Advances in Solar Energy Towards Efficient and Sustainable Energy

sustainability
Article
Advances in Solar Energy towards Efficient and
Sustainable Energy
Nuria Novas * , Rosa María Garcia , Jose Manuel Camacho and Alfredo Alcayde
Department of Engineering, University of Almeria, ceiA3, 04120 Almeria, Spain; rgarciasalvador@ual.es (R.M.G.);
jcs066@ual.es (J.M.C.); aalcayde@ual.es (A.A.)
* Correspondence: nnovas@ual.es; Tel.: +34-950015686
Abstract: Conventional energy resources are not climate sustainable. Currently, engineers and
scientists are looking for sustainable energy solutions influenced by climate change. A wide variety
of sustainable natural energy resources are available, but they require technical solutions for their
implementation. The general trend in energy research is based on renewable resources, amongst
which solar energy stands out, being the most mature and widely accepted. In this paper, the current
state of the sustainable energy system has been analysed. The main purpose is to provide additional
context to assess future scenarios. The study of past contributions allows sustainability planning and
increasing the welfare of future society. The aim is to highlight global trends in research on sustainable
solar energy from 1995 to 2020 through a bibliometric analysis of 4260 publications. According
to their linkages, the analysed articles are distributed in nine clusters: Sustainability assessment,
Sustainable energy solutions, Environmental payback time analysis, Sustainability of solar energy
in different scenarios, Environmental sustainability, Solar energy applications, Sustainable energy
optimisation, Energy transition and Energy and sustainable scenarios. The most repeated keywords
are Sustainability, Renewable energy, and Solar energy. Energy research and the exploration of new
renewable solar resources are still necessary to meet sustainable energy’s future challenges.
Citation: Novas, N.; Garcia, R.M.;
Camacho, J.M.; Alcayde, A. Advances Keywords: sustainability; solar energy; renewable energy
in Solar Energy towards Efficient and
Sustainable Energy. Sustainability
2021, 13, 6295. https://doi.org/
10.3390/su13116295 1. Introduction
Energy sustainability is extensively discussed in the scientific and political community.
Academic Editor: Marc A. Rosen
Until now, there have been two different approaches on the matter. One considers an
increase in electricity consumption essential for the economic development and social
Received: 19 March 2021
Accepted: 26 May 2021
progress of the countries, whereas others are more concerned about keeping carbon con-
Published: 2 June 2021
sumption within certain limits. The definition of sustainability is not unanimous among the
scientific community. In the literature, it is associated with different concepts depending
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral
on the point of view studied.
with regard to jurisdictional claims in
In planning energy-sustainable development, sustainability indicators must be con-
published maps and institutional affil- sidered to compare their implementation. To do this, the emergy concept is identified and
iations. used in numerous works. Emergy involves indicators such as the Environmental Load
Ratio (ELR), Emergy Yield Ratio (EYR) and Emergy Sustainability Index (ESI), defined as
the ratio between EYR and ELR, the Renewable Percentage (RP), Environmental Load Ratio,
Emergy Investment Ratio (EIR) and others. The scientific community is not unanimous
Copyright: © 2021 by the authors.
in establishing single energy sustainability indicators. Another indicator is the Energy
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Payback Time (EPBT), which allows assessing the time necessary to produce the amount
This article is an open access article
of energy that compensates the investment. Another one is the greenhouse gas (GHG)
distributed under the terms and emission rate. This indicator has an environmental character, and it allows the evaluation
conditions of the Creative Commons of the emission rate divided by the amount of electricity generated in the life cycle of a
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// process [1].
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ In the literature, there is a wide variety of applications oriented towards sustainable
4.0/). energy solutions. The water supply for human consumption is just an example. Energy,
Sustainability 2021, 13, 6295. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116295 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability

