Investigating Fourteen Countries to Maximum the Economy Benefit by Using Offline Reconfiguration for Medium Scale PV Array Arrangements

Over the past few years, electricity demand has been on the rise. This has resulted in renewable energy resources being used rapidly, considering the shortage as well as the environmental impacts of fossil fuel. A renewable energy source that has become increasingly popular is photovoltaic (PV) energy as it is environmentally friendly. Installing PV modules, however, has to ensure harsh environments including temperature, dust, birds drop, hotspot, and storm. Thus, the phenomena of the non-uniform aging of PV modules has become unavoidable, negatively affecting the performance of PV plants, particularly during the middle and latter duration of their service life. The idea here is to decrease the capital of maintenance and operation costs involved in medium-and large-scale PV power plants and improving the power efficiency. Hence, the present paper generated an offline PV module reconfiguration strategy considering the non-uniform aging PV array to ensure that this effect is mitigated and does not need extra sensors. To enhance the economic benefit, the offline reconfiguration takes into account labor cost and electricity price. This paper proposes a gene evolution algorithm (GEA) for determining the highest economic benefit. The proposed algorithm was verified using MATLAB software-based modeling and simulations to investigate fourteen countries to maximize the economic benefit that employed a representative 18-kW and 43-kW output and the power of 10 × 10 PV arrays in connection as a testing benchmark and considered the electricity price and workforce cost. According to the results, enhanced power output can be generated from a non-uniformly aged PV array of any size, and offers the minimum swapping/replacing times to maximize the output power and improve the electric revenue by reducing the maintenance costs

Urban geometry as a climate adaptation strategy for enhancing outdoor thermal comfort in a hot desert climate

This study aimed to assess the impact of varying street canyon geometries on outdoor thermal comfort in two Egyptian cities with distinct climates: Aswan, located in the southern desert region, and Alexandria, on the northern coast. The design of urban street canyons in Egypt often neglects the country's diverse climatic regions. The investigation focused on four height-to-width aspect ratios and four principal street orientations in the two cities. Field data, ENVI-met microclimate software, and RayMan were utilized to analyze the impact of hypothesized scenarios on heat stress in the studied street canyons. Outdoor thermal comfort was evaluated using the physiologically equivalent temperature (PET). The findings demonstrated the effectiveness of aspect ratio and orientation in the respective cities. In Aswan, the aspect ratio had a greater influence on comfort, with aspect ratio of 2.5 providing the most favorable conditions and a ratio of 1 resulting in the least comfortable conditions. Conversely, in Alexandria, the street canyon orientation proved more advantageous, where a northwest-southeast orientation produced a significant decrease (10 K) in PET compared to the least favorable orientation. These results highlight the importance of considering local climatic factors in the design of urban street canyons to effectively mitigate outdoor heat stress

Development of a Mosque Design for a Hot, Dry Climate Based on a Holistic Bioclimatic Vision

Over 50% of the total energy consumed by buildings in a hot and dry climate goes toward the cooling regime during the harsh months. Non-residential buildings, especially houses of worship, need a tremendous amount of energy to create a comfortable environment for worshipers. Today, mosques are regarded as energy-hungry buildings, whereas in the past, they were designed according to sustainable vernacular architecture. This study was aimed at improving the energy performance of mosques in a hot and dry climate using bioclimatic principles and architectural elements. To achieve this aim, a process-based simulation approach was applied together with a generate and test technique on 86 scenarios based on 10 architectural elements, with various arithmetic transition rates organized in 9 successive steps. Starting from a simplified hypothetical model, the final model of the mosque design was arrived at based on a holistic bioclimatic vision using 10 architectural elements. The findings of this research were limited to a specific mosque size in a hot and dry climate, but the proposed holistic bioclimatic concept can be developed to take into account all mosque models in several harsh environments

An Assessment of External Wall Retrofitting Strategies Using GRC Materials in Hot Desert Regions

Due to urbanization, population growth, and the consequences of climate change, the usage of energy for cooling has increased considerably in recent years. Passive climate measures, on the other hand, could alleviate the situation by reducing energy use in buildings. This study examined the environmental and financial benefits of utilizing glass fiber-reinforced cement in the external walls of a communal social hub building in New Aswan city, taken an example of the hot desert region. Utilizing Design Builder software, the effect of various outside wall alternatives on cooling energy consumption was explored and analyzed. In addition, a cost–benefit analysis utilizing the simple payback period was conducted to aid decision-makers in selecting the most suitable exterior wall materials for public buildings in hot desert regions. Using cement plaster, cement brick, glass wool, and glass fiber-reinforced cement as an outside wall resulted in a significant improvement rate, according to the data. Compared to a typical wall (cement plaster, cement brick, and cement plaster), it can save up to 41% of energy. In addition, it has the lowest simple payback period value when compared to other examined solutions (10.86 years). In general, the results indicate that glass fiber-reinforced cement walls embedded in thermal insulation materials and incorporated into cement brick walls are more energy-efficient in terms of necessary cooling energy and economic viability

Integrating Solar Photovoltaics in Residential Buildings: Towards Zero Energy Buildings in Hail City, KSA

