Photovoltaic (PV) Systems

This paper is aimed at harvesting the photovoltaic systems extracting power under difficult irradiance and load conditions, by proposing a novel maximum power point tracking (MPPT). This proposed MPPT tactic has been examined under various climatic and load conditions using two powerful and accurate simulation environments for PV systems, MATLAB/Simulink and Proteus. The first implementation using the MATLAB/Simulink software was carried out to examine the performance of the novel MPPT tactic under sudden insolation and load change, where the second implementation using the Proteus software was carried out in order to prove that the novel MPPT tactic can be easily implemented using low-cost components, Arduino board, and LCD display. The simulation results prove that the novel MPPT tactic has a high convergence speed to locate the MPP, especially at fast solar irradiation and load variation with zero oscillation under steady-state operation, which takes less than 9.6 milliseconds (m...

This paper is aimed at harvesting the photovoltaic systems extracting power under difficult irradiance and load conditions, by proposing a novel maximum power point tracking (MPPT). This proposed MPPT tactic has been examined under various climatic and load conditions using two powerful and accurate simulation environments for PV systems, MATLAB/Simulink and Proteus. The first implementation using the MATLAB/Simulink software was carried out to examine the performance of the novel MPPT tactic under sudden insolation and load change, where the second implementation using the Proteus software was carried out in order to prove that the novel MPPT tactic can be easily implemented using low-cost components, Arduino board, and LCD display. The simulation results prove that the novel MPPT tactic has a high convergence speed to locate the MPP, especially at fast solar irradiation and load variation with zero oscillation under steady-state operation, which takes less than 9.6 milliseconds (m...

Renewable energy sources are being increasingly implemented in many applications due to the growing concern of environmental pollution. The PV (Photovoltaic) system appears to be most promising one because it is environmentally clean in nature and it directly converts solar energy into electrical energy. This paper presents the FPGA (Field programmable gate array) based speed control of PMBLDC (Permanent magnet Brushless DC) motor & this BLDC motor is driven by the solar energy. The solar panel is used to obtain the energy needed to run BLDC motor. The voltage obtained from solar panel is stored in battery due to the non-constant nature of solar energy. The voltage from battery is not sufficient to run BLDC motor & hence boost converter is used to boost the voltage required to run BLDC motor. Commutation is implemented on FPGA. FPGA based speed control scheme reduces the complexity of motor control hardware & in turn boost the demand for mobile applications.

STPV Technique is an abbreviation of Solar-Thermal Photo Voltaic system, in simple words; It is the technique in which Electricity is generated from heat waves. The different ways and steps involved in this techniques have been discussed also the recent studies on this topic has been overviewed in detail.

This paper is aimed at harvesting the photovoltaic systems extracting power under difficult irradiance and load conditions, by proposing a novel maximum power point tracking (MPPT). This proposed MPPT tactic has been examined under various climatic and load conditions using two powerful and accurate simulation environments for PV systems, MATLAB/Simulink and Proteus. The first implementation using the MATLAB/Simulink software was carried out to examine the performance of the novel MPPT tactic under sudden insolation and load change, where the second implementation using the Proteus software was carried out in order to prove that the novel MPPT tactic can be easily implemented using low-cost components, Arduino board, and LCD display. The simulation results prove that the novel MPPT tactic has a high convergence speed to locate the MPP, especially at fast solar irradiation and load variation with zero oscillation under steady-state operation, which takes less than 9.6 milliseconds (ms) under the MATLAB/Simulink software and 0.24 microseconds (μs) under Proteus environment. That means it is about six times faster than P&O and five times faster than INC MPPT methods, and its tracking efficiency is between 99.40% and 99.86%. Furthermore, the novel MPPT tactic shows the best tracking accuracy and better ability to mitigate power losses under overall simulation scenarios compared with other traditional MPPT methods.

This paper presents incremental conductance method for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) using DC-DC cuk converter. Comprehensive analysis and simulation of KC85T solar module and equivalent electric circuit are provided while effects of various environmental conditions on the PV module behavior is investigated. In order to fully understand the PV module working specifications fundamental characteristics of PV cells are discussed. Block diagram model of a PV module was developed in Simulink for plotting the curves. KC85T solar module is used in simulations and results indicate speed and accuracy of the proposed system.

