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Keywords = regional power grid

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25 pages, 7214 KB  
Article
Stress-Aware Stackelberg Pricing for Probabilistic Grid Impact Mitigation of Bidirectional EVs
by Amit Hasan Abir, Kazi N. Hasan, Asif Islam and Mohammad AlMuhaini
Smart Cities 2026, 9(5), 75; https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities9050075 - 22 Apr 2026
Abstract
This paper presents an integrated techno–economic framework for coordinated grid-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-grid (G2V–V2G) operation in unbalanced distribution networks. A hardware-compatible bidirectional charger with nested AC/DC and DC/DC control loops, together with a rule-based energy management system (EMS), enables seamless mode transitions while enforcing [...] Read more.
This paper presents an integrated techno–economic framework for coordinated grid-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-grid (G2V–V2G) operation in unbalanced distribution networks. A hardware-compatible bidirectional charger with nested AC/DC and DC/DC control loops, together with a rule-based energy management system (EMS), enables seamless mode transitions while enforcing state-of-charge (SoC) and network constraints. A probabilistic Monte Carlo study on the IEEE 13-bus feeder shows that uncoordinated G2V charging induces adverse grid impacts such as voltage stress, line-ampacity violations, and transformer overloading, whereas EMS-driven V2G support improves voltage by 2–4%, reduces line loading by 15–25%, and lowers transformer stress by up to 10%. To align these technical benefits with economic incentives, a bi-level Stackelberg model is formulated where the utility updates locational energy prices based on combined voltage, line ampacity, transformer loading stress indices and EVs choose profit-maximizing nodes, modes and power levels. The interaction converges to a Stackelberg equilibrium with a clear win–win situation; the feeder’s average locational energy price falls entirely within the win–win region, yielding positive per-session profits for both the EV (≈$0.80) and the utility (≈$0.48) while reducing feeder stress. These results demonstrate that stress-aware locational pricing, combined with detailed converter-level control provides a technically robust and economically sustainable pathway for large-scale EV integration. Full article
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29 pages, 1793 KB  
Article
Risk-Aware Tie-Line Exchange Optimization for Probabilistic Production Simulation and Sustainable Renewable Energy Accommodation in Interconnected Power Systems
by Shuzheng Wang, Shengyuan Wang, Zhi Wu, Haode Wu and Guyue Zhu
Sustainability 2026, 18(8), 4128; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18084128 - 21 Apr 2026
Abstract
The transition toward sustainable and low-carbon power systems increasingly depends on the efficient accommodation of high shares of renewable energy while maintaining secure and reliable grid operation. In interconnected power systems, this challenge is intensified by strong cross-regional coupling, tie-line flow violation risks, [...] Read more.
The transition toward sustainable and low-carbon power systems increasingly depends on the efficient accommodation of high shares of renewable energy while maintaining secure and reliable grid operation. In interconnected power systems, this challenge is intensified by strong cross-regional coupling, tie-line flow violation risks, and the high computational burden of fully coupled probabilistic assessments. To support the sustainable operation of renewable-rich interconnected systems, this paper proposes a probabilistic production simulation method that incorporates risk-aware tie-line exchange optimization. Sequential random sample paths are constructed by considering load fluctuations, renewable energy output uncertainty, and random outages of conventional units. Using cross-regional exchange power as coupling variables, a conditional value-at-risk (CVaR)-based pre-scheduling model is established to control tie-line and interface flow tail risks. Given the scheduled exchange power, cross-regional exchanges are transformed into regional boundary power injections, enabling decoupled sequential probabilistic production simulation for each region. The exchange schedule is then iteratively updated through marginal-value feedback. A four-region interconnected system is used for case-study validation. Results show that the proposed method improves renewable energy accommodation, reduces renewable curtailment, suppresses tie-line flow violation