10.1007@s11630 020 1269 3

Journal of Thermal Science Vol.29, No.
* (2020) ****
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11630-020-1269-3 Article ID: 1003-2169(2020)00-0000-00
On the Use of Nanofluids in Solar Energy Applications
CUCE Erdem1,2,*, CUCE Pinar Mert2,3, GUCLU Tamer1,2, BESIR Ahmet Burhaneddin1,2
1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Zihni Derin
Campus, 53100 Rize, Turkey
2. Low/Zero Carbon Energy Technologies Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Zihni
Derin Campus, 53100 Rize, Turkey
3. Department of Energy Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Zihni Derin
Campus, 53100 Rize, Turkey
© Science Press, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer
Nature 2020
Abstract: Renewable energy technologies are in the centre of interest to narrow the gap between fossil fuels and
clean energy systems. The dominant role of solar energy systems among the alternatives is beyond question
owing to being associated with an infinite energy source, well-documented theory, simplicity, eco-friendly
structure and notably higher energy and exergy efficiency range compared to other renewables. However, in solar
energy systems, conventional working fluids with poor thermophysical properties are still utilised. In other words,
further improvements are still available in the said systems by the use of unique nanoparticles with superior
thermal, electrical, optical and mechanical properties. Within the scope of this research, the applications of
nanofluids in various solar energy systems such as tracking and non-tracking solar collectors,
photovoltaic/thermal systems, solar thermoelectric devices, solar stills, solar thermal energy storage systems,
solar greenhouses and solar ponds are comprehensively analysed. Relevant comparisons and discussions are
proposed for the potential impacts of various nanofluids on coefficient of performance (COP) and thermodynamic
performance figures of solar energy systems such as energy and exergy efficiency, effectiveness and productivity.
Some challenges of nanofluids are also addressed which need to be resolved in further works.
Keywords: nanofluids, solar energy applications, thermal and electrical performance, COP, cost
1. Introduction rise in energy demand essentially depends on two factors:

the population and economic growth. It is reported by the
Energy is undoubtedly believed to have significant International Energy Agency (IEA) that the world energy
effects on not only the environment but also the economy consumption belonging to the period of 2016–2030 is
and social lives. Climate change, depletion of natural expected to increase by 44% [3]. The consensus
resources, the growth of carbon emissions depicted in addresses that conventional energy resources are insuffi-
Fig. 1 [1], drought and even the increments in cient to meet the energy demand for the near future
malnutrition and poverty are accepted to be directly because of the technological advancements, the rising
related to energy sources, demands, and supplies [2]. The prosperities of people living in developed countries and
Received: Aug 07, 2019 AE: GUO Shaopeng Corresponding author: CUCE Erdem E-mail: erdem.cuce@erdogan.edu.tr
www.springerlink.com
2 J. Therm. Sci., Vol.29, No.*, 2020
the growth of world population [4,5]. addition, the world energy demand belonging to 2016 is
It is clearly indicated in literature that a significant declared to be 21.73 TW. The energy requirement in
part of world energy consumption is attributed to fossil 2040 is also foreseen to escalate by 20% compared to the
fuels. However, hazardous impacts of conventional figure of 2016 [8]. Despite the tremendous potential of
energy sources on the environment and living beings, and solar energy mentioned before, it is not difficult to say
the depletion of these sources day after day as shown in effective harnessing of this energy is limited [12].
Fig. 2 stimulate developed and developing countries into Supplying the energy demand through solar energy
adopting inexhaustible and eco-friendly energy resources applications also plays a key role in mitigating
[6]. In recent years, renewable energy resources are in the environmental, social and economic issues associated
centre of interest at global scale to meet energy demands with energy use [13]. With deploying household solar
due to unequivocal technological developments and systems in the USA, it is underlined that carbon
international agreements with regard to environment and emissions are reduced by 696,544 m3 [14]. The amounts
climate [7]. Renewable energy resources have a wide of carbon emissions based on coal, natural gas, and solar
range of types such as solar energy, wind power, for the energy generation of 1 kWh are estimated to be
hydropower, bioenergy and geothermal energy. But 1.63, 0.91, and 0.09 kg respectively [15]. This is also a
among the available types, solar energy is regarded as the reason of remarkably expanding solar energy applications
most reasonable energy resource for supplying the energy over the last three decades. The data from Figs. 3 and 4
requirement across the world [5]. show the increase in heat production and electricity
The sun, being in services of humankind, is regarded generation through using solar thermal and solar PV
as an endless energy source in nature with no cost. The technologies for the period of 1990–2016 [16,17].
solar radiation reaching upper layer of the atmosphere is Utilisation of solar energy systems becomes wide-
reported to be 174,000 terawatts (TW) and the atmo- spread worldwide day after day, however, there is a
sphere, lands, and oceans absorb roughly 70% of this consensus among scientists that almost all solar energy
radiation. It is briefly stated that almost 120,000 TW technologies reach their limits in terms of performance
energy could be used to generate power for different figures. This is a handicap of course for the said systems,
purposes [8,9]. The annual energy consumption over the
world is expressed to be notably lower than incoming
solar radiation to the earth in one hour [10,11]. In
Fig. 3 Heat production from solar energy in the world during

1990–2016 [16]
Fig. 1 The amount of carbon emissions during 1990–2016 [1]
Fig. 4 World electricity production from using solar PV