This paper is about a robotic vehicle. The main objective of this robotic vehicle is to design an efficient charging system of batteries by means of tracked solar panels. The charging and discharging cycles of the batteries based on the PIC microcontroller is the design concept elaborated in this paper. On the PIC micro-controller the concept of efficient charging system is designed. The energy system consists of two batteries and these of two batteries are, one for charging independently from the solar panel and the other battery gives the energy for the Robotic vehicle. By implementing this method the efficient power management becomes possible. The switching time between the batteries can also be reduced by the control algorithm programmed in the PIC micro-controller.

Photovoltaic (PV) systems are one of the most important renewable energy resources (RER). It has limited energy efficiency leading to increasing the number of PV units required for certain input power i.e. to higher initial cost. To overcome this problem, maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controllers are used. This work introduces a comparative study of seven MPPT classical, artificial intelligence (AI), and bio-inspired (BI) techniques: perturb and observe (P&O), modified perturb and observe (M-P&O), incremental conductance (INC), fuzzy logic controller (FLC), artificial neural network (ANN), adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), and cuckoo search (CS). Under the same climatic conditions, a comparison between these techniques in view of some criteria's: efficiencies, tracking response, implementation cost, and others, will be performed. Simulation results, obtained using MATLAB/SIMULINK program, show that the MPPT techniques improve the lowest efficiency resulted without control. ANFIS is the highest efficiency, but it requires more sensors. CS and ANN produce the best performance, but CS provided significant advantages over others in view of low implementation cost, and fast computing time. P&O has the highest oscillation, but this drawback is eliminated using M-P&O. FLC has the longest computing time due to software complexity, but INC has the longest tracking time. 1. INTRODUCTION Nowadays, renewable energy resources such as photovoltaic (PV) solar energy is one of the most free and friendly source compared to other traditional sources. PV is a static and nonlinear device converts the light (photon) energy directly into electricity and it can be represented as a current source model. The major problems of PV systems are the low conversion efficiency and non-linearity due to characteristics (I-V & P-V curves) is strongly depended on atmospheric conditions (irradiance (G), and temperature (T)) [1, 2]. At the top (knee) of I-V curve, there is a point changes with G and T called maximum power point (MPP) at which the PV source should be operates to produce and transfer maximum power to the load regardless of variations in climatic conditions. A device can track this unique point called maximum power point tracking (MPPT), where it located between PV source and load. It comprises two essential components, DC-DC converter along with MPPT controller. Many MPPT techniques can be used to change the system operating point by controlling the duty cycle and generating a pulse to fire a switch of DC-DC converter [3].

This paper deals with simulation modeling of grid connected DC linked PV/hydro hybrid system. A 10 kW PV system and 7.5 kW Pico-hydro system is connected in parallel to form hybrid system and this hybrid system is integrated with power grid. The PV/hydro hybrid system acts as a dominant system and primarily they supply power to the community. As the PV or hydro system cannot supply power in rainy or summer days, therefore the power grid is integrated to overcome the problem of PV or hydro system. The DC bus of the PV system and Pico-hydro system is interlinked to reduce the cost and complexity of the system. The proposed system is modeled so that in the normal days (when solar and hydro energy is available) the PV/hydro hybrid system will feed power to load without power grid. NOMENCLATURE , = d and q axis component of the stator voltages of SEIGs in Volts. , = d and q axis component of the rotor voltages of SEIGs in Volts. , = d and q axis component of the stator currents of SEIGs in Amp. i , i = d and q axis component of the rotor currents of SEIGs in Amp. , = Stator and Rotor resistance of the SEIGs respectively in. , = Stator and Rotor inductance of the SEIGs respectively in H. = Mutual inductance of the SEIGs in H. , = d and q axis component of the capacitor bank currents in Amp. , = d and q axis component of capacitance of the capacitor bank in F. = Current generated by PV array in Amp. = Voltage generated by PV array in Volts. = Photocurrent of the PV cell i.e. 5.96 Amp. = Number of series connected PV modules. = Number of parallel connected PV modules. = Reverse saturation current of diode i.e. 0.0002 Amp.