risk, and maintains high reliability assessment accuracy. Compared with the region-decoupled benchmark with fixed exchange power, the proposed method increases the renewable energy accommodation rate from 93.82% to 95.41% and reduces renewable curtailment from 312,162 MWh to 231,284 MWh, while also lowering expected energy not served and loss of load expectation. In addition, under the reported case-study setting, the proposed RC-IEF-PPS reduces the computation time from 5216.24 s for Full-PPS to 4074.63 s, i.e., by 21.9%, while maintaining comparable reliability assessment accuracy. These results indicate that the proposed framework can support the sustainable integration of high-penetration renewable energy by improving clean-energy utilization, operational reliability, and computational tractability in interconnected power systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Topic Advances in Power Science and Technology, 2nd Edition)
26 pages, 17603 KB  
Article
SICABI: Symmetry-Informed Stochastic Modeling via Dominant-Period Stationarity and Recursive Adaptive Parametric Density Estimation
by Daniel Canton-Enriquez, Jorge-Luis Perez-Ramos, Selene Ramirez-Rosales, Luis-Antonio Diaz-Jimenez, Ana-Marcela Herrera-Navarro and Hugo Jimenez-Hernandez
Symmetry 2026, 18(4), 681; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym18040681 - 20 Apr 2026
Abstract
Wind dynamics in urban environments exhibit non-stationarity and marked spatial variability, complicating stochastic modeling when a single global distribution is assumed. This article discusses the estimation of wind density under quasi-stationary regimes at the local level using SICABI, a two-phase framework: (i) Stationary [...] Read more.
Wind dynamics in urban environments exhibit non-stationarity and marked spatial variability, complicating stochastic modeling when a single global distribution is assumed. This article discusses the estimation of wind density under quasi-stationary regimes at the local level using SICABI, a two-phase framework: (i) Stationary Region Identification (ISR) estimates, through spectral power analysis, a specific dominant period for each location and validates the induced subsampling using the Augmented Dickey–Fuller (ADF) test, and (ii) RAPID adjusts an adaptive parametric density by recursively updating the mixture parameters and creating new components when a normalized membership distance exceeds a threshold. The analysis uses wind speed records collected from eight stations in the Metropolitan Area of Queretaro, Mexico, during the period from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023, aggregated at a 10 min resolution, from which Xδ,s is constructed for each site. RAPID is compared against Gaussian Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) with Silverman bandwidth and EM-fitted Gaussian mixtures with BIC-based selection (Kmax=12). The resulting densities were compared with an empirical density estimated from a histogram over a fixed grid (m=50) using the MISE and RMSE metrics. The results reveal marked site-dependent differences in dominant periodicity and residual behavior, including asymmetry and heavy tails. ISR identified dominant periods ranging from 37 to 166 days, and RAPID adapted its complexity with Ks[5,10] without fixing the number of mixture components in advance. Quantitatively, RAPID achieved the lowest RMSE at 6/8 sites and the lowest MISE at 5/8 sites, while also exhibiting shorter execution times than KDE and MoG under the same input Xδ,s. The results support RAPID as a competitive adaptive method for site-specific density estimation in non-stationary urban climate signals. In this context, local regimes can be viewed as approximate invariants under time translation in the weak stochastic sense, while deviations from this assumption are reflected in increased distributional complexity across sites. Full article
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23 pages, 5622 KB  
Article
Principal Component-Based Spectral Standardization for Optical Spectrometers
by Qiguang Yang, Xu Liu, Wan Wu, Rajendra Bhatt, Yolanda Shea, Xiaozhen Xiong, Ming Zhao, Paul Smith, Greg Kopp and Peter Pilewskie
Remote Sens. 2026, 18(8), 1209; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18081209 - 17 Apr 2026
Viewed by 185
Abstract
A Principal Component-Based Spectral Standardization (PCSS) method was developed to standardize hyperspectral radiance spectra onto a fixed wavelength grid. This enables the direct comparison of radiance or reflectance spectra across different spatial pixels of an imaging spectrometer or between different instruments. The method [...] Read more.