Fig. 2 Years of fossil fuel reserves left [6] during 1990–2016 [17]
CUCE Erdem et al. On the Use of Nanofluids in Solar Energy Applications 3
and in reality it is not difficult to assert that the “Sunscreens, cosmetics, paints, displays, batteries,
limitations in most cases are caused from the working catalysis, medicine, sensors, energy, agriculture, coolant,
fluid considered in energy conversion or energy transport. plastic packaging, and stain resistant textiles” owing to
Water as the most common working fluid used in solar their unique, chemical, physical, and mechanical
energy systems has a very low thermal conductivity properties as illustrated in Fig. 5 [20].
which notably limits the thermal performance figures. Nanofluids show higher thermal conductivities
Therefore, alternative working fluids such as nanofluids compared to commonly used liquids such as water,
are in the centre of interest to improve the thermal kerosene, ethylene glycol etc. for cooling. On the other
conductivity thus the overall performance parameters of hand, they cause somewhat pressure drop during the flow.
solar energy systems. As a consequence of characteristic features, they are in
the centre of interest among researchers working on
2. Nanofluids various disciplines [21]. In addition to this, it is declared
in the literature that the changes in volume fraction,
Traditional thermal fluids such as water, oil and thermophysical features of nanoparticles, base fluid, and
ethylene/propylene glycol are widely used in heating and shape & size of nanoparticles have tremendous impacts
cooling processes. But thermal performance figures of on thermal conductivity of nanofluids [22–26].
these materials are not able to compete with solid Pryazhnikov et al. [27] systematically carried out
materials and therefore, researchers need to seek new experimental analyses to find out the coefficients with
ways to enhance thermophysical properties of the respect to thermal conductivity for over 50 different
aforesaid conventional fluids [18]. For instance, adding nanofluids, such as ethylene glycol, SiO2, Al2O3, TiO2,
solid particles in a base fluid is widely used to improve ZrO2, CuO2, with a volume concentration of 0.25% to
thermal properties of fluid considering as one of the 8% at room temperature and a particle size of 10 to 150
well-accepted applications, and many researches today nm. According to the systematic study, the thermal
focus on this technique called nanofluid [19]. Nanofluids conductivity coefficient of nanofluids hinges on not only
have a wide range of usage areas as listed below: the number of nanoparticles within base fluid but also a
Fig. 5 Schematic representation of typical applications of nanofluids in (a) heat transfer, (b) defect sensors, (c) anti infection
therapy, (d) energy harvesting system, (e) hyperthermia and (e) cosmetics [20]
4 J. Therm. Sci., Vol.29, No.*, 2020
Fig. 6 Concentration dependencies of relative Prandtl number Prr = Pr/Prw of water-based nanofluids with (a) ZrO2 particles of
different sizes and (b) different particles (Al2O3 vs. TiO2) of the same size [28]
Table 1 Thermal conductivity enhancement with integrating nanofluids [29]

Base Fluid Dispersed Particles Volume Fraction/% Temperature/°C Maximum enhancement/%
Water Al2O3 4 51 24
Water TiO2 2 35 8
Ethylene Glycol Ag 1 --- 18
Water Fe3O4 2 60 48
Water CuO 4 51 37
Water ZnO 5 22 18
Water MgO 2 -- 22
Ethylene Glycol ZnO 10.5 55 13
Ethylene Glycol Mg(OH)2 2 55 23
complex function of the particle size, materials and base into heat energy, which is then transferred to a fluid
fluid type. For instance, the increase in the particle size (usually air, water, or oil) flowing through the collector
leads to an improvement in the thermal conductivity of [30,31]. These devices can also be described as an
nanofluids in all cases. Rudyak et al. [28] conducted an eco-friendly heat exchanger since they notably contribute
experimental study to explain how the Prandtl (Pr) to mitigating fossil fuel consumption by only taking
number of a nanofluid changes with the concentration, advantage of sunlight [32]. Types of solar collectors can
size, and nanoparticle material. For this purpose, using be classified into two different types: one of them is
distilled water and silica, alumina, titania and zirconia called a fixed type (non-tracking) and the other is known
nanoparticles, they prepared nano fluids having a volume as tracking type solar collectors as well. It is stated in the
concentration ranging from 1% to 8% with a particle literature that stationary types consist of flat plate,
diameter between 10 and 150 nm. The experimental evacuated tube and compound parabolic collectors,
results depicted in Fig. 6 show that the Pr number whereas tracking collectors are parabolic trough,
decreases with the increasing particle diameter [28]. parabolic dish, cylindrical trough and Fresnel reflector
Toghraie et al. [29] also illustrated the impacts of [33]. The classification of solar collectors is given in
nanofluid integration on the thermal conductivity Fig. 7 [33] and some of the collector types are depicted in
enhancement as shown in Table 1. Maximum Fig. 8 [34,35].
improvement is observed to be 48% with water-Fe3O4 For a solar collector, it is mentioned that the increase
nanofluid. in the efficiency depends on the improvement in heat
transfer between the collector and the fluid [36]. In other
3. Applications of Nanofluids in Solar Energy words, researchers aim at enhancing the heat transfer in
such systems, and for this purpose, they present intensive
3.1 Solar collectors efforts to produce new fluids instead of low-efficiency
A solar collector is a thermal device that collects and water, which is generally used as a working fluid in solar
absorbs the incoming solar radiation and converts this collectors. According to the recent literature, the
nanofluids are considered to be the most appropriate and Based on an experimental study carried out by He et al.
efficient working fluids for the use in solar collectors [37]. [40], the thermal efficiency of flat-plate collectors
3.1.1 Non-tracking solar collectors integrated with Cu-water based nanofluids was
investigated with depending on the mass of nanoparticles
Non-tracking solar collectors are the most widely used in working fluid and size. Whilst the examinations, heat
collector types. In recent years, because of the low gain of the solar collectors, the frictional resistance
thermal efficiency of these systems, nanofluids are coefficient of nanofluid and water temperature were
exploited as the fluid throughout flowing in the collector measured, as well. The experimental results indicate that
instead of water. As an example, numerical research was the enhancement in the efficiency of the solar collector is
conducted to determine the thermal performance of a determined to be 23.83% with the using of Cu-water
nanofluid that is used as a working fluid within the nanofluids. Besides, it also depicts that the nanoparticle
flat-plate collector by Genc et al. [38]. The research size has a significant effect on the efficiency of the
indicates that the effects of volumetric concentrations of system in Fig. 10.
nanoparticles (Al2O3 nanoparticles with 1%, 2%, and 3%)
on the thermal behavior of nanofluid. Like the
concentrations, the mass-flow rates (in the range of
0.004–0.06 kg/s) were also investigated with depending
on variable climate conditions. The results revealed that
the maximum outlet temperature is obtained by utilizing
Al2O3-water based nanofluids for the volumetric
concentration of 3% and for 0.004 kg/s (mass flow rates).
Liu et al. [39] designed a novel system that consists of an
evacuated tube, a compound parabolic concentrator and
an open thermosiphon with using water based
nanoparticles as working fluid. The findings show that,
by the using of water-based CuO nanofluid, collector
efficiency is determined to be increased by 6.6%
compared to deionized water as depicted in Fig. 9. Fig. 7 Classification of solar collectors [33]
Fig. 8 Some of collector types ((a): Flat plate collector, (b): Power tower system, (c): Parabolic dish collector, and (d): Parabolic
trough collector) [34,35]
6 J. Therm. Sci., Vol.29, No.*, 2020
and as a consequence of this, tracking solar collectors