Model and simulation of the impact of the distribution grid-tied photovoltaic (PV) system feeding a variable load with its control system have been investigated in this study. Incremental Conductance (IncCond) algorithm based on maximum power point tracking (MPPT) was implemented for the PV system to extract maximum power under different weather conditions when solar irradiation varies between 250 W/m 2 and 1000 W/m 2. The proposed system is modelled and simulated with MATLAB/Simulink tools. Under different weather conditions, the dynamic performance of the PV system is evaluated. The results obtained show the efficacy of the proposed MPPT method in response to rapid daytime weather variations. The results also show that the surplus power generated is injected into the grid when the injected power from the PV system is higher than the load demand; otherwise, the grid supplies the load.

Although solar energy is available throughout the day its insolation varies from morning to evening and with changing climatic conditions. As the efficiency of solar PV panel is low it becomes mandatory to extract maximum power from the PV panel at any given period of time. Several maximum power point tracking (MPPT) techniques are proposed for the purpose. Incremental conductance MPPT technique has higher steady-state accuracy and environmental adaptability. This paper investigates implementation issues of Incremental conductance MPPT algorithm. High frequency DC-DC Buck converter is used to interface PV panel with load. The Matlab Simulink model of the system is developed and results are validated with experimental results obtained using laboratory prototype of the system.

Energy is one of the key factors for development of the country, and it can be gained from dif erent sources, but some of these sources are not environmental friendly, expensive and dif icult to transport; like fossil fuel. Using solar energy is the best option to solve these problems. Ethiopia has huge potential for solar energy because it is located close to the equator. Refrigerator is one of the essential tools used in daily. Especially refrigerator is very required for the people who live in desert area for cooling water. The people living in grid connected system use electric powered refrigerator for cooling water, but people living in desert of -grid area can't get electric powered refrigerator. Therefore this problem would be solved when they use solar powered refrigerator. In this work Dire Dawa Shinile is study area of this paper. It is located at 9.68latitude and 41.85 Longitude. One of the major drawbacks of solar refrigerator technology has been the large battery systems that were required to store the sun’s energy for use during the night and cloudy periods. These batteries have a relatively short life time and replacements are expensive. In this work solar power refrigerator optimization is eliminates the expensive energy storage batteries and PV sizing for solar powered refrigerator depending on power requirement of compressor by using PVsyst software. Freeze water to make ice in ice storage tank by using the sun's energy which operate compressor of refrigerator and then by using these ice storage to cooling water drink, during solar energy couldn't drive compressor. The net capacity of the refrigerator use for cooling water is 33L and an ice storage of 1kg, is able to maintain 6 liter of water drink temperature below 5C as comfortable for drink. The initial cost of solar.

The use of renewable energy resources has gained so much attention and popularity in the world as alternative energy to the conventional thermal, hydro and nuclear energy. But the increasing use of fossil fuels like coal, gases and petroleum product will create a deficiency in future along with some other issues like increasing price, environmental pollutions. Again increasing demand of electrical energy for a luxurious society forces the power engineers to think of alternative energy sources in the form of wind, solar, biomass etc. Among these resources, solar energy is the most promising and emerging as popular source of electrical energy in society having potential utilization for remote rural communities. However, there are many potential use of solar photovoltaic (SPV) being a sustainable solution. There is a lot of opportunity for such technologies to provide a cost effective solution to demand of electricity for the rural poor peoples of developing nations. In addition, development and increasing number of micro grids and standalone off grid and on grid challenges which needs to be addressed for effective and operation requires improvements in system design and control. However, installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) for electricity generation might be not a good mitigation for the problem whereby some internal issues to be rectified and to be stabilized for the better power quality to be generated. Therefore in this paper we use one of the method for the better power quality. This paper presents the design and simulation of an active power filter (APF) supported by a PV plant by using P-Q theory algorithm to control APF.

Model and simulation of the impact of the distribution grid-tied photovoltaic (PV) system feeding a variable load with its control system have been investigated in this study. Incremental Conductance (IncCond) algorithm based on maximum power point tracking (MPPT) was implemented for the PV system to extract maximum power under different weather conditions when solar irradiation varies between 250 W/m 2 and 1000 W/m 2. The proposed system is modelled and simulated with MATLAB/Simulink tools. Under different weather conditions, the dynamic performance of the PV system is evaluated. The results obtained show the efficacy of the proposed MPPT method in response to rapid daytime weather variations. The results also show that the surplus power generated is injected into the grid when the injected power from the PV system is higher than the load demand; otherwise, the grid supplies the load.