A Principal Component-Based Spectral Standardization (PCSS) method was developed to standardize hyperspectral radiance spectra onto a fixed wavelength grid. This enables the direct comparison of radiance or reflectance spectra across different spatial pixels of an imaging spectrometer or between different instruments. The method was validated using simulated Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) Pathfinder (CPF) spectra. The PCSS approach demonstrated high accuracy: the average root-mean-square uncertainty across all CPF channels remained below 0.07%, with maximum individual-channel uncertainties under 1%. Compared to methods based on spectral interpolation, PCSS produced significantly lower biases with tighter error distributions, particularly in spectrally rich regions. Measured Hyper Spectral Imager for Climate Science (HySICS) balloon data provided further validation. PCSS successfully estimated wavelength shifts that closely matched measured data, even when utilizing approximated Jacobians, demonstrating the method’s robustness. Because it relies on a pre-computed lookup table for model parameters, PCSS bypasses the need for intensive radiative transfer calculations, making it highly computationally efficient. Beyond CPF, this method can easily be adapted for other hyperspectral sensors by substituting their respective wavelength grids and instrument line shape functions, offering a powerful tool to improve cross-calibration between different satellite sensors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Atmospheric Remote Sensing)
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18 pages, 2026 KB  
Article
A Regional Short-Term Wind Power Prediction Method Integrating DQN Error Correction with GCN-TCN-Transformer
by Wei Xu, Yulin Wang, Lihong Peng, Zixuan Wang, Sheng Zhang, Hongyi Lai, Yongjia Hu and Huankun Zheng
Processes 2026, 14(8), 1275; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr14081275 - 16 Apr 2026
Viewed by 145
Abstract
The inherent intermittency and uncertainty of wind power generation pose significant challenges to grid security and the integration of renewable energy. Accurate and reliable short-term wind power forecasting is crucial for enhancing wind energy usage and ensuring the safe operation of power systems. [...] Read more.
The inherent intermittency and uncertainty of wind power generation pose significant challenges to grid security and the integration of renewable energy. Accurate and reliable short-term wind power forecasting is crucial for enhancing wind energy usage and ensuring the safe operation of power systems. Current mainstream forecasting methods inadequately model spatial correlations among regional wind farms. Additionally, wind power generation is susceptible to sudden changes in weather conditions and environmental factors, limiting the robustness of existing forecasting methods when confronting dynamically changing prediction environments. This poses major challenges for accurate and reliable regional wind power forecasting. This paper employs Graph Convolutional Networks (GCN) to model spatial connections between wind farms while introducing a combined TCN-Transformer model for temporal feature extraction and dependency modeling. Furthermore, to enhance prediction accuracy and reliability, Deep Q-Network (DQN) is incorporated to dynamically correct model prediction errors. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed short-term wind power forecasting method achieves an RMSE of 60.14 and an MAE of 45.98, showing significant improvement over predictions from models without DQN error correction and other comparative models. Future work may extend the forecasting horizon to provide more information support for grid supply security decisions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optimal Design, Control and Simulation of Energy Management Systems)
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30 pages, 4725 KB  
Article
Techno-Economic Optimization of 100% Renewable Off-Grid Hydrogen Systems Through Multi-Timescale Energy Storage Portfolios
by Xuebin Luan, Zhiyu Jiao, Haoran Liu, Yujia Tang, Jing Ding, Jiaze Ma and Yufei Wang
Processes 2026, 14(8), 1263; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr14081263 - 15 Apr 2026
Viewed by 328
Abstract
This study develops a high-resolution techno-economic optimization framework to assess the feasibility of green hydrogen production in 100% renewable, off-grid systems. Utilizing 5-minute interval meteorological data aggregated to hourly resolution spanning 5 years across seven geographically diverse sites, this study co-optimizes the integration [...] Read more.
