Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted Photovoltaic System Applications in Saudi Arabia: A Systematic Review to identify a road map for future opportunities(Cardiff University, 2024) Alzahrani, Jamaan Ramadan; Brousseau, EmmanuelThis study presents a systematic review of photovoltaic (PV) system applications in Saudi Arabia, exploring the potential, challenges, and opportunities for solar energy adoption within the framework of Vision 2030. The research examines how PV technology could help diversify the Kingdom’s energy portfolio, reduce carbon emissions, and promote sustainability. Using a systematic review methodology aligned with PRISMA guidelines, 148 studies were analyzed to evaluate current trends, sectoral applications, and barriers to PV integration. The findings highlight that PV adoption in Saudi Arabia is driven by abundant solar resources, decreasing installation costs, and supportive government policies. Applications extend across residential, commercial, industrial, and utility-scale sectors, with emerging interest in off-grid solutions and transportation projects. However, challenges such as economic barriers, regulatory constraints, and cultural resistance persist, hindering widespread implementation. The study identifies key themes, including the need for public-private partnerships, enhanced policy frameworks, and innovative financing models. Recommendations emphasize accelerating PV deployment through infrastructure development, regulatory reforms, and educational initiatives aimed at promoting public acceptance. This research contributes to Saudi Arabia’s energy transition by offering insights that could guide policymakers, investors, and stakeholders in expanding PV adoption. The integration of solar energy with complementary technologies such as wind and geothermal power is also proposed to ensure a sustainable, diversified energy future for the Kingdom.9 0Item Restricted Investigation of New Renewable Energy-based Multigeneration Systems for Saudi Arabia(Ontario Tech University, 2024-05-08) Altayib, Khalid; Dincer, IbrahimThis thesis explores three hybridized, large-scale solar thermal energy multigeneration systems: System 1 combines solar thermal energy with biomass, System 2 with geothermal, and System 3 with a petroleum coke and biomass blend. Each system provides power, heating, desalination, and other commodities. The thesis aims to develop energy system flowsheets integrating multiple technologies and assess their exergetic and economic benefits through case studies in KSA. Although the systems are of different kinds and scales, their economic parameters are found to be similar in terms of payback periods. System 1 achieves energy and exergy efficiencies of 50.4% and 45%, respectively. It generates annually 1040 GWh of electric power, 860 GWh of cogenerated heat, 80 GWh of refrigeration, 1100 tons of hydrogen, 26000 tons of chlorine gas, 11,600 tons of concentrated aqueous sodium hydroxide, 11,300 tons of ammonia, 1740 tons of aqueous urea, 905,000 m3 of fresh water. System 2 generates 700 GWh/year of power, 1200 GWh/year of heating, 27,100 tons/year of methanol, 130 million m3/year of fresh water, 42,500 tons/year of oxygen with efficiencies of 22% energy and 30% exergy. System 3 generates 1200 GWh/year of power, 690 GWh/year of heating, 12,700 tons/year of hydrogen, 19,300 tons/year of dried dates, 290,000 m3/year of fresh water and 80 GWh/year of cooling. The energy and exergy efficiencies of System 3 are 83.2% and 64%, respectively. For all systems, the chemical reactors are modelled using the Aspen Plus, which helps determine the best oxygen-to-biomass fraction in the gasifier as 15% at the turbine inlet temperature of 1500°C for System 1, the optimum methanol synthesis temperature in the range of 250°C-300°C for System 2, and results in 1.5 H2/C as the best molar ratio in hydro-gasifier to enhance the synthetic methane production rate for System 3. The thesis study underscores the potential of multigeneration and hybridization in improving the economics and ecology of renewable energy systems and offering insights applicable beyond the case studies explored.10 0Item Restricted Navigating Renewable Energy Markets in Saudi Arabia: Residential Rooftop Solar Panels and Potential Consumer Preferences(ProQuest, 2024-05-03) Alwulayi, Sami; Debbage, KeithThis three-article dissertation investigated the main factors shaping consumer preferences for residential rooftop solar panels in Saudi Arabia. Particular attention is focused on how individual socio-economic characteristics, the built environment, social networks, and fiscal incentives influence the willingness to adopt and pay for solar panels. Much of this sort of research has been neglected in a non-Western setting. Drawing from data collected through an online survey of 1,647 respondents in Saudi Arabia, the three papers employed chi-square tests of association to unravel these interactions for three different, nonwestern geographic settings in Saudi Arabia: a large urban area (Riyadh City), a medium-sized urban area (Buraydah City), and the rural areas of Al-Qassim Province. The first study revealed that the willingness to adopt was influenced by personal environmental values, financial