This paper presents a fuzzy logic controller for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) in photovoltaic system with reduced number of rules instead of conventional 25 rules to make the system lighter which will improve the tracking speed and reduce the static error, engendering a global performance improvements. in this work the proposed system use the power variation and current variation as inputs to simplify the calculation, the introduced controller is connected to a conventional grid and simulated with MATLAB/SIMULINK. The simulation results shows a promising indication to adopt the introduced controller as an a good alternative to traditional MPPT system for further practical applications.

Generally high voltage boost gain cannot be achieved in conventional step-up converters since the parasitic parameters will set an upper limit on the duty ratio at which the converter can efficiently operate. In recent years many high step-up DC-DC converters have been proposed. Among the developed converters, the high step-up single switch converters exhibit large input current ripple which make them unsuitable to operate at heavy load due to high conduction losses. So a new super boost converter is designed. This converter consists of switched capacitors and two coupled inductors. This combination of coupled inductors and switched capacitors can provide high voltage boost gain while operating with small duty cycle. By using one individual DC voltage source in an interleaved manner the converter can be powered. The configuration of the proposed converter advantages such as low power losses, longer lifetime of input sources due to non-pulsating input current, low voltage stress across the main switches and slow output fluctuation. The concept is to constant voltage By implementing this converter a 22.5 times gain can be reached 0.5 duty ratio and turns ratio equal to 2.Simulation results will be presented to demonstrate the authenticity of the proposed converter.

Due to the growing demand for electrical power, the researchers are trying to fulfill this demand by considering different ways of renewable energy resource as existing energy resources failed to do so. The solar energy from the sun is freely available, and by using photovoltaic (PV) cell power can be generated. However, it depends on rays fall on the PV cell, climatic condition. Thus, to enhance the efficiency of the photovoltaic (PV) systems, maximum power point tracking (MPPT) of the solar arrays is needed. The output of solar arrays mainly depends on solar irradiance and temperature. The mismatch phenomenon takes place due to partial shade, and it causes to the power output, which brings the incorrect operation of traditional MPP tracker. In this shaded condition, PV array exhibits multiple extreme points. In general, under this scenario, the MPPT approaches fail to judge the MPP, and it leads to low efficiency. The conventional approaches of PSO based algorithms can able to track the MPP under shading condition. However, the optimization process leads to issues in tracking speed. Thus, there a need for an efficient MPPT system which can track MPPT effectively in shaded condition? Hence, the proposed manuscript presents a modified particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is introduced to enhance the tracking speed as well as performance. The outcomes of the proposed system are compared with the traditional PSO system and are found that the tracking speed of MPP, accuracy, and efficiency is improved.

Transformerless Photovoltaic (PV) grid-connected systems benefit from improved cost, size, weight, and efficiency compared to the isolated alternatives. A drawback of the trasnsformerless PV inverters is the leakage current that flows through the parasitic capacitance formed between the PV cells and panel metal frame connected to the earth. The leakage current increases the current harmonics injected into the utility grid, the radiated and conducted electromagnetic interference (EMI), and losses. In this paper, a two-stage three-phase Filter-Clamped (FC) transformerless PV system is employed that reduces the leakage current and output current THD compared to the conventional three-phase inverters. Unlike other transformerless PV inverters, the FC inverter does not require any additional component. The FC transformerless PV inverter is analyzed mathematically and its excellence is compared to the conventional three-phase inverter through simulation results.

This paper presents the simulation performance of control of a standalone photovoltaic (PV) maximum power point tracking (MPPT) system with transformerless inverter. The tested control strategy for PV module is based on Perturb and Observe (P&O) MPPT algorithm, and current and voltage are employed to enhance controllability of the control scheme applied into a dc-dc boost type power converter. A single-phase HERIC (Highly Efficient and Reliable Inverter Concept) transformerless inverter connected as an output to the converter is applied and controlled to feed ac loads.

This paper shows a Comparison between Conventional Method [P&O] and particle swarm optimization [PSO] Based on MPPT Algorithms for Photovoltaic Systems under uniform irradiance and temperature. The main idea is to show that PSO method has a very high tracking speed and has the ability to track MPP under different environmental conditions in addition to an easy hardware implementation using a low-cost microcontroller. MATLAB simulations are carried out under very challenging conditions, namely irradiance and temperature, which reflect a change in the load [KW]. The proposed PSO tracking method Results will be compared with conventional method called [P&O] through MATLAB/SIMULINK.