have remarkably higher thermal efficiency range [42].
Kasaeian et al. [43] designed a parabolic trough collector
which is easy to fabricate with a reflector. The optical
and thermal performances of solar collector were
compared by using oil based nanofluids with using
carbon nanotubes. In this experiment, four different types
of receivers were used in the collectors. These receivers
are mentioned as follows:
● black painted vacuumed steel tube,
● copper bare tube with black chrome coating,
● glass-enveloped non-evacuated copper tube with
Fig. 9 Solar collecting efficiency under different operating black chrome coating, and
temperatures [39] ● vacuumed copper tube with black chrome coating.
As a result of the experimental study, the usage of the
copper absorber tube coated with black chrome has
tremendous effects on absorptivity and thermal
conductivity. It is also stated that the improvement in the
total efficiency of the system is found to be in the range
of 4% and 7% depending on the volume fraction of
multi-walled carbon nanotubes/oil, compared to pure oil
as a working fluid. Bellos et al. [44] examined the
enhancement in the thermal performance of the parabolic
solar collector by taking into consideration the increase
in the convective heat transfer coefficient within the
system. For this purpose, they investigated the influence
of three different working fluids: thermal oil, thermal oil
Fig. 10 The efficiency of the flat plate solar collector with with nanoparticles and pressurized water. Through the
Cu-H2O nanofluids as the absorbing medium (0.1 numerical results, the improvement in the case of
wt%; Cu: 25 nm, 50 nm). (ti, ta and G represent inlet pressurised water is determined to be 6.34%, whereas it
fluid temperature, environment temperature and solar is 4.25% and 4.55% in the cases of nanofluid and wavy
radiation, respectively) [40] tube respectively. Thermal efficiency and receiver
temperature were also proposed in the study as depicted
Like mentioned previous researches, the thermal
in Fig. 11. Nevertheless, since high pressure levels are
efficiency of the solar collectors with deploying
required in the case of water, the use of nanofluids is
Al2O3/TiO2-H2O nanofluids was analyzed numerically
and experimentally by Farajzadeh et al. [41]. The
volumetric flow rates are determined to be 1.5, 2.0 and
2.5 L/min and the reference nanofluids were designated
to be Al2O3-H2O, TiO2-H2O, and the mixture of Al2O3
and TiO2 water-based nanofluids. The numerical analyses
were also conducted by a well-known computational
fluid dynamics (CFD) software. The results show that the
increase in thermal efficiency is found to be by 19%,
21% and 26% for Al2O3, TiO2 and the mixture of these
two nanofluids, respectively (compared to the case of
base water as a working fluid). The mixture of the said
two nanofluids is found to provide the best thermal
performance, as compared to Al2O3-water, TiO2-water
nanofluids.
3.1.2 Tracking solar collectors
A tracking system is required for efficient operation in
solar collector systems. In tracking solar collectors, the Fig. 11 (a) Thermal efficiency comparison for operation and
thermal losses are considerably lower than those in other (b) receiver temperature comparison for operation
conventional technologies such as flat plate collectors, with three different working fluids [44]
Table 2 Summary of former works on the potential use of nanofluids in solar collectors
Author(s) and type Results
Collector type Nanofluid type
of study
It is observed that the particle size affects the optical properties of the
Saidur et al. [45] Direct absorption Water based
nanofluids at minimum level.
Theoretical solar collector aluminium nanofluid
For the 1.0% volume fraction, good improvements are obtained.
Parvin et al. [49] Direct absorption Mean Nusselt number and entropy generation increase with the
Cu–water nanofluid
Numerical solar collector volume fraction of Cu nanoparticles and Reynolds number.
The nanofluids increase the outlet temperature and efficiency by
TiO2, Al2O3,
Luo et al. [50] Direct absorption 30–100 K and 2%–25% relative to pure fluids.
SiO2, Cu, Ag
Simulation solar collector The photothermal efficiency of a 0.01% graphite nanofluid is 122.7%
with Texa therm oil
of that of a coating absorbing collector.
Nanofluids increase the energy efficiency by 83.5% for 0.3 wt% and
Said et al. [51] Al2O3-water
Flat plate 1.5 kg/min, whereas the exergy efficiency is enhanced by up to 20.3%
Experimental nanofluid
for 0.1 wt% and 1 kg/min.
The highest heat transfer coefficient in the tubes occurred for
Cu/Water,
Al2O3/water nanofluid while the lowest value is observed for
Mahian et al. [52] Mini-channel Al2O3/Water,
SiO2/water nanofluid.
Analytical based TiO2/Water,
From the highest to the lowest outlet temperature is obtained for
SiO2/Water
Cu/water, TiO2/water, Al2O3/water, and SiO2/water nanofluids.
Cu-H2O nanofluids (25 nm, 0.1 wt%) increase the efficiency of solar
He et al. [40]
Flat plate Cu-H2O collector by 23.83%. Also, as the nanoparticle size increases, the
Experimental
efficiency of solar collector decreases.
3%Al2O3/Oil,
Bellos and Thermal efficiency is enhanced by about 1.8% with hybrid nanofluids
Parabolic trough 3%TiO2/Oil,
Tzivanidis [53] whereas it is 0.7% for mono nanofluids. This thermal efficiency
collector 1.5%Al2O3-1.5%
Numerical increment is attributed to the improved Nusselt number.
TiO2/Oil
Compared to the case of SiO2/oil nanofluid and pure thermal oil
Loni et al. [54] Parabolic dish Al2O3/Oil, operation in the steady state period, the highest thermal efficiency of
Experimental concentrator SiO2/Oil the cylindrical cavity receiver is obtained when Al2O3/oil nanofluid is
used.
The best option is found to use Al2O3 and CuO for the case of thermal
Loni et al. [55]
Cu, CuO, and exergetical performance, respectively. The exergetic efficiency of
Numerical and Dish collector
TiO2, Al2O3 the collector is improved by about 10% and the thermal efficiency is
experimental
improved closely to 35% due to the relatively high optical losses.
Thermal efficiency and temperature performance of SiO2/water
Noghrehabadi et al. [56] nanofluid is higher than pure water. The maximum efficiency
Conical collector SiO2-water
Experimental enhancement and inlet-outlet temperature difference of conical
collector using nanofluid is 62% and 6.8oC respectively.
Bellos and Tzivanidis [46] Parabolic trough Al2O3/Oil, By using CuO and Al2O3 nanofluids, thermal efficiency can be
Numerical collector CuO/Oil increased by 1.26% and 1.13% respectively.
The heat convection coefficient depends on the volumetric
Sokhansefat et al. [47] Parabolic trough concentration of nanoparticles in the fluid. As the absorber operational
Al2O3/Oil
Numerical collector temperature increases, the heat transfer enhancement due to the
nanoparticles in the fluid decreases.
The stability and thermal conductivity of different nanofluids strongly
Menbari et al. [48] Parabolic trough depend on pH, surfactant mass fraction, and sonication time. Also, the
Binary nanofluids
Experimental collector thermal conductivity and absorbance spectra of binary nanofluids are
maximal under optimal stability conditions
reported to be a more attractive solution. Some heat needs to be removed from PV modules [58,59]. As a
characteristic studies about the application and potential consequence of this, a new hybrid system called
use of nanofluids in solar collectors are summarized in photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) is considered. Owing to the
Table 2 [40, 45–56]. system characteristics, the efficiency losses arising from
the overheating of the PV modules are prevented and the
3.2 Photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) systems waste heat recovered by the fluid can be used for thermal
Photovoltaic (PV) modules are used to produce purposes [60]. Fig. 12 demonstrates classification of
electrical power through direct conversion of sunlight common types of PV/T systems [61] and Fig. 13 shows
[57]. It is clearly underlined in previous works that the the schematic of PV/T systems with nanofluids [62].
electrical efficiency of the PV systems decreases with In the last years, many researchers focus on further
increasing cell temperatures, and therefore this excessive improvements in the efficiency of hybrid PV/T systems
8 J. Therm. Sci., Vol.29, No.*, 2020
Fig. 12 Classification of PV/T Collector [61]
Fig. 13 PV/T systems with nanofluids as a coolant (a), spectral filter (b), coolant and spectral filter with double-pass channel (c),
coolant and spectral filter with separate channels [62]
and for this purpose, they attempt to add different with different particle size such as 5 nm, 10 nm, 25 nm
nanoparticles in base fluids, and by doing so, good and 50 nm. They also designed a 2D PV/T model by
improvements are achieved in thermal and electrical using physical parameters of prepared nanofluids and
performance figures. This is because of lower cell conducted numerical analysis based on CFD. The
temperatures owing to good waste heat recovery from PV findings show that the increase in thermal conductivity
cells, and greater thermal energy content of recovered with using nanoparticles (the particle size of 5 nm and a
heat as a consequence of enhancement in thermal volume fraction of 2%) was measured to be about 20%
conductivity of working fluid. Another experimental according to pure water. It is also stated that using
study conducted by Jing et al. [63] aimed to determine nanofluids is reached rather higher exergetic efficiency
thermal performance of silica-water based nanofluids than pure water as a working fluid as shown in Fig. 14.
Fig. 14 Exergetic efficiency of PV/T system with various light concentrations versus the velocities of the nanofluid flow (the light
concentration of (a), (b), (c) and (d) is 1, 40, 100 and 150, respectively. DI is deionized water) [63]
Al-Waeli et al. [64] prepared a mathematical model of

