The current governing economic policies and models are favoring maximizing overall solar panel power production in an effort to mitigate climate change. Those were adequate for relative low share of solar power within entire energy mix. As the share of photovoltaic energy production rises, those principles directly cause high mid-day summer productions peaks and even negative prices for the electricity, when solar power is in abundance. This prompts for different approach for calculating solar technical and economic potential, which can offer valuable data for planning future energy sources. This paper uses a simplified model to evaluate prevailing self-sustainable rooftop solar electricity production for typical households and micro-grids in combination with battery storage (Solar Plus). The used model is nevertheless covering most important features of solar power production: the weather pattern, load curves and roof orientation and can be used either for single home-owners or small businesses. Typical applications and main benefits of the assessment are discussed and critically reviewed. The used model is suitable for use on single households or house clusters in scattered populated area and was developed based on extensive empirical knowledge.
COBISS.SI-ID: 32165159
The deployment of geothermal energy systems can significantly contribute to climate change mitigation and play a part in the transition to a low carbon society. This study proposes a framework for identifying the shallow geothermal energy potential of new individual and district heating (DH) systems. The model accounts for thermal interference between neighbouring wells and borehole heat exchangers, where the main criteria for analysis are ground temperature, thermal conductivity, heat flow, and heat capacity. The paper presents a cost-effective area method for the identification of potential new DH areas, while considering the cost competitiveness of the heat supplied. Economic potential is determined based on the cost-effectiveness of the competing technologies, separately for urban and rural areas. The results show that although 54% of technical DH potential in Slovenia remains untapped, the future of shallow geothermal energy systems lies predominantly in individual systems, which have proven to be the most cost efficient solution on locations with favourable geological or hydro-geological conditions. Where possible, shallow geothermal energy can contribute from 2% to 25% of energy for heat production in analysed existing fossil fuel based DH systems, thus making shallow geothermal energy suitable for supplying base load power in an economical manner.
COBISS.SI-ID: 32491559