incentives, previous cost-benefit perceptions, and the built environment. The second study found that the willingness to pay was strongly associated with prior perceptions and expectations linked to household energy budgets and solar panel costs, fiscal incentives, and existing environmental beliefs. In the third study, the focus shifted to the actual price individuals were willing to pay for solar installations, where socio-economic factors such as gender and income levels emerged as significant determinants. Geographic variation was evident in the associated factors with the willingness to adopt, pay, and price preference for rooftop solar panels. The study's results underscore the necessity for customized policy approaches to promote renewable energy use in Saudi Arabia, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of the local solar energy market and offering insights for policymakers to foster inclusive and sustainable energy transitions.16 0Item Restricted Design, Development and Optimisation of a Novel Hybrid Renewable Energy System integrating with Pumped Hydropower Energy Storage(Unversity of Glasgow, 2024-01-21) Alqahtani, Bader; Paul, ManoshWorldwide, the overdependence on conventional power plants for electricity generation has been one of the most significant economic and environmental challenges as it exacerbates the depletion of valuable non-renewable resources, like oil and natural gas. Therefore, renewable energy sources represent the most viable option for overcoming this issue, triggering most governments internationally to prioritise these resources. Recently, a hybrid renewable energy system consisting of wind turbines and photovoltaics system combined with pumped hydroelectric energy storage has received considerable interest, and this research, therefore, focuses on such a hybrid system. However, there are essential technical, economic, and environmental factors to consider in designing and optimising such a hybrid system, and performing an accurate simulation of each sub-system increases the certainty of achieving desirable outcomes. Regarding pumped hydro power storage, neglecting crucial parameters, such as head losses and evaporation rates, might reduce the accuracy of the total simulation performance, resulting in an underestimation of the correct size of each component of the hybrid system. The first aim of this research is to investigate this issue by proposing a robust approach with a strategy to establish the ideal pipe design through an in-depth techno-economic assessment. A comparative analysis of two different scenarios – one considering head loss and other without considering it – is carried out. A wide range of proposed hybrid system configurations is thoroughly investigated. The essential performance indicators employed for designing the proposed system are the renewable energy fraction and loss of renewable energy, and the results reveal improvements in these two indicators by approximately 8.6% and 3%, respectively. The most significant annual variations between the two scenarios regarding the total demand satisfied by the proposed system and the amount of renewable energy loss are 218.23 GWh and 89.39 GWh, respectively. The pipe efficiency of the pumping and generating modes, determined through a sensitivity analysis, ranges from 91–99% and 76–95%, respectively. These findings could assist designers in making initial assumptions about such parameters with reasonable confidence. The second aim of this research is to accurately design each component of the hybrid system while considering the technical, economic, and environmental perspectives; conduct a comparative analysis; and increase the robustness of the model outcomes. Therefore, a multi-objective optimisation model is developed to accurately size each component of the proposed hybrid system. The developed model objectives include incorporating a head loss factor into the model (as proposed in the first aim of this research), considering the capacity factor as the main metric for designing energy storage, and conducting a techno-economic environmental assessment considering a greenhouse gas emissions credit. In addition, three different algorithms (non-dominated sorting, reference direction-based, and two-archive evolutionary) are developed. The proposed system, which includes a mix of solar and wind energy, can cover up to 93% of the total demand with a maximum capacity factor of 27%, which is much better than using solar or wind alone (i.e., 62% and 70%, respectively) at a capacity factor of 18%. The levelised cost of energy for the proposed system ranges from 0.07 to 0.22 $/kWh, largely influenced by government subsidies. Regarding conventional electrical power plants, peak load units require the technical specifications of high reliability and dispatchability owing to sudden increases in demand, and base load units should be qualified to generate constant, uninterrupted power. However, some renewable energy sources, such as photovoltaic systems and wind energy, are not considered reliable sources to cover such a demand for a specific period due to fluctuations in natural resources and variations in electricity demand. This critical issue is subject to a supply–demand mismatch, and the third aim of this