracting the weaknesses of a stochastic renewable energy source with the strengths of another or with the predictability of a non-renewable energy source. This work presents an optimization methodology for minimum life cycle cost of a HRES based on solar photovoltaic, wind and biomass power. Biomass power seeks to take advantage of locally available forest wood biomass in the form of wood chips to provide energy in periods when the PV and wind power generated are not enough to match the existing demand. The results show that a HRES combining the selected three sources of renewable energy could be installed in a rural township of about 1300 dwellings with an up-front investment of US $7.4 million, with a total life cycle cost of slightly more than US $30 million. Such a system would have benefits in terms of energy autonomy and environment quality improvement, as well as in term of job opportunity creation.

Hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) are a trendy alternative to enhance the renewable energy deployment worldwide. They effectively take advantage of scalability and flexibility of these energy sources, since combining two or more allows counteracting the weaknesses of a stochastic renewable energy source with the strengths of another or with the predictability of a non-renewable energy source. This work presents an optimization methodology for minimum life cycle cost of a HRES based on solar photovoltaic, wind and biomass power. Biomass power seeks to take advantage of locally available forest wood biomass in the form of wood chips to provide energy in periods when the PV and wind power generated are not enough to match the existing demand. The results show that a HRES combining the selected three sources of renewable energy could be installed in a rural township of about 1300 dwellings with an up-front investment of US $7.4 million, with a total life cycle cost of slightly more than US $30 million. Such a system would have benefits in terms of energy autonomy and environment quality improvement, as well as in term of job opportunity creation.

As well as in other natural processes, it has been frequently observed that the phenomenon arising from the rainfall generation process presents fractal self-similarity of statistical type, and thus, rainfall series generally show scaling properties. Based on this fact, there is a methodology, simple scaling, which is used quite broadly to find or reproduce the intensity–duration–frequency curves of a place. In the present work, the relationship of the simple scaling parameter with the characteristic rainfall pattern of the area of study has been investigated. The calculation of this scaling parameter has been performed from 147 daily rainfall selected series covering the temporal period between 1883 and 2016 over the Catalonian territory (Spain) and its nearby surroundings, and a discussion about the relationship between the scaling parameter spatial distribution and rainfall pattern, as well as about trends of this scaling parameter over the past decades possibly due to climate change, has been presented. Peer Reviewed

As well as in other natural processes, it has been frequently observed that the phenomenon arising from the rainfall generation process presents fractal self-similarity of statistical type, and thus, rainfall series generally show scaling properties. Based on this fact, there is a methodology, simple scaling, which is used quite broadly to find or reproduce the intensity–duration–frequency curves of a place. In the present work, the relationship of the simple scaling parameter with the characteristic rainfall pattern of the area of study has been investigated. The calculation of this scaling parameter has been performed from 147 daily rainfall selected series covering the temporal period between 1883 and 2016 over the Catalonian territory (Spain) and its nearby surroundings, and a discussion about the relationship between the scaling parameter spatial distribution and rainfall pattern, as well as about trends of this scaling parameter over the past decades possibly due to climate change, has been presented. Peer Reviewed