nanofluid/nano-PCM (phase change material) PV/T
system and established an experimental unit to validate
the obtained results. They used a nano cooling fluid (SiC)
and paraffin wax as PCM in a thermal storage tank to
absorb heat from the PV cells. The experimental and
mathematical model results demonstrate that the overall
PV/T system efficiency can be increased by about 85%
via nanofluid/nano-PCM. The outputs of measurements Fig. 15 Thermal efficiency of PVT system with nanofluid/
and theoretical analyses for the thermal efficiency of nano-PCM [64]
PV/T system are illustrated in Fig. 15. Khanjari et al. [65]
conducted a numerical investigation to observe the
impacts of utilising nanofluid on the performance of
PV/T systems. This investigation used two different
nanofluids (Ag-water and Al2O3-water nanofluids). Inlet
velocity, efficiencies depending on volume fraction and
thermal performance were examined by utilizing the
nanofluids and pure water as working fluids. The results
show that as the nanoparticle volume fraction increases,
the efficiencies and heat transfer coefficient increase as
shown in Fig. 16. In addition to this, the maximum
enhancements of heat transfer coefficient versus volume
fraction for alumina-water and Ag-water nanofluid are
observed to be 12% and 43%, respectively. Some other Fig. 16 Variation of heat transfer coefficient versus volume
studies on nanofluid integrated PV/T systems are fraction for alumina-water and Ag-water nanofluids
summarized in Table 3 [59, 66–72]. [65]
10 J. Therm. Sci., Vol.29, No.*, 2020
Table 3 Recent studies on PV/T systems with nanofluids cooling

Thermal Electrical
Author(s) Nanofluids efficiency efficiency Research outputs
increase/% increase/%
By adding 3 wt% of SiC nanoparticles to water, an increase in
Al-Waeli et al. [59] SiC-water 100.19 24.1 the resulting fluid density up to 0.0082% and a rise of
viscosity up to 1.8% is obtained.
Overall efficiency of PV/T system can be enhanced by about
Water-multi
3.81% and 4.11% via using water/multi walled carbon
Nasrin et al. [66] walled carbon 4 3.67
nanotube nanofluid according to the numerical and
nanotube
experimental results, respectively.
The total exergy is increased by 24.31% for 3 wt% silica/water
Sardarabadi et al. [67] Silica/water 12.8 7.9
nanofluid.
They achieved to increase the electrical, thermal and combined
Al-Shamani [68] TiO2/water 68.21 13.52
power of PV/T to 115.7 W, 697.9 W and 813.6 W respectively.
The retrofitting of PV/T system using silver/water nanofluid
Lari and Sahin [69] Silver/water - 11.7 with PCM medium meets 27.3% of the residential thermal
load and 77% of the residential electrical load.
In the long run, a nanofluid-based concentrative PV/T system
Xu and Kleinstreuer [70] Al2O3/water 59 11
is more efficient than a water-based system.
The best thermal and electrical efficiency is obtained for
Rejeb et al. [71] Cu/water 62.09 2.51 Cu/water in comparison to Cu/ethylene glycol, Al2O3/water
and Al2O3/ethylene glycol.
Hassani et al. [72] Ag/water - 8.6 The overall efficiency is increased by 5.7%.
3.3 Solar thermoelectric devices