This study develops a high-resolution techno-economic optimization framework to assess the feasibility of green hydrogen production in 100% renewable, off-grid systems. Utilizing 5-minute interval meteorological data aggregated to hourly resolution spanning 5 years across seven geographically diverse sites, this study co-optimizes the integration of hybrid wind–solar power generation, flexible electrolyzer operation, and a multi-timescale energy storage portfolio, incorporating short-duration, long-duration, and seasonal storage. On the generation side, a hybrid wind–solar configuration achieves the lowest levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH). For energy storage, no single storage technology can economically address demand fluctuations across short-term, medium-term, long-term, and seasonal timescales. Instead, a coordinated multi-timescale storage strategy incorporating energy-to-energy mechanisms reduces the LCOH by up to 40%. Increasing hydrogen tank capacity and enabling flexible electrolyzer operation further lowers the LCOH. Significant regional resource variability leads to substantial cost disparities, with the most favorable region achieving a low LCOH of $2.45/kg. Several regions are projected to reach the $3/kg target by 2030, while areas with limited resources require large-scale hydrogen storage to ensure supply reliability. These results represent deterministic lower-bound estimates under perfect foresight; accounting for forecast uncertainty and real-world operational constraints would likely increase actual costs by approximately 5–15%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Energy Systems)
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28 pages, 2879 KB  
Article
Spatial Analysis and Prioritization of Solar Energy Development in South Khorasan Province, Iran: An Integrated GIS and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Framework
by Mohammad Eskandari Sani, Amir Hossin Nazari, Mostafa Fadaei, Amir Karbassi Yazdi and Gonzalo Valdés González
Land 2026, 15(4), 617; https://doi.org/10.3390/land15040617 - 9 Apr 2026
Viewed by 283
Abstract
The use of solar photovoltaic technology is among the most promising approaches to achieving SDG7—Affordable and Clean Energy—which seeks to provide modern, reliable, sustainable, and efficient energy for everyone globally, especially in developing areas with high irradiation, where both energy access and decarbonization [...] Read more.
The use of solar photovoltaic technology is among the most promising approaches to achieving SDG7—Affordable and Clean Energy—which seeks to provide modern, reliable, sustainable, and efficient energy for everyone globally, especially in developing areas with high irradiation, where both energy access and decarbonization are major challenges. South Khorasan Province, Iran, is one of the most highly irradiated regions in the world. However, despite the abundance of solar resources, most previous research in Iran on solar potential has focused on technical potential, with little emphasis on actual energy consumption patterns and economic viability. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demand-driven assessment at the county level and the first national-scale implementation of the MARCOS (Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking according to Compromise Solution) method for selecting solar energy sites in Iran. A spatially explicit integrated framework based on GIS-MARCOS was established for each of the eleven counties of South Khorasan Province, and five benefits were used as criteria (solar irradiance, population, per capita electrical consumption in residential, industrial, and agricultural sectors). Objective weights were calculated using Shannon’s Entropy. The analysis indicates that residential electricity demand emerges as the most influential factor in the prioritization process. Therefore, the counties of Birjand, Qaenat, and Tabas were identified as top priority counties, while counties with high irradiation levels but low demand (for example, Boshruyeh) received the least priority. These results clearly indicate the need to transition from irradiation-based to demand-based planning to minimize transmission losses and maximize the ability to integrate solar-generated electricity into the electric power grid. This proposed methodology provides a transferable decision-support tool for other high-irradiation, demand-heterogeneous regions around the globe. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Water, Energy, Land and Food (WELF) Nexus)
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32 pages, 3994 KB  
Article
A Multi-Stage Transmission–Distribution Coordination Framework for EVCS Flexibility with Demand Response Incentives Under Heterogeneous Uncertainties
by Jiarui Xiao, Zhaoxi Liu, Huawen Huang, Weiliang Ou, Yu Li and Xiumin Huang
Energies 2026, 19(7), 1768; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19071768 - 3 Apr 2026
Viewed by 289
Abstract
The large-scale integration of renewable energy necessitates enhanced flexibility in power grids. As aggregators, electric vehicle charging stations (EVCSs) can provide potential grid services via vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology. Against the challenge from the intertwined uncertainties of transmission system operation and renewable energy output [...] Read more.