In recent years, most cities have faced great demand for electricity supply due to rapid population growth and industrialization. Supplying sufficient electrical energy, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, is one of the major concerns of policymakers and scientists all over the world. In Saudi Arabia, local authorities are increasingly aware of the necessity of reducing the environmental impact of nonrenewable energy by exploring alternative sustainable energy sources and improving buildings’ energy efficiency. Recently, building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) technology has been regarded as a promising technology for generating instantaneous sustainable energy for buildings. To achieve a substantial contribution regarding zero energy buildings, solar energy should be widely used in residential buildings within the urban context. This paper examines how to achieve an appropriate model for integrating photovoltaics on the rooftop of residential buildings in Hail city to provide alternative energy sources. The estimated rooftop areas in Hail city, utilizable for PV application were calculated. Using PV*SOL simulation software, the performance ratio and the system efficiency, as well as the annual energy output in several tilt angles, were determined and presented. The amount of energy expected when using all effective roof area in the city was also calculated. The amount of CO2 emissions that could be reduced as a result of using a PV system was estimated. The results show a significant area of rooftop suitable for PV system in residential buildings in Hail city, which exceeds 9 million square meters. On the other hand, the performance ratio and the system efficiency are affected by the tilt angle of the PV module, where the efficiency increases with higher tilt angle, this is due to the PV module temperature, where, with the decrease in the PV module temperature its efficiency increases. The results indicate that the 30° tilt PV produced the highest amount of energy, whereas the 75° tilt PV records the smallest one although it achieves the best possible efficiency. There is a significant amount of energy produced from the use of all residential rooftops in Hail, and there is also a significant reduction in the amount of CO2 emissions. It is expected that this research would develop innovative building design strategies and specifications allowing for better climate and energy efficiency as well

The Rehabilitation of the Historic Barzan Traditional Market and Its Impact on Cultural Tourism in Hail City

Hail is regarded as one of the richest cities in Saudi Arabia in terms of heritage sites. The city center, where the Barzan marketplace is located, is regarded as critical to the city’s cultural tourism. The purpose of this study is to understand the traditional Barzan market rehabilitation project within the city center and its role in preserving Hail’s urban identity. According to the study, the rehabilitation of the city center presents an opportunity for urban development to boost tourism and connect various historic landmarks in a variety of ways, including the development of pedestrian routes. The study also presents and discusses several complexities and challenges that must be considered when implementing such an urban development. A multi-approach methodology is employed to investigate several urban factors and involved actors, including a social online survey and semi-structured interviews, as well as empirical data to support the study objectives. The study’s findings indicate that there is an issue with the urban solution implemented in the Barzan market on multiple levels, the most important of which is the ‘miso’ level of the city center, where several potential landmarks are neglected and isolated from the Barzan marketplace. A solution is proposed to create multiple urban spaces that can be used by the Hail community as a whole, not just those involved in the market. This would necessitate a different approach to space design, as well as changes in how the Barzan market is managed and maintained

Simulation of Urban Areas Exposed to Hazardous Flash Flooding Scenarios in Hail City

According to the United Nations (UN), an additional 1.35 billion people will live in cities by 2030. Well-planned measures are essential for reducing the risk of flash floods. Flash floods typically inflict more damage in densely populated areas. The province of Hail encompasses 120,000 square kilometers, or approximately 6% of the total land area of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Due to its innate physiographic and geologic character, Hail city is susceptible to a wide variety of geo-environmental risks such as sand drifts, flash floods, and rock falls. The aim of this work is to evaluate the rate of urban sprawl in the Hail region using remote sensing data and to identify urban areas that would be affected by simulated worst-case flash floods. From 1984 to 2022, the global urbanization rate increased from 467 to 713% in the Hail region. This is a very high rate of expansion, which means that the number of urban areas exposed to the highest level of flood risk is rising every year. With Gridded Surface Subsurface Hydrologic Analysis (GSSHA), a wide range of hydrologic scenarios can be simulated. The data sources for the soil type, infiltration, and initial moisture were utilized to create the coverage and index maps. To generate virtual floods, we ran the GSSHA model within the Watershed Modeling System (WMS) program to create the hazard map for flash flooding. This model provides a suitable method based on open access data and remote data that can help planners in developing countries to create the risk analysis for flash flooding

Spatial Suitability Index for Sustainable Urban Development in Desert Hinterland Using a Geographical-Information-System-Based Multicriteria Decision-Making Approach

This study uses the Aswan Governorate model in southern Upper Egypt to determine the spatial suitability of sustainable urban development in the Egyptian deserts, ensure resource sustainability, and contribute to environmentally sustainable urban and economic growth in line with Egypt’s Vision 2030. To achieve these goals, a GIS-based multicriteria decision-making (GIS-MCDM) approach was used, through an innovative approach for integrating three main indicators: the risk index, environmental sensitivity, and economic resources. These indicators were divided into twenty-four criteria, and their weight was determined according to preference through the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). This study serves developmental, national, and expected regional and local development efforts for developing desert regions in the Aswan Governorate, which exceed 80% of the governorate’s area and represent the future of sustainable urban development. This study found three spatial suitability categories, with the largest between 50 and 70% suitability. The first category, with suitability greater than 70%, covers 27.2% of the Aswan Governorate in the north, on both sides of the Nile. Areas with medium spatial suitability, ranging from 50% to 70%, constitute the second category, accounting for 40.3% of the Aswan Governorate, with a concentration in the central regions. The third category includes areas with low spatial suitability, at less than 50%, which make up 32.5% of the governorate