In the literature, it is stated that thermoelectric devices
consist of thermoelectric coolers (TECs) and
thermoelectric generators (TEGs). In these devices, two
different methods are commonly used such as Peltier
effect and Seebeck effect. The former one makes the heat
being absorbed from a medium by using electrical power.
As for Seebeck effect, the heat is converted into
electricity. These devices can absorb heat from the
medium by using electrical power (Peltier effect) or
convert the heat into electricity through the Seebeck
effect [73]. In recent years, solar thermoelectric devices
are widely used in energy conversion systems as an
alternative renewable energy source. The schematic of a
typical solar thermoelectric module is shown in Fig. 17
Fig. 17 Schematic of solar-thermoelectric module [74]
[74].
Soltani et al. [75] proposed a nanofluid-based cooling
method for a hybrid photovoltaic/thermoelectric system
and compared their systems with conventional cooling
methods. For this purpose, they investigated five
different cooling techniques: natural cooling, forced air
cooling, water cooling, SiO2/water nanofluid cooling, and
Fe3O4/water nanofluid cooling. According to the results,
utilizing the water cooling methods produces 47% higher
energy comparing to natural cooling. They also show that
nanofluid usage leads to increase not only thermal
performance but also the total energy generation as
shown in Fig. 18. For instance, SiO2 and Fe3O4
nanofluids ensure an average increment of 5.7% in power
production in comparison with pure water cooling Fig. 18 PV cell efficiency for different cooling methods
method. covering nanofluids [75]
Chang and Yu [76] designed a new photo- system is regarded as a key solution to overcome the
thermoelectric module by integrating dye-sensitized solar water based problems and such systems enable to
cells (DSSCs), thermoelectric generator (TEG) and a set produce fresh water without causing carbon emissions
of pulsating heat pipes (PHP). They used a nano film [79]. In a typical solar still, incoming solar radiation is
with better thermal conductivity to transfer heat welcomed by a transparent aperture glazing, and the
generated by DSSCs quickly to the hot side of the TEG transmitted solar radiation is absorbed by absorber
and also used a PHP filled with Cu nanofluid on the surfaces inside which are usually painted matte black. As
cooling side to enhance cooling and power generation a consequence of the greenhouse effect, thermal energy
efficiency. The experimental results demonstrate that content of the enclosure increases which results in the
with the Cu-nano film-coated TEG integrated with PHP, rise of water temperature in the basin. This impact
the current output, voltage output and power output can accelerates the evaporation process. Water vapour
be increased by around 54.1%, 20.6% and 85.7% reaches the aperture glazing on the top, and condenses
respectively. In another study, Chang et al. [77] due to the remarkably lower temperature of aperture
introduced a solar thermoelectric device utilizing CuO glazing compared to the enclosure. Eventually distilled
nano thin films to producing thermoelectric energy. It is a water is collected naturally through a slope design. This
device that uses solar energy to produce power and also is illustrated in Fig. 20 [80].
uses waste heat to obtain additional electrical power
through TEG. The empirical study reveals that with the
coating of a CuO thin film over the TEG surface, the
entire heat conduction and thermoelectric efficiency of a
TEG can be enhanced by about 10% and total power
production by 2.35%. The relationship between the
thermoelectric efficiency and temperature (TH) for
different film thicknesses is shown in Fig. 19.
Fig. 20 Distillation process in a typical solar still [80]
Many researchers focus on these systems to enhance