The large-scale integration of renewable energy necessitates enhanced flexibility in power grids. As aggregators, electric vehicle charging stations (EVCSs) can provide potential grid services via vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology. Against the challenge from the intertwined uncertainties of transmission system operation and renewable energy output limit, the private ownership of EVCSs limit their practical implementation. To exploit the flexibility of EVCSs to cope with the system operational uncertainties, this paper proposes a novel multi-stage coordination framework for EVCS flexibility utilization, based on a demand response incentive mechanism. The framework explicitly incorporates the operational constraints and charging/discharging strategies of EVCSs into the demand response clearing and dispatch mechanism. Specifically, adaptive robust optimization (ARO) and distributionally robust optimization (DRO) are employed to model the heterogeneous uncertainties of transmission operational requirements and renewable energy output, respectively. The model is solved in a distributed manner using the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM), with a tailored column-and-constraint generation (C&CG) algorithm developed to solve the regional problems. Simulation results confirm that the proposed method improves both economic efficiency and renewable energy accommodation. Full article
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26 pages, 2666 KB  
Article
Markov-Constrained Isolation Forest for Early Detection of Battery Anomalies in Solar-Grid Applications
by Tawfiq M. Aljohani
Mathematics 2026, 14(7), 1192; https://doi.org/10.3390/math14071192 - 2 Apr 2026
Viewed by 254
Abstract
Lithium-ion batteries in hybrid solar-grid systems experience complex electro-thermal dynamics and stochastic mode switching that threshold-based battery management systems fail to capture. This paper proposes a hybrid deviation detection framework that treats anomaly detection as a trajectory-consistency problem over a power-feasible Markov jump [...] Read more.
Lithium-ion batteries in hybrid solar-grid systems experience complex electro-thermal dynamics and stochastic mode switching that threshold-based battery management systems fail to capture. This paper proposes a hybrid deviation detection framework that treats anomaly detection as a trajectory-consistency problem over a power-feasible Markov jump nonlinear system. A disturbance-robust invariant operating region is first established under explicit current bounds. A reachable-set equivalence is then derived, linking residual consistency to disturbance-augmented trajectory membership. Building on this structure, Isolation Forest empirically estimates the support of admissible electro-thermal trajectories, capturing nonlinear and mode-dependent behaviors not fully described by the analytical disturbance model. A unified sequential detection rule integrates structural constraint violations, model-based residual deviations, and empirical support inconsistencies into a coherent real-time monitor. The framework is validated on a hybrid solar-grid platform with a 6 W photovoltaic panel, a 3.7 V 1820 mAh lithium-ion battery, and a Raspberry Pi, collecting 3976 samples over four days. Results demonstrate early detection of depletion events and mode-transition anomalies before hard threshold violations, with zero false alarms during steady operation and an overall deviation rate of 4.8%, aligning with the configured contamination level. Early warning was observed at 20% state of charge, providing a 10% margin before the hardware threshold of 10%, while 88% of detected anomalies occurred in sequences, validating the persistence rule. Real-time inference required 47 ms per cycle with a 156 MB memory footprint, confirming edge deployment feasibility. Full article
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30 pages, 4563 KB  
Article
Neural Network-Based LoRa Received Signal Strength Indicator Fingerprint Identification for Indoor Localization of Mobile Robots
by Chandan Barai, Meem Sarkar, Ushnish Sarkar, Subhabrata Mazumder, Abhijit Chandra, Tapas Samanta and Hemendra Kumar Pandey
Sensors 2026, 26(7), 2127; https://doi.org/10.3390/s26072127 - 30 Mar 2026
Viewed by 562
Abstract
This paper presents an indoor self-localization framework for mobile robots, an essential component for automation in Industry 4.0 and smart environments. We evaluate a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) fingerprinting technique utilizing Long-Range (LoRa) technology to overcome the challenges of congested indoor settings. [...] Read more.
