Currently, a noticeable lack of literature with respect to a wide-ranging comparison of the precision exhibited by automated and manual two-axis tracking solar systems, particularly within the context of adhering to the standard testing protocols delineated by ISO and IEC. To address this research gap, a symmetrical concentrating Photovoltaic-Thermal solar collector underwent a detailed evaluation encompassing two standard testing procedures such as ISO 9806:2017 and IEC 62108:2016. This comprehensive assessment covered thermal and electrical performance parameters, unfolding across two distinct geographical locations: Athens (Greece) and Gävle (Sweden). Within this experimental framework, an automated two-axis tracking solar system stand was employed at the Greek testing site, while in Sweden it was characterized by the employment of a manual two-axis tracking solar system. The collective peak power performance presented marginal divergence within a narrow range of ± 1% across both testing sites. This culminated in an overall peak power output of 1550 Wpeak, which included an electrical peak capacity of 218 Wpeak and a thermal peak power of approximately 1332 Wpeak. Notably, the most pronounced deviation has been materialized in the transversal and longitudinal Incidence Angle Modifier coefficients, with disparities remaining limited to a threshold of < 5%. These findings underscore the commendable precision hallmarking. In summary, the outcomes presented in this study not only contribute to the extant body of knowledge by bridging the existing gap in literature, but also emphasize the precision inherent to manual two-axis tracking solar systems when compared with automated equivalents. 

Night ventilation is a technique in which the indoor air and the building’s thermal mass is cooled down during nighttime to provide a heat sink available during the next day to help mitigating overheating and reducing the daytime space cooling demand. This paper proposes a framework on evaluating the use of mechanical night ventilation today and in the future. It considers analysis of the ventilative cooling system, including mechanical night ventilation, by means of key performance indicators that involve thermal comfort, energy use and resiliency criteria as suggested by IEA Annex 80. It, additionally, introduces an economic parameter in form of diurnal and nocturnal price ratio of electricity as economic trade-off between nighttime fan- and daytime fan and chiller use in terms of electricity. A historic office building in north-central Sweden is presented as a detailed case as to illustrate the use of the framework. The investigation was done using a validated model of the building in IDA-ICE building simulation program at both current climate and future climate in 2050s. It was revealed that an upgraded ventilative cooling system with three times larger capacity is required to fulfill thermal comfort. Even though mechanical night ventilation could result in the annual cooling source electricity saving intensity up to 0.9 kWh/(m²∙a) at extreme current climate (2018), it could just insignificantly reduce the total electricity use for space cooling (up to 2 %) and only at some night ventilation rates at all mentioned climates. Mechanical night ventilation, however, could be applied in an economically beneficial way if the electricity network has different nocturnal and diurnal electricity prices. A unitless index of maximum nighttime over daytime electricity price ratio was proposed representing the maximum tolerable price for nighttime electricity, given a daytime electricity price, based on night- and daytime ventilation electricity demand. For economically justified application of mechanical night ventilation, lower nighttime over daytime electricity price ratios were required for higher night ventilation rates. For the typical future climate with night ventilation rates larger than 2.6 ACH, it will be necessary to have nighttime prices that are lower than daytime if mechanical night ventilation is to be economical. The approach used in the framework can be applied to future research and practice, regardless of the case-specific parameters such as building type, climate zone, location, etc.

Numerous heating and cooling design methods, including energy storage, geothermal resources, heaters, solar collectors, underground water movement, lakes, and nuclear reactors, require the study of flow regimes in a cavity and their impact on thermal efficiency in heat transportation. Despite the existence of several review studies in the open literature, there is no specific review of heat transfer investigations that consider different cavity designs, such as spheres, squares, trapezoids, and triangles. Therefore, this work aims to conduct a comprehensive review of previous research published between 2016 and 2023 on heat transfer analysis in these cavity designs. The intention is to clarify how various cavity shapes perform in terms of flow and heat transfer, both with and without the addition of nano-enhanced phase change materials (NePCMs), which may include fins, obstacles, cylinders, and baffles. The study also explores the influence of factors like thermophoresis, buoyancy, magnetic forces, and others on heat transport in cavities. Additionally, it investigates the role of air, water, nanofluids, and hybrid nanofluids within cavities. According to the reviewed research, nanoparticles in the base fluid speed up the cooling process and reduce the required discharging time. Thermophoresis, where nanoparticles move from the heated wall to the cold nanofluid flow, becomes more pronounced with increasing Reynolds numbers. Increasing the heated area of the lower flat fin enhances the heat transfer rate, while increasing both the Rayleigh number and the solid volume percentage of nanoparticles reduces it. Radiation blockage alters the path of hot particles and affects the anticipated radiative amount. Optical thickness plays a role in rapidly cooling a medium, and partition thickness has the most significant effect on heat transport when the thermal conductivity ratio is low. Heat transmission is most improved when the Rayleigh number is high and the Richardson number is low.

Renewable energy sources are fundamental to a country’s economic growth. Solar energy is one of these resources that has a favorable effect on economic growth. Turkey’s solar energy industry is still in its early stages. Due to its location and degree of sunshine each year, the country has a great solar potential. Despite the huge potential, solar energy awareness and utilization are not widespread in all parts of Turkey. In order to identify the factors that affect consumers’ decisions to utilize water heating systems, which is a sort of solar energy system, the purpose of this research is to examine these systems. In this study, all factors influencing consumers’ decisions to acquire solar water heating systems were evaluated holistically for the first time. A questionnaire was used in the study, which is a quantitative research technique. The study identifies the variables that influence consumers’ attitudes toward solar collector purchases and assesses the consequences from an organizational point of view. The study’s results act as a guide for decision-makers.