the efficiency of water production. With regard to
researches, the efficiency of these systems increases
remarkably by the use of nanofluids. According to the
experimental study conducted by Gnanadason et al. [81],
the enhancement in the efficiency of a single basin solar
still is found to be 50% with using carbon nanotubes as
working-fluids, but some details are not reported such as
the amounts of nanofluids adding into the water. Kabeel
et al. [82] carried out an experimental study for a solar
desalination system using Al2O3 nanofluid as the working
fluid. In this experiment, the setup consists of two
Fig. 19 Relationship between the thermoelectric efficiency as different solar basin and external condenser. The
a function of TH on a Cu plate with thin films of experimental study indicates that the thermal conductivity
different thicknesses [77] of water is enhanced up to 10.5% by using nanofluids (in
certain volumetric fraction). In addition to this finding,
3.4 Solar stills by employing nanoparticles in the integrated solar still,
By the rise of the world population and the scarcity of the efficiency of water production is improved by about
fresh water, meeting drinkable water needs is considered 116%. Besides, the overall performance is increased by
as one of the critical problems to survive the lives for almost 54% compared to conventional solar desalination
human beings living in some parts of the earth. Based on (with using external condenser without nanofluids).
the reports released by World Health Organisation In another numerical study, the impacts of different
(WHO), more than one third of world population cannot nanoparticles on solar desalination were investigated in
reach safe drinkable water and many diseases are seen in terms of water production performance and system
the developing countries which are mainly caused by efficiency. The working fluids consist of several different
drinking water quality [78]. In the said regions which nanoparticles such as CuO, SiO2, TiO2, and Al2O3. The
suffer from the problem, solar radiation potential is amounts of distilled water from the collector are
outstanding in most cases, hence solar desalination determined to be 10239, 8625, 8857 and 8618 kg for
12 J. Therm. Sci., Vol.29, No.*, 2020
CuO, SiO2, TiO2, and Al2O3, respectively [83]. Similar to respectively, thermal conductivity of SiO2/water is about
this study, researchers addressed the effects of two 9% lower than that of Cu/water nanofluid [86]. An
different nanofluids on solar still [84]. They used Cu2O illustrative comparison of solar desalination systems with
and Al2O3 nanofluids as the working fluid in solar nanofluids is presented in Table 5 covering the impacts of
collectors. Depending on the findings, the maximum nanofluid type, volume fraction and the solar still design
performance is achieved by Cu2O. The enhancement is on the distilled water production [87–94].
found to vary from 133.64% to 93.87% for Cu2O, and
125% to 88.97% for Al2O3. The efficiency of the system 3.5 Thermal energy storage systems
is increased by adding nanoparticles into the water to Global warming unequivocally has serious effects on
form nanofluids. Due to this process, thermal the environment and human health, which is directly
conductivity and convective heat transfer rate of working attributed to the intensively rising carbon emissions today.
fluids are notably improved which yields to the rise in the When the urgent solutions on the table are gone through,
water evaporation rate. In addition to these studies, solar energy applications come first undoubtedly owing
researchers also conducted analyses on solar stills with to their notable potential and sustainable aspects [95–97].
corrugated wick stills. Omara et al. [85] focused on three Among the usage areas of solar energy, solar thermal
different corrugated wick solar systems. The differences applications have the widest potential because of their
between the said systems are related to working fluid and cost and efficiency figures. In a typical solar thermal
types of nanoparticles. For each system, corrugated wick application, solar radiation is first absorbed by a surface
solar stills with reflectors and vacuum are the main part as heat energy, and then this energy is transferred to a
of the experimental setup. According to the results, the working fluid which is usually water or air [42]. Attempts
type of nanoparticles is rather effective on the efficiency mainly focus on enhancing solar absorption and
improvement of solar desalination. The aforesaid systems improving temperature differences between input and
are also compared with a conventional solar still. The output [98]. In this respect, storing the energy in a solar
productivity achieved with Cu2O is found to be greater energy application plays a key role in overall system
than the solar still using Al2O3 nanofluid. It can be seen performance.
from the findings in Table 4 [85] that the enhancement in There are three main categories, in thermal energy
productivity is determined to be notable with nanofluids storage, as sensible heat storage, latent heat storage, and
integration. thermochemical/sorption heat storage [98,99]. Sensible
In the analyses of solar stills with heat exchangers, the heat storage is well accepted to be mature techniques
rate of evaporation was extensively investigated both used in solar thermal applications [100]. Many
numerically and experimentally. The findings of works researchers today put fairly more focus on latent heat
on nanofluids reveal that the evaporation rate increases in storage in solar systems because of superior properties
solar still applications compared to the case of water compared to sensible heat storage such as compactness,
being used as working fluid. According to the results, the and high heat energy storage capacity [101–103]. PCMs
evaporation rate of SiO2/water is higher than Cu/water are commonly used as thermal energy storage materials
nanofluid (at 70°C inlet temperature of heat exchanger). in solar thermal systems and the heat is stored in the said
Although the heat transfer coefficients are found to be systems through the specific latent heat of PCMs
432.6 and 427.3 W/(m2·K) for SiO2 and Cu nanofluids [104,105]. However, thermal conductivity of PCMs is
Table 4 Comparing the efficiency increase of three modified solar stills [85]
Water depth in still base/cm H=1 H=2 H=3
Corrugated wick still with reflectors and vacuum
Conventional still/mL 2450 2300 2575
Modified still/mL 6860 5750 5530
Increase in productivity/% 180 150 114.8
Corrugated wick still with reflectors, vacuum and Cu2O nanofluid
Increase in productivity/% 285.1 250 207.9
Corrugated wick still with reflectors, vacuum and Al2O3 nanofluid
Increase in productivity/% 254.8 225 190
Table 5 An overview of nanofluid applications in solar desalination systems

Volume
References Type of water desalination Type of nanofluid Main results
concentration
The productivity is 53.9% and 44.9% for graphite and
Glass cover cooling single Graphite and copper
[87] 1% copper oxide. The daily efficiencies are 49% and 46%,
slope solar still oxide micro flakes
respectively.
Al2O3
Thermal energy efficiencies are reported to be 50.3%,
[88] Passive double slope solar still TiO2 0.25%
46.1% and 43.8% respectively.
CuO
0.04%
For 35 kg pure fluid, the productivities are given to be
[89] Passive double slope solar still Al2O3 0.08%
8.9%, 10%, and 12.2% respectively.
0.12%
0.1%
ZnO
0.1% The performance of solar still is reported to be
[90] Single slope solar still SnO2
0.1% 12.67%, 18.63% and 29.95%, respectively.
Al2O3
Flashing desalination Production of fresh water is given to be 7.7 L·m−2·d−1.

[91] Cu nanoparticles -
technique The achieved output ratio is 1.058.
Humidification-dehumidifica- Maximum productivity is reported to be 41.8 kg/d.
[92] tion integrated with single Al2O3/H2O - Solar air heater and solar water heater efficiency are
stage solar still found to be 56% and 55%, respectively.
Multi walled carbon
[93] Single slope solar still nanotubes 0.04% The evaporation efficiency is increased by 76.65%.
Hybrid desalination system

(humidification-dehumidifica- Daily water production reaches 112.5 kg.
[94] Al2O3/H2O -
tion unit, single stage flashing The output ratio is about 7.2.
evaporation)
usually poor, and the low thermal conductivity of PCMs