This paper presents an indoor self-localization framework for mobile robots, an essential component for automation in Industry 4.0 and smart environments. We evaluate a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) fingerprinting technique utilizing Long-Range (LoRa) technology to overcome the challenges of congested indoor settings. To optimize communication parameters, the Structural Similarity Index Measure (SSIM) was employed to select the most effective spreading factor, while the entropy of the RSSI database was calculated to verify fingerprint stability. For positional prediction, a Multi-layer Perceptron (MLP) neural network was developed to classify the location of the target within a grid-based experimental setup, featuring cells spaced 60 cm apart. The MLP achieved a validation accuracy of 91.8 percent during training and demonstrated high precision in classifying grid regions within a signal-dense environment. For scenarios where slow-moving robots (5 cm/s) are required, like radiation mapping, this method provide highly accurate high-level localization data.These results suggest that the proposed LoRa-MLP integration provides a robust, low-power solution for high-accuracy indoor positioning systems (IPSs) in modern industrial infrastructure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Sensor Networks)
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28 pages, 4423 KB  
Article
A Neighbor Feature Aggregation-Based Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning Method for Fast Solution of Distributed Real-Time Power Dispatch Problem
by Baisen Chen, Chenghuang Li, Qingfen Liao, Wenyi Wang, Lingteng Ma and Xiaowei Wang
Electronics 2026, 15(7), 1415; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics15071415 - 28 Mar 2026
Viewed by 257
Abstract
To address the challenges posed by the strong uncertainty of high-proportion renewable energy sources (RES) to the secure and stable operation of distributed real-time power dispatch (D-RTPD) in new-type power systems, this paper proposes an integrated solution combining a neighborhood feature aggregation-based graph [...] Read more.
To address the challenges posed by the strong uncertainty of high-proportion renewable energy sources (RES) to the secure and stable operation of distributed real-time power dispatch (D-RTPD) in new-type power systems, this paper proposes an integrated solution combining a neighborhood feature aggregation-based graph attention network (NFA-GAT) and multi-agent deep deterministic policy gradient (MADDPG). First, the D-RTPD problem is modeled as a decentralized partially observable Markov decision process (Dec-POMDP), which effectively captures the stochastic game characteristics of multi-regional agents and the partial observability of grid states. Second, the NFA-GAT is designed to enhance agents’ perception of grid operating states: by introducing a spatial discount factor, it realizes rational aggregation of multi-order neighborhood information while modeling the attenuation of electrical quantity influence with topological distance. Third, a prior-guided mechanism is integrated into the MADDPG framework to eliminate constraint-violating actions by setting their actor logits to negative infinity, improving training efficiency and strategy reliability. Simulation validations on the IEEE 118-bus test system (75.2% RES installed capacity ratio) show that the proposed method achieves efficient training convergence. Compared with the multi-layer perceptron (MLP) structure, it attains higher cumulative reward values and scenario win rates. When compared with traditional model-driven (ADMM) and data-driven (Q-MIX) methods, the proposed method balances solution efficiency, operational safety (98.7% maximum line load rate, zero power flow violation rate), and economic performance ($12,845 daily dispatch cost), providing a reliable technical support for D-RTPD under high-proportion RES integration. Full article
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19 pages, 2999 KB  
Article
Performance Analysis of Small-Scale Milk Processing Using a Photovoltaic System with Heat Recovery for Off-Grid Areas
by Fikadu Geremu Bodena, Demiss Alemu Amibe, Ole Jorgen Nydal and Trygve Magne Eikevik
Energies 2026, 19(7), 1642; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19071642 - 27 Mar 2026
Viewed by 396
Abstract
Moving toward sustainable energy in small-scale dairies is an indispensable requirement and a significant challenge in developing countries. This study investigates a solar-powered refrigeration system with heat recovery designed to address the energy challenges faced by small-scale dairy farmers in off-grid areas of [...] Read more.