This paper presents a modeling of 185W Mono-crystalline Solar Panel Using Matlab/Simulink approach. The objective of this project to carried out the efficiency and performance of Solar Panel. The type of solar panel in this project is a mono-crystalline by the SC Origin Company. A temperature and irradiance are the input parameters of the system. The outputs of the system are voltage, current and power. In addition, the data of temperature and irradiance from August to December 2017 by RETScreen Website. This data are used as an inout for PV System and the curve of I-V and P-V as the output. The data are collected at location 1.86° N, 103.09° E which is in Bandar Penggaram, Johor. The output result of I-V and P-V will be used to compare with the reference.

The microgrid system is currently seen as a viable solution to the power shortages expected from future power systems. Renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and hydropower of er well-thought-out high energy potential for future micro-systems. Microgrid (MG) is essentially a low (LV) or medium (MV) voltage distribution network, consisting of a specified number of distributed generators (DG); Micro sources such as photovoltaic (PV) panels, fuel cells, wind turbines, etc., energy storage and load systems; Operate as a single managed system that can operate in a networked or isolated mode. The CEO has ample opportunity to support everyone or most of the load is connected to the microgrid. This article presents a micro-grid system based on wind and solar power sources and addresses problems related to the functioning, control and stability of the system. Using Matlab/Simulink, the system is modeled and simulated to identify the relevant technical problems involved in the operation of a micro-grid system based on renewable energy generation units.

This paper develops and discusses an improved MPPT approach for temperature variation with fast-tracking speed and reduced steady-state oscillation. This MPPT approach can be added to numerous existing MPPT algorithms in order to enhance their tracking accuracy and response time and to reduce the power loss. The improved MPPT method is fast and accurate to follow the maximum power point under critical temperature conditions without increasing the implementation complexity. The simulation results under different scenarios of temperature and insolation were presented to validate the advantages of the proposed method in terms of tracking efficiency and reduction of power loss at dynamic and steady-state conditions. The simulation results obtained when the proposed MPPT technique was added to different MPPT techniques, namely, perturb and observe (P&O), incremental conductance (INC), and modified MPP-Locus method, show significant enhancements of the MPP tracking performances, where the average efficiency of the conventional P&O, INC, and modified MPP-Locus MPPT methods under all scenarios is presented, respectively, as 98.85%, 98.80%, and 98.81%, whereas the average efficiency of the improved P&O, INC, and modified MPP-Locus MPPT methods is 99.18%, 99.06%, and 99.12%, respectively. Furthermore, the convergence time enhancement of the improved approaches over the conventional P&O, INC, and modified MPP-Locus methods is 2.06, 5.25, and 2.57 milliseconds, respectively; besides, the steady-state power oscillations of the conventional P&O, INC, and modified MPP-Locus MPPT methods are 2, 1, and 0.6 watts, but it is neglected in the case of using the improved approaches. In this study, the MATLAB/Simulink software package was selected for the implementation of the whole PV system.

Energy is one of the key factors for development of the country, and it can be gained from dif erent sources, but some of these sources are not environmental friendly, expensive and dif icult to transport; like fossil fuel. Using solar energy is the best option to solve these problems. Ethiopia has huge potential for solar energy because it is located close to the equator. Refrigerator is one of the essential tools used in daily. Especially refrigerator is very required for the people who live in desert area for cooling water. The people living in grid connected system use electric powered refrigerator for cooling water, but people living in desert of -grid area can't get electric powered refrigerator. Therefore this problem would be solved when they use solar powered refrigerator. In this work Dire Dawa Shinile is study area of this paper. It is located at 9.68latitude and 41.85 Longitude. One of the major drawbacks of solar refrigerator technology has been the large battery systems that were required to store the sun’s energy for use during the night and cloudy periods. These batteries have a relatively short life time and replacements are expensive. In this work solar power refrigerator optimization is eliminates the expensive energy storage batteries and PV sizing for solar powered refrigerator depending on power requirement of compressor by using PVsyst software. Freeze water to make ice in ice storage tank by using the sun's energy which operate compressor of refrigerator and then by using these ice storage to cooling water drink, during solar energy couldn't drive compressor. The net capacity of the refrigerator use for cooling water is 33L and an ice storage of 1kg, is able to maintain 6 liter of water drink temperature below 5 as comfortable for drink. The initial cost of solar powered refrigerator is 13,266birr and this cost would be obtained back after one year. Solar powered refrigerator system can be reliably used at where the local grid is not continuously available whereas refrigeration need is critical.