research is to tackle such a problem by adding a dispatchable renewable energy resource (bioenergy) to the proposed hybrid system. This study also focuses on increasing the whole system’s reliability and dispatchability during peak periods and reducing losses of renewable energy. Moreover, a novel operational strategy and several design techniques are proposed, and some essential objectives are added to the developed optimisation model, such as the round-trip efficiency of pumped hydro storage. According to the results of a comparative analysis, all these design techniques seem effective and generate favourable results. In addition, the most competitive technique reveals that the reliability of the entire system increases by almost 6%, while the loss of renewable energy is reduced by 15%, and the levelised cost of energy reduces from 0.22 to 0.13 $/kWh. Significantly, considering renewable energy sources in terms of their technical specifications, such as the level of source dispatchability, could assist designers in deriving more economic benefits from designing such sources.22 0Item Restricted Design and Simulation of Different MPPT Algorithms of a Standalone PV System(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-08-07) Alanazi, Fahad; Elgendy, MohammedThis study delves into a standalone PV system tailored for a DC load, conducting a comprehensive contrast between solar energy and conventional generation methods. It addresses solar energy's relatively diminished efficiency due to temperature and irradiance factors. To enhance overall efficiency, the research employs an MPPT-equipped PV system with a DC-DC converter. Diverse MPPT algorithms, including conventional and variable Perturb and Observe methods, along with the Incremental Conductance algorithm, are exhaustively discussed, detailing their advantages and limitations. The investigation employs a vibrating feeder as the load, powered by a variable-speed shunt DC motor. A buck converter serves as the chosen DC-DC converter type. MATLAB simulations intricately illustrate the PV array, DC-DC converter, Perturb and Observe, Incremental Conductance algorithms, and the DC shunt motor, with comprehensive result analysis. Sensitivity analysis is applied to sample time and step size, revealing their influence on the system and DC motor speed. The thesis further examines limitations and discusses future work beyond its conclusion.30 0Item Restricted Improving the Performance of Thin-film BIPV on Facades by Using Shapememory Alloy Composite Materials(Proquest, 2023-07-26) Almazam, Khaled Ali; Chang, Jae; Barrett-Gonzalez, Ronald M.; Cai, Hongyi; Silva, Kapila; Fernando, NishaThis dissertation investigates the possibility of improving the efficiency of buildingintegrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems by employing thermally adaptive composite materials. The goal is to increase energy output by maximizing the efficiency with which solar tracking and solar irradiance are used. The first step in this investigation is a thorough literature review of prior research on topics such as BIPV systems, solar tracking technologies, and the use of thermally adaptive materials. The review pinpoints the blank spots in our understanding and provides the foundation for our research hypothesis. To confirm the viability of employing thermally adaptive composite materials in BIPV systems, a pilot study is carried out. The research combines experimental and simulated data to evaluate the thermal response and effect on energy production of fixed and dynamic BIPV systems' ability to capture solar irradiance. The effectiveness of BIPV curvature is examined through extensive simulations. Solar irradiance, temperature variations, and panel tilt angle orientation are just some of the variables considered. The simulations confirm the optimal BIPV curvatures, which prompted the design and fabrication of thermally adaptive BIPV and shed light on the potential benefits of using thermally adaptive materials for solar tracking and energy optimization. A one-year experimental study was conducted in Lawrence, Kansas, at the University of Kansas campus Research and Design Center outdoor space to measure the energy production of fixed vertical BIPV, optimal fixed flat BIPV, optimal fixed curved BIPV, thermally adaptive BIPV systems at different tilting angles based on the simulation results. Hourly measurements of current and voltage, as well as surface temperature, outdoor ambient temperature, and wind speed and direction, are taken to assess performance throughout the day. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and other statistical methods are used to determine the significance of the differences. According to the results, thermally adaptive BIPV systems generate 35.8 percent more energy on average than fixed vertical BIPV systems, 12.3 percent more energy than fixed optimal flat BIPV systems, and 9.6 percent more energy than fixed optimal curved BIPV systems. The findings also show how crucial solar tracking is and how thermally adaptive composite materials can improve solar irradiance utilization. In conclusion, this dissertation offers a comprehensive look into the effect of using thermally adaptive composite materials in BIPV systems.13 0