Moving toward sustainable energy in small-scale dairies is an indispensable requirement and a significant challenge in developing countries. This study investigates a solar-powered refrigeration system with heat recovery designed to address the energy challenges faced by small-scale dairy farmers in off-grid areas of developing nations. It presents a novel solar-powered refrigeration system with integrated heat recovery, experimentally optimized to simultaneously deliver heating and cooling while valorizing waste heat and synergistically integrating solar energy to establish a decentralized and energy-autonomous milk preservation system for off-grid applications. The proposed system successfully recovers an average of 55% of the heat rejected by the condenser, thereby delivering more than 1000 W of usable thermal energy necessary for milk pasteurization. The experimental findings showed a coefficient of performance of 4.7, representing a 43% improvement over conventional systems, and achieved a Carnot efficiency of 42%. In addition, the system yields an annual energy savings of 3650 kWh and reduces carbon emissions by 971 kg per year for a 50 L unit. These findings underscore the system’s substantial potential to enhance energy efficiency, promote sustainability, reduce spoilage, improve incomes, mitigate carbon emissions, and enhance local milk preservation capabilities within small-scale dairy operations, minimizing reliance on diesel or firewood, particularly in regions that are distant from access to grid energy. Full article
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21 pages, 835 KB  
Article
Investigating the Impact of Public En-Route and Depot Charging for Electric Heavy-Duty Trucks Using Agent-Based Transport Simulation and Probabilistic Grid Modeling
by Mattias Ingelström, Alice Callanan and Francisco J. Márquez-Fernández
World Electr. Veh. J. 2026, 17(4), 172; https://doi.org/10.3390/wevj17040172 - 26 Mar 2026
Viewed by 547
Abstract
This study presents an integrated simulation framework that combines agent-based transport modeling with probabilistic load-flow analysis to quantify power system loading of long-haul heavy-duty electrification. The approach is applied to a case study considering fully electrified road freight in the Skåne region in [...] Read more.
This study presents an integrated simulation framework that combines agent-based transport modeling with probabilistic load-flow analysis to quantify power system loading of long-haul heavy-duty electrification. The approach is applied to a case study considering fully electrified road freight in the Skåne region in Sweden, using high-resolution transport demand data and the actual power grid model used by the grid owner in the study area. The synthetic freight population covers the full long-haul truck segment intersecting Skåne. Both public en-route fast charging and end-of-trip depot charging are considered. The analysis reveals two fundamentally different charging demand profiles: a heavily fluctuating profile for public en-route charging, accounting on average for 82% of the total daily charging energy, and a stable profile for end-of-trip depot charging, covering on average the remaining 18%. The latter is achieved through a Linear Programming (LP) optimization model that flattens the load by scheduling charging across depot stay windows. These profiles serve as inputs to a probabilistic load-flow simulation that computes loading distributions for substation transformers. The simulation results show that in 4 of the 43 primary substations studied, the maximum transformer loading exceeds 100% following the introduction of truck charging, with peak loading at the most affected substation rising from 99% to 159%. This stress is primarily caused by the public charging demand, which peaks from late morning to noon, aligning with the early stages of logistics operations. However, there is no clear correlation between the magnitude of the truck charging load and the impact on transformer loading, since this is also highly dependent on local grid conditions. These findings highlight the value of integrated transport-energy simulations for planning resilient infrastructure and guiding targeted grid reinforcements. Full article
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31 pages, 2440 KB  
Article
Macro-Level Decision-Support Planning of Photovoltaic Capacity Development in the EU Energy System: Clustering, Diffusion-Based Logistic Maturity, and Resource Allocation
by Cristiana Tudor, Ramona Iulia Dieaconescu, Maria Gheorghe and Andrei Ioan Bulgaru
Systems 2026, 14(4), 341; https://doi.org/10.3390/systems14040341 - 24 Mar 2026
Viewed by 241
Abstract
The European Union aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 and reach climate neutrality by 2050, targets that depend on expanding renewable generation in the European energy system. While photovoltaic (PV) capacity has grown quickly in several member states, others [...] Read more.