can be enhanced by using nanofluids. Some nanoparticles
(Al2O3 SiO2, and TiO2, etc.) are utilized for improving
the thermal conductivity of the water-based solutions.
Nanoparticles are combined with PCMs to improve the
thermal energy storage capacity of the systems [98]. A
solar collector system integrated with copper nano-
composite paraffin wax is depicted in Fig. 21. According
to the findings, the enhancement of the system Fig. 21 Solar collector combined with nano-composite PCM
[106]
performance is found to be in the range of 6.9%–8.4%
depending on PCM and nano-composite PCM [106]. In a
similar study, it is stated that the thermal conductivity of
nano-composite paraffin is found to be enhanced by 24%
compared to PCM without copper-nanoparticles [107].
Another research investigated the effects of copper
nanoparticles weight fractions on the performance of
thermal conductivity. The findings reveal that the Fig. 22 The structural details of PCM- PV/T systems [109]
enhancements are 14%, 23.9%, 42.5%, and 46.3% for the
weight fractions of 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2%, 3.6 Solar greenhouses
respectively [108]. The impacts of nanofluid and PCM Greenhouses are preferred to increase the product
combination on the performance of PV/T systems were capacity especially in very cold and very hot regions by
also evaluated in another research as shown in Fig. 22 controlling the growing environment of plants. Climatic
[109]. In this study, ZnO/H2O is used as working fluid parameters need to be adjusted in a greenhouse for good
throughout the thermal part of PV/T unit. Electricity performance. For instance, temperature in a greenhouse
generation is observed to be 13% higher compared to is expected to be in the range of 12°C‒30°C depending
conventional PV systems. The thermal efficiency of on the plant type [113]. Favourable conditions in
PV/T is enhanced by 9% by the nanofluid and PCM greenhouses, which are directly related to the regional
integration. The influence of nanoparticles on the PCM climatic aspects, play key roles in increasing products
performance is presented in Table 6 [110–112]. amount. For instance, in temperate climates, natural
14 J. Therm. Sci., Vol.29, No.*, 2020
ventilation can be considered sufficient for preferred with Al2O3 due to having the smallest nanoparticle size.
indoor environment. However, evaporative cooling is ZnO gives minimum enhancement in terms of convective
required for hot climatic regions to remove excessive heat transfer coefficient. When energy effectiveness is
heat from the greenhouse [114]. In the said evaporative analysed, ZnO provides maximum improvement with
cooling applications, relative humidity of air is of vital about 50%. Higher energy effectiveness of ZnO depends
importance, and it is controlled by heat exchangers in on having higher density and lower specific heat capacity.
most cases. On the other hand, performance of a heat The effectiveness reaches 32.02% for Al2O3.
exchanger in such systems directly depends on the
thermophysical properties of working fluid such as 3.7 Solar pond
thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, etc. [37]. Among the renewable and reliable applications of
From this point of view, nanofluids are in the centre of solar energy, solar pond is also interesting and promising
interest to enhance the overall performance figures of the for multifunctional purposes such as power generation,
said systems. In a typical research, it is noted that notable industrial heating processes and space heating [123–125].
energy savings and reductions in carbon emissions can be Solar pond consists of three different zones being upper
achieved in industrial cooling systems by using convective zone (UCZ), non-convective (middle) zone
nanofluids [115]. Nanofluids as a working fluid in (NCZ), and finally lower convective zone (LCZ) as
cooling systems draw many researchers’ attention due to shown in Fig. 24 [125]. The reasons for taking place of
improving the performance of the vapour cooling distinct zones are due to the distribution of salt solution
systems as depicted in Table 7. Nanofluids are generally in the pond. When these zones are analysed, UCZ and
used as lubricant or refrigerant in the said systems LCZ are observed to have the homogenous solutions and
[116,117]. The study carried out by Abu-Hamdeh et al. heat transfer on the zones take place through convection.
[118] investigated the solar regeneration and nanofluids On the other hand, it is known that heat transfer in NCZ
in evaporative cooling for greenhouse food production. occurs with conduction. It is also stated that thermal
As can be seen from Fig. 23, this system consists of energy is stored in the LCZ due to having higher salt
desiccants and evaporative cooling. Three different amounts in the solution compared to the other layers
nanofluids (Fe3O4, ZnO, and Al2O3) are used as cooling [126]. The removal heat from the solar pond can be used
medium to investigate the impact on heat exchange in many processes. Due to the temperature differences
during cooling process of the system. Overall, results between bottom and upper zone, the heat is removed
indicate that the improvements in convective heat from the LCZ and the temperature in the LCZ is found to
transfer coefficient based on 0.01–0.04 volume fractions be higher about 50‒60 °C compared to UCZ as shown in
of Al2O3, Fe3O4 and ZnO are found to be in the range of Fig. 25 [127,128]. Nanofluids are also promising to be
5.50%‒14.40%. The highest improvement is obtained utilised in solar ponds for better performance parameters
Table 6 The influence of nanoparticles on the PCM performance

References Application Main results
[110] 1 wt% SiO2 nanoparticles in alkali metal chloride salt eutectics The increment in specific heat capacity is found to be 14.5%.
8.3% more heat is charged, 25.1% more heat is discharged
[111] 10% Cu nanoparticles combined with PCM
compared to pure PCM.
Solar salt integrated to PCM consisting of Al-Cu alloy within Thermal conductivity is reported to be 0.480, 0.465, 0.453 and
[99]
Al2O3 (0.5% Al-Cu, 1%Al-Cu, 1.5%Al-Cu, 5%Al-Cu) 0.424 W/(m·K), respectively.
The steady temperature of nanocomposite paraffin is enhanced
[95] CuO nano-composite paraffin by 2.3 times depending on the weight of nanoparticles
compared to the case of pure PCM.
1% mass concentration of silicon-dioxide nanoparticles in a 25% improvement in specific heat capacity of nanofluids is
[112]
molten salt eutectic of lithium and potassium carbonate achieved.
Table 7 The influence of nanoparticles on COP

References Nanoparticles Volume Fraction Main Results
The increase in average heat transfer rate and COP are found to be 3.6% and 17%,
[119] TiO2 0.01%
respectively. The reduction in compressor work is 3.6%.
[120] Al2O3 - Heat transfer coefficient in the evaporator increases 50%. Reduction in exergy loss is 28%.
[121] Al2O3 with POE - COP increases 14% and energy saving is reported to be 20%.
0.1%, 0.2%,
[122] SiO2 COP of refrigerant is found to be 3.77%, 6.7%, and 9.86%, respectively.
0.3%
[115] Al2O3-water 0.1%–1% COP increases 5% and 17%, respectively.
Fig. 23 Schematic of evaporative cooling system integrated to greenhouse by using solar system to enhance cooling performance
[118]
Fig. 24 Illustration of the solar pond with regard to salt Fig. 25 Utilizing nanofluids in solar pond applications
concentration and temperature gradient [125] [80]
Table 8 Nanofluids and PCM integration to solar ponds

References Application Main results
[134] PCM in salinity gradient solar pond Improvement in thermal and salinity by utilizing PCM
[135] PCM latent heat storage 6.1% and 5.4% improvement in efficiency
[126] Deploying nanofluid in solar pond solution Two-fold increase in the storage capacity of solar pond
Among six different nanofluids, the best one is determined
[136] Distinct nanofluid as a working fluid in heat exchangers
single-wall carbon nanotube in the certain salinity.
owing to having better physical properties compared to 4. Challenges in Nanofluid Applications

