Design and Performance Optimization of Renewable Energy Systems

Design and Performance Optimization of Renewable Energy Systems provides an integrated discussion of issues relating to renewable energy performance design and optimization using advanced thermodynamic analysis with modern methods to configure major renewable energy plant configurations (solar, geothermal, wind, hydro, PV). Vectors of performance enhancement reviewed include thermodynamics, heat transfer, exergoeconomics and neural network techniques. Source technologies studied range across geothermal power plants, hydroelectric power, solar power towers, linear concentrating PV, parabolic trough solar collectors, grid-tied hybrid solar PV/Fuel cell for freshwater production, and wind energy systems. Finally, nanofluids in renewable energy systems are reviewed and discussed from the heat transfer enhancement perspective.

• Reviews the fundamentals of thermodynamics and heat transfer concepts to help engineers overcome design challenges for performance maximization
• Explores advanced design and operating principles for solar, geothermal and wind energy systems with diagrams and examples
• Combines detailed mathematical modeling with relevant computational analyses, focusing on novel techniques such as artificial neural network analyses
• Demonstrates how to maximize overall system performance by achieving synergies in equipment and component efficiency

Mamdouh El Haj Assad is Professor in the Department of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Engineering at the University of Sharjah. Mamdouh El Haj Assad received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, and the Ph.D. degree in applied thermodynamics from Aalto University, Aalto, Finland. Dr. Assad has worked for more than 20 years at Aalto University as Docent and research scientist. Dr. Assad joined Australian College of Kuwait during 2014-2015 as associate professor and mechanical engineering department chair. In that college, Dr. Assad focused on renewable energy research such as wind turbines performance. His current research interests include geothermal energy, solar energy, irreversible thermodynamics, chemical thermodynamics and absorption chillers. Dr. Assad received the Teacher of the Year 2011 of Aalto University, Finland, and Sharjah Sustainability Award in 2020.

Marc A. Rosen is a professor at Ontario Tech University (formally University of Ontario Institute of Technology) in Oshawa, Canada, where he served as founding Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Energy and Environmental Engineering and the founding Editor-in-Chief of Sustainability. He has written numerous books and journal articles. Professor Rosen received the President's Award from the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering in 2012. He is an active teacher and researcher in sustainable energy, environmental impact of energy and industrial systems, and energy technology (including heat transfer and recovery, renewable energy and efficiency improvement). His work on exergy methods in applied thermodynamics has been pioneering and led to many informative and useful findings. He has carried out research on linkages between thermodynamics and environmental impact and ecology. Much of his research has been carried out for industry.