The microgrid system is currently seen as a viable solution to the power shortages expected from future power systems. Renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and hydropower offer well-thought-out high energy potential for future micro-systems. Microgrid (MG) is essentially a low (LV) or medium (MV) voltage distribution network, consisting of a specified number of distributed generators (DG); Micro sources such as photovoltaic (PV) panels, fuel cells, wind turbines, etc., energy storage and load systems; Operate as a single managed system that can operate in a networked or isolated mode. The CEO has ample opportunity to support everyone or most of the load is connected to the microgrid. This article presents a micro-grid system based on wind and solar power sources and addresses problems related to the functioning, control and stability of the system. Using Matlab/Simulink, the system is modeled and simulated to identify the relevant technical problems involved in the operation of a micro-grid system based on renewable energy generation units.

Three-stage transformer less inverter is broadly utilized as a part of low power photovoltaic (PV) framework associated frameworks because of its little size, high proficiency and ease. At the point when no transformer is utilized as a part of a framework associated PV framework, a galvanic association between the lattice and PV exhibit exists. In these conditions, perilous spillage streams (basic mode ebbs and flows) can show up through the stray capacitance between the PV cluster and the ground. The previous, keeping in mind the end goal to make a galvanic separation between the info and the yield incorporate a transformer (obligatory in a few nations) that restrains the entire framework exhibitions as far as effectiveness, weight, size
and cost. Actually, transformer less inverters don't present any separation and are described by minimal size, bring down cost and higher effectiveness (over 2% higher). In any case, the absence of transformers prompts spillage streams that can be hurtful to the human body, and in addition for the entire transformation framework uprightness. With a specific end goal to keep away from the spillage streams, different Transformer less inverters have been proposed utilizing diverse topologies to create consistent regular mode voltage. In this paper, different as of late proposed transformer less PV inverters are researched. Their exhibitions are thought about and broke down.

Maximum power point tracking is an essential and vital technique generally applied in SPV technology under uniform and partial shading conditions. The existence of partially shaded conditions leads to the presence of several peaks on PV curves, which decrease the efficiency of conventional techniques. Hence, the proposed algorithm, which is based on the modified particle-swarm optimization (MPSO) technique, increases the output power of PV systems under such abnormal conditions and has a better performance compared to other methods. The proposed method is examined under several scenarios for partial shading condition and non-uniform irradiation levels using Matlab and to investigate its effectiveness adequately. The experimental results show that the proposed method can decrease the interference of the local maximum power-point to cause the PV system to operate at a global maximum power-point. The efficiency of the MPSO is achieved with the least number of steady-state oscillations under partial shading conditions as compared with the other methods.

The use of renewable energy systems for domestic and industrial sectors is growing at a rapid rate due to the increase in population and due to the restrictions set by governments worldwide in decreasing the green gas emissions. Among one of the most popular renewable energy resources is solar energy which can be applied easily for domestic use such as space cooling and district heating. Moreover, it can be applied to produce fresh water and drying technology, electricity production. In this work, applications of low-temperature solar collectors are presented and discussed in detail. Different applications of flat plate collectors, photovoltaic (PV) solar cells, parabolic trough collectors (PTC), and evacuated tube collectors (ETC) are used to drive desalination plants for freshwater production, heat pumps for residential buildings heating, absorption chillers for space cooling and providing houses with electricity. Cooling methods of PV cells are discussed using different techniques such as phase change material, forced air and water flows to keep the PV cells operating efficiently. The progress of using low-temperature solar collectors in Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, and Australia is presented and discussed. Review of energy and exergy analyses for the applications of solar collectors are demonstrated to determine the performance characteristics of solar systems. Moreover, an economic assessment is conducted to find out the feasibility of solar systems applications from an economic viewpoint. Finally, the International Energy Agency (IEA) vision and prospects for solar energy applications are presented. This study will serve as guidelines for engineers who are involved in solar energy to help them in finding the most suitable applications of low-temperature solar collectors.