Public solar power generation and heating

Can solar energy be used in public buildings?

Hot water production, space heating and air-conditioning are the major consumers of energy in public buildings; if their energy demand can be addressed holistically through the integration of solar collectors with public buildings, it will bring about a reduction in energy costs.

Are solar energy plants unable to satisfy consumer heat and power demands?

In this regard, the results suggest that the plants with solar energy as the only source of energy input and without any storage are incapable of satisfying the consumer heat and power demands, mainly because of the mismatch between the solar energy availability and the consumer demand patterns , , , .

Are solar thermal power plants the future of energy?

With approximately six gigawatts of installed capacity worldwide in 2020, solar thermal power plants are still at the beginning of their market introduction, comparable to photovol-taics 15 years ago or wind energy 25 years ago.

Can solar thermal power plants be used in sunny countries?

In energy systems in sunny countries that rely on renewable energy sources, solar thermal instead of fossil fuel power plants will be able to supply cost-effective base-load and peak-load electricity at low cost and stabilise the power grids.

Should solar energy be used for heat and power generation?

The utilization of solar energy for heat and power generation has recently attracted increased interest as is evident from the significant number of research publications in the last 4–5 years.

Can solar energy based heat and power plants compete with fossil fuels?

It is likely that some supportive policy measures such as green energy targets, public funding, feed-in-tariff, carbon tax, or subsidies will be needed in order for the solar energy based heat and power plants to be able to compete with the fossil fuel alternatives.