Sustainable Zero-Carbon Solar Heating, Cooling and Power in Urban and Off-Grid Environments

为了加快可再生能源的普及并实现已经设定的雄心勃勃的排放目标，需要进一步的研究和创新来促进高密度城市环境中的技术，低碳可再生能源在取代和缓解与化石燃料使用相关的环境问题方面具有巨大潜力（排放/其他污染物）以及离网社区和拥有大量太阳能资源的快速发展地区的微电网。非洲三分之二的人口仍然无法获得电力，其中80%生活在农村地区。离网分布式太阳能供应有可能帮助非洲消除能源贫困，提高生活水平，促进经济增长，同时避免污染，增强安全性，复原力和可持续性。混合光热（PVT）系统是非常适合满足城市和离网环境的完整能源需求的解决方案，因为它们从同一区域产生电力和热量输出，总效率高于单独的独立系统，并且可以很容易地与更广泛的整体能源系统中的其他技术（例如冷却，水或存储）集成。PVT技术在能量密度方面被认为是上级的（15-20%），与提供相同能量输出的同等并排光伏和太阳能热系统相比，可以减少30- 40%的排放，20- 30%的空间和10-20%的投资成本。该项目将研究颠覆性太阳能PVT概念的潜力（在单独的项目中正在开发），与标准PV相比，能够提供高达34倍的有用能量，每单位面积比传统PVT面板多1.5- 2倍的能量，从而以与低成本面板相比具有成本竞争力的价格优于同类最佳面板。这将是一个无与伦比的解决方案，可以同时加热/冷却，热水和/或清洁水供应，以及发电，在面积有限或炎热/干旱地区，具有重要的太阳能资源和快速增长的发展中经济体。目的是评估这种光伏技术集成到组合加热/冷却/电力系统中的综合技术，经济，环境和社会潜力。确定最有前途的解决方案和运营战略，以便在目标地区以低成本实现更高的产量，包括解决太阳能辐射问题的解决方案，例如能源/水储存。为此，将把技术模式与先进的经济和环境可持续性评估方法结合起来，全面考虑能源价格的现状和趋势、技术发展、区域资源和政策。将通过对能源价格和技术成本预测的核算，对传统供应进行成本竞争力分析。将通过使用生命周期可持续性评估来评估排放和环境影响。案例研究将与合作伙伴Desolenator（SSCP提议的合作伙伴）和Solar-Polar合作，在两个多样化且高度可转移的代表性环境中进行：1）城市环境，以减少对电网的依赖并促进太阳能渗透; 2）农村微电网，为发展中的能源匮乏地区提供清洁且负担得起的能源供应。计划举办讲习班，收集与当地有关的天气、环境和能源使用数据，并让不同的当地利益攸关方从他们的角度讨论社会和立法障碍。该项目将展示基于太阳能光伏发电的全能源解决方案的可负担性和可持续性潜力，为感兴趣的利益相关者提供指导，并为投资和政策制定提供见解

In order to accelerate renewable-energy penetration and meet ambitious emissions targets that have been set, further research and innovation are required to promote technologies in high-density urban environments, where low-carbon renewable energy has a significant potential to displace and mitigate environmental issues associated with fossil-fuel use (emissions/other pollutants), as well as in off-grid communities and micro-grids in rapidly-growing regions with a substantial solar resource. Two-thirds of Africa's population is still lacking access to electricity, 80% of which lives in rural areas. Off-grid, distributed solar-energy supply has the potential to help Africa eradicate energy poverty, increase living standards, boost economic growth, while avoiding pollution, enhancing security, resilience and sustainability. Hybrid photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) systems are highly-suitable solutions for meeting the complete energy needs of urban and off-grid environments, as they generate both electrical and thermal outputs from the same area with a higher total efficiency than separate, standalone systems, and can be readily integrated with other technologies (e.g. for cooling, water or storage) within wider, wholistic energy systems. PVT technology is considered superior in terms of energy density (by 15-20%), and can reduce emissions by 30-40%, space by 20-30%, and investment costs by 10-20% compared to equivalent side-by-side PV and solar-thermal systems delivering the same energy outputs. This project will investigate the potential of a disruptive solar PVT concept (under development in separate projects), capable of providing up to 34x more useful energy compared to standard PV and 1.5-2x more energy than conventional PVT panels per unit area, thus outperforming best-in-class panels at a cost competitive with low-cost panels with much lower performance. This would be an unparalleled solution for simultaneous heating/cooling, hot and/or clean water provision, alongside electricity generation, in area-constrained or hot/arid regions with a significant solar resource and fast-growing developing economies.The aims are to assess the combined technological, economic, environmental and social potential of this PVT-technology integrated into combined heating/cooling/power systems, identifying the most promising solutions and operating strategies for achieving higher yields in targeted locations at low-cost, including solutions to address solar intermittency, e.g. energy/water storage. This will be achieved by integrating technology models with advanced economic and environmental sustainability assessment methodologies, holistic considerations of the status and trends of energy prices, technology developments, regional resources and policies. Cost-competitiveness analyses over conventional supplies will be conducted by accounting for energy-price and technology-cost projections. Emissions and environmental impacts will be assessed by using life-cycle sustainability assessments. Case studies will be conducted in collaboration with partners Desolenator (SSCP proposed collaborative partner) and Solar-Polar, in two diverse and highly-transferable representative settings: 1) urban environments, to reduce reliance on electricity grid and promote solar penetration; 2) rural micro-grids, to enable clean and affordable energy supply in developing, energy-poor regions. Workshops are planned to collect locally-relevant data on weather, environment and energy-use, and engage diverse, local stakeholders to discuss social and legislative barriers from their perspectives. The project will demonstrate the affordability and sustainability potential of solar PVTbased whole-energy solutions, provide guidance to interested stakeholders, and insights for investment and policy development