The European Union aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 and reach climate neutrality by 2050, targets that depend on expanding renewable generation in the European energy system. While photovoltaic (PV) capacity has grown quickly in several member states, others remain far behind. This paper frames that divergence as a systems planning problem: installed MW expands through diffusion-like dynamics, but the conversion of investment into energizable capacity is filtered by grid-integration constraints and institutional throughput. The study develops a macro-level framework for systems-level assessment and decision support to guide PV capacity planning and budget allocation using official 2012–2022 data for 22 EU countries. We combine (i) unsupervised clustering of standardized national deployment trajectories, (ii) bounded logistic fits interpreted as an operational diffusion-with-saturation representation that yield comparable growth parameters and maturity years (80–90% of the estimated ceiling), and (iii) a proportional reallocation scenario for countries below 5 GW in 2022. Three clusters emerge—steady growth, early plateau, and atypical paths—and an analytically tractable maturity indicator integrates capacity, rate, and timing in a single measure. In a 10 GW reallocation scenario, average progress toward the 5 GW benchmark rises from 9.8% to 23.1%, closing about 14.8% of the aggregate shortfall. The allocation experiment reveals a clear asymmetry: systems with an existing installed base convert additional MW into benchmark progress more efficiently than very low-baseline systems, where binding constraints are more likely to sit in permitting, interconnection queues, and hosting capacity rather than in finance alone. Turning these allocations into usable capacity depends on timely interconnection and power-electronics integration and on grid-enablement constraints such as interconnection readiness, inverter compliance, and local hosting capacity in high-penetration areas. The contribution is a transparent, updateable decision-support pipeline that links observed trajectory regimes to a maturity “clock” and an auditable allocation baseline, making the trade-off between closing capacity gaps and respecting feasibility filters explicit in an EU system with heterogeneous national subsystems. The proposed approach links macro-level maturity clusters to operational feasibility signals in the grid integration layer, showing that modeling-based allocation can improve system progress but cannot substitute grid-enablement measures, highlighting the importance of regional coordination in the EU energy system under heterogeneous national trajectories. Full article
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25 pages, 2423 KB  
Article
Solar-to-Hydrogen Production Potential Across Romania’s Hydrogen Ecosystems: Integrated PV-Electrolysis Modelling and Techno-Environmental Assessment
by Raluca-Andreea Felseghi, Claudiu Ioan Oprea, Paula Veronica Ungureșan, Mihaela Ionela Bian and Ligia Mihaela Moga
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(6), 3110; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16063110 - 23 Mar 2026
Viewed by 487
Abstract
This study develops and applies an integrated modeling framework to assess the solar-to-hydrogen-to-power potential across Romania’s five hydrogen ecosystems defined in the National Hydrogen Strategy. The methodology couples PVGIS-based photovoltaic yield simulations, based on hourly solar irradiation data and including system losses, with [...] Read more.
This study develops and applies an integrated modeling framework to assess the solar-to-hydrogen-to-power potential across Romania’s five hydrogen ecosystems defined in the National Hydrogen Strategy. The methodology couples PVGIS-based photovoltaic yield simulations, based on hourly solar irradiation data and including system losses, with MHOGA-based electrolysis simulation, enabling a quantitative-energetic-environmental (Q-E-E) system-level assessment. A 1 MW photovoltaic plant was simulated under three mounting configurations (15° fixed tilt, optimal tilt, and solar tracking) and interfaced with alkaline (AEL) and proton exchange membrane electrolysers (PEMEL). Specific photovoltaic yields reach up to 360 kWh/m2PV·year under tracking conditions, producing up to 7.5 kg/m2PV·year (AEL) and 6.8 kg/m2PV·year (PEMEL), expressed per unit of photovoltaic surface area to enable consistent comparison across the configurations considered. The modeled round-trip efficiency of the full solar–electricity–hydrogen–electricity chain is 38.32% for AEL and 34.57% for PEMEL. Life-cycle-based emission modeling yields 0.92 kg CO2/kg H2 (AEL) and 1.03 kg CO2/kg H2 (PEMEL), while avoided emissions exceed 250 g CO2/kWh relative to grid intensity. Land-use modeling indicates area requirements between 9402 and 18,804 m2/MW, depending on the Ground Coverage Ratio. Results demonstrate that system configuration exerts a stronger influence than regional solar variability in determining hydrogen yield, highlighting the need for integrated techno-environmental optimization for large-scale deployment. Full article
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