pure fluid. Nanofluids and phase change materials are
preferred to be able to enhance the thermal performance In recent years, applications of nanofluids in solar
and the storage capacity of solar ponds [129,130]. energy systems have a rising tendency due to their
Internal heat exchangers are used in solar ponds to remarkable impacts on the performance parameters.
extract the heat from LCZ and NCZ. Working fluid is However, many researchers continue to encounter many
necessary to operate the heat exchanger effectively, and challenges in their own studies because of the properties
nanofluid can be exploited as a working fluid within the of nanoparticles. Firstly, higher production costs of
exchangers of solar ponds [131–133]. Table 8 illustrates nanofluids can be considered a major handicap. There is
some applications of solar pond with using nanofluids consensus in this respect that the cost challenge hinders
and PCM. Consequently, heat exchangers’ performance the applications of nanofluids in solar systems [137–139].
used to extract the heat in solar ponds is increased by Another challenge is described as agglomerating and
using nanofluid [134–136]. instability. Agglomerating has negative effects on the
16 J. Therm. Sci., Vol.29, No.*, 2020
homogeneous dispersion of nanoparticles in liquid-based Table 10 Life-cycle cost analysis of nanofluid integrated solar
solutions. Through the previous works, the reason for collectors [146]
agglomerating is attributed to the temperature gradients. Electric Solar Heater Solar Heater
With increasing temperature gradients, agglomerating also Heater (Water Based) (SiO2 Nanofluid)
rises to remarkable levels [140]. Moreover, the thermal Capital costs/
124.73 --- ---
USD
conductivity of nanofluids can be improved by providing Independent costs
--- 935.45 935.45
stabilities of nanoparticles in concentration [141]. /USD
Depending on their higher viscosity ranges, Area based costs/
--- 311.82 227
USD
applications of nanofluids compared to the base fluid are Nanoparticles/
reported to consume more energy in pumping fluid due to --- --- 23.11
USD
the pressure drops. The increase in a volume fraction of Total cost/
124.73 1247.27 1185.56
USD
TiO2-water results in increasing the pressure drops as Electricity cost
expected [18]. Another research shows the increasing saving per year/ --- 500.78 500.78
pressure drop with respect to using CuO/Oil nanofluids USD
[142]. Corrosion is another challenge of nanofluids Years until
electricity savings --- 2.49 2.37
within thermal components utilised for a long time. The /(Payback Period)
experiments carried out by Celata et al. [143] for three
different materials (Al, Cu, and stainless steel) and for 5. Conclusions
the nanofluids TiO2, Al2O3, SiC and ZrO2 reveal that no
corrosions are observed for the nanofluids flowing in This research focuses on the applications of a wide
stainless steel pipe. The highest corrosion-effects are range of nanofluids in solar energy systems for potential
observed in ZrO2 and TiO2 whereas the lowest influence performance improvements. Different types of solar
is obtained through SiC. energy technologies such as tracking and non-tracking
In addition to the aforesaid handicaps, another serious
solar collectors, photovoltaic/thermal systems, solar
challenge is associated with human health. It is known as
thermoelectric devices, solar stills, solar thermal energy
the surface areas of nanoparticles are considerably higher
storage systems, solar greenhouses and solar ponds are
than the bulk materials. The health of human beings is
evaluated in detail in terms of performance enhancement
seriously threatened by nanoparticles compared to bulk
through nanofluids integration. Useful comparative tables
materials [144]. The research carried out by Geiser et al.
and illustrative figures are proposed to justify the
[145] reports that TiO2-nanoparticles can place in lung
practicality and reliability of nanofluids in solar energy
tissues of human bodies. These particles then can interact
systems. Following bullet points can be achieved from
with proteins, organelles, and DNA.
the study:
Despite the abovementioned challenges, nanofluids
● It is unassailable through the previous literature that
provide characteristic benefits to the thermal systems
which differ from the other fluids. An overall qualitative the use of nanofluids in solar energy systems
assessment covering thermal conductivity, viscosity, cost improves the thermal and electrical performance
and environmental aspects is illustrated in Table 9. figures in all cases since the thermal conductivity of
Nanofluids integration might cause some pressure drop nanofluids is remarkably higher than that of
in solar collectors, but this is usually tolerated when the conventional fluids.
● The efficiency of a solar energy system is enhanced
efficiency and the thermal conductivity merits are taken
into consideration. Life-cycle cost analyses are conducted with the increasing mass fraction of nanofluids.
to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of nanofluids in solar However, after a certain value of mass fraction, the
thermal systems as shown in Table 10. It is understood thermal properties do not demonstrate the expected
from the results that payback period is shorter than three improvements.
● Particle size impacts on thermodynamic
years in most cases, which needs to be noted [146].
performance parameters of solar energy systems are
Table 9 Qualitative performance assessment of nanofluids still contradictory. In some works, solar collector
with other common fluids efficiency is reported to enhance with decreasing
Aspect Water Oil Nanofluid particle size whereas the direct opposite view is
Viscosity Low High Medium reported in some other works. Therefore, further
Thermal conductivity Low Medium High experimental analyses are required to be carried out.
● Especially in solar thermal energy storage systems,
Cost Low Medium High
nanoparticle integration into PCMs considerably
Eco-friendly High Low Medium
improves the thermal performance since the current
Efficiency Low Medium High thermal conductivity of PCMs is notably poor.
● Volumetric absorption of nanofluids in solar and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2018, 82: 894–900.
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https://doi.org/10.1007/s11630-020-1269-3 Article ID: 1003-2169(2020)00-0000-00

On the Use of Nanofluids in Solar Energy Applications

1. Introduction rise in energy demand essentially depends on two factors:

Fig. 3 Heat production from solar energy in the world during

Fig. 1 The amount of carbon emissions during 1990–2016 [1]

Fig. 4 World electricity production from using solar PV

Table 1 Thermal conductivity enhancement with integrating nanofluids [29]

and as a consequence of this, tracking solar collectors

Fig. 12 Classification of PV/T Collector [61]

Al-Waeli et al. [64] prepared a mathematical model of

Table 3 Recent studies on PV/T systems with nanofluids cooling

3.3 Solar thermoelectric devices

Many researchers focus on these systems to enhance

Table 5 An overview of nanofluid applications in solar desalination systems

Flashing desalination Production of fresh water is given to be 7.7 L·m−2·d−1.

Hybrid desalination system

usually poor, and the low thermal conductivity of PCMs

Table 6 The influence of nanoparticles on the PCM performance

Table 7 The influence of nanoparticles on COP

Table 8 Nanofluids and PCM integration to solar ponds

owing to having better physical properties compared to 4. Challenges in Nanofluid Applications

direct absorption collection (DAC) concepts. Reviews, 2017, 76: 323–352.

experimental investigation of a hybrid photovoltaic/ 113: 684–693.

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