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Abstract In light of the popular gain of renewable energy sources and solar energy technologies in particular, photovoltaic thermal systems present an interesting approach towards cogeneration of electricity and heat. The extraction of heat from the photovoltaic array for use also serves the purpose of reducing the operating temperature of the solar cells to improve their power conversion efficiency. This study analyzes the possibility of incorporating a PV/T system with an absorption system. Three different systems are considered; the single effect, double effect & triple effect absorption systems driven by heat from the PV/T. It is evident that the triple effect absorption cooling system has the highest coefficient of performance thus giving a greater cooling benefit for the same input energy from the PV/T.

Abstract The European Directives promote the energy consumption assessment in residential and industrial sectors in order to identify specific measures for getting energy savings. This paper presents the results of the energy use analysis, carried out for a wine manufacturing firm located in Southern Italy. The energy consumptions of the main wine production processes are investigated, showing that the cooling is the most energy-intensive user. Potential actions as thermal insulation of storage tanks and integration of solar cooling system are proposed and analyzed in terms of energy saving to improve energy efficiency of the refrigeration process in the winery.

AbstractIn order to face with the increasing EU restrictions on CO2 emissions from light-duty vehicles, concepts such as the engines downsizing, stop/start systems as well as more costly full hybrid solutions and Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) technologies have been proposed in the last years by OEMs. WHR technologies include Thermo-Electric Generator (TEG), Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) and Electric Turbo-Compound (ETC) that have been practically implemented on few heavy-duty applications but have not been proved yet as effective and affordable solutions for passenger cars.The paper deals with the analysis of opportunities and challenges of TEG and ETC technologies for a compact car, powered by a turbocharged SI engine. Specifically, the benefits achievable by TEG and ETC have been investigated by simulation analyses carried out by a dynamic engine-vehicle model, validated against steady-state and transient experimental data. The in-cylinder processes and friction losses of the engine are modeled by a black-box scalable parametric approach while grey-box dynamic models are applied for intake/exhaust manifolds and turbocharger. The TEG model is based on existing and commercial thermoelectric materials, specifically Bi2Te3. The simulations have been carried out considering standard driving cycles (i.e. NEDC, WLTC) and the results evidence that significant improvement of fuel economy and CO2 reduction can be achieved by suitable management and configuration of the WHR systems, depending on engine speed and load and auxiliaries demand.

AbstractZnO nanowires with different sizes and geometrical shapes have been studied by means of density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Atomic relaxation, energetic stability, and electronic properties of these nanostructures show a particular dependence on the shape of the nanowires. Our results indicate that the hexagonal shape nanostructures are more favorable than the triangular one due to lower total surface energy, whereas lattice relaxation and surface states appear to be more pronounced in the case of triangular nanowires.

AbstractThe research focuses on an abandoned area within the Casalnuovo District, situated in the south of the city, probably the place of the future Demoethnoanthropological Museum. It is known today that the particular shape of the area is made up of settlements mainly in cave.Since the evaluation of the historical buildings conservation state using destructive techniques should be avoided to prevent the integrity of the cultural heritage, the development of non-destructive techniques is very important. For this reason, an appropriate cognitive apparatus has been set up for the entire technical process, first of all making use of infrared thermography.

This paper deals with new considerations about the design of Net Zero Energy Buildings and Net Zero Energy Neighbourhoods in the future. The perspectives presented here are the results from an international work named Task40/Annex52 " Towards Net Zero Energy Solar Buildings " conducted within the framework of the International Energy Agency (SHC-EBC) and in particular from the subgroup working on Solution Sets and case studies. We will see through case studies in different climates that the design scale to reach the Zero Energy goal is not the building anymore. The design of renewables as well as passive strategies must be extended to the whole neighbourhood.