Sustainability 2021, 13, 6295 2 of 31
environmental, technical, social, and economic feasibility studies are required to reduce
the freshwater shortage. The areas most affected by freshwater scarcity are the areas
with the highest solar radiation. Solar energy can be appropriate, environmentally, and
economically sustainable in the long term [2]. Another example of commercial-agricultural
applicability is solar greenhouses [3].
The method developed in this work applies bibliometric techniques based on the use
of databases, allowing the distribution of contributions in different communities. Each
community focuses on diverse topics within the main theme of the study. This distribution
is carried out without establishing a bias by citations or years of publication; the main
criteria is the effective relationship between the authors and the keywords they present.
Thus, advances in the field of sustainability and energy are studied, eliminating papers
and authors not directly related to this field, and focusing on the most relevant papers. The
method is a variant of the one described in [4]. The differences with this one are described
in Section 2 of the paper. Thus, the progress in the field of sustainability and energy is
studied, eliminating works and authors not directly related to this field, and focusing on
the most relevant works.
In Section 3.1, a generic analysis of the papers by authors, affiliations, language of pub-
lication and documents types is established. As indicated by many scientific contributions
found, research on energy sustainability is still ongoing. These publications can be found
in 1146 different journals, in different categories and languages. The number of scientific
contributions in this topic doubles per decade, which leads to a considerable number of
papers distributed within the same area of research.
In Section 3.2, a review of the most important works of these communities is carried
out, verifying that they focus on the topic of study, through the search for the initial
keywords. The application of the methodology allows us to know the effective progress
in the area, since the analysis is focused exclusively on the works that, in addition to
meeting the search criteria, meet the conditions imposed by the method, which, in a very
summarized form, seeks that these works be cited by the works that meet the same search
conditions, that is, it is considered important in the area of knowledge if it is cited by
colleagues in your area, and not by those in other areas, even if a priori they are related.
In Section 4 the most relevant conclusions of the results (Section 3) are shown.
There is an active collaboration between authors from different thematic communities.
This paper has established the different communities that have been consolidated over
time in energy sustainability research.
2. Materials and Methods

This work studies scientific world publications based on solar energy advances, ori-
ented towards efficiency and sustainability, which are indexed in the Scopus database. This
database is the one with the greatest number of publications worldwide [5]. The search
engine used to automatically obtain bibliographic data was a rasNetBot API interface,
developed at the University of Almería, by a research group from the Department of
Engineering in recent years. The method described in [4] has been used, improving the
data mining and analysis part, as shown if the flow chart in Figure 1.
The designed software is divided into four modules: search module (“GET ALL
PAPERS”), where the search is performed according to the established criteria, obtaining
from Scopus the summary result of the papers that match the criteria; module 2 (“GET
AUTHOR DATA”, the Scopus ID of all the previous papers is selected and a search
is performed for each of the authors, obtaining one file per search; module 3 (“GET
COLLABORATOR NETWORK”), the same is done as in 2 but in this case for each of
the papers, obtaining a file for each paper; module 4 (“DATA ANALYSIS”, with data
mining and analysis techniques, both papers and authors are related, obtaining among
others: results of community detection, extraction of keywords by community, authors by
community, data shown in the following sections of the paper.
nability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 3 of 31
results of community detection, extraction of keywords by community, authors by com-

munity, data shown in the following sections of the paper.
Figure 1. Flowchart of the methodology.

Figure 1. Flowchart of the methodology.
“Sustainability” and “Solar energy”

“Sustainability” have been
and “Solar used
energy” as keywords
have been usedfor as the search for
keywords pro-the search pro-
cess. These words
cess. These words can be found in fields such as the abstract, the title or the of
can be found in fields such as the abstract, the title or the keywords keywords of the
the publication. The data resulting
publication. The datafrom this search
resulting are search
from this carefully
areanalysed
carefullyusing commu-
analysed using community
nity detectiondetection
algorithms, establishing
algorithms, the size the
establishing of the
sizenodes
of theor publications.
nodes This size
or publications. is size is propor-
This
proportional to its H index, the relationship between nodes indicates the collaboration
tional to its H index, the relationship between nodes indicates the collaboration between
between the authors of theofworks.
the authors The “Gephi”
the works. open-source
The “Gephi” program
open-source [6] is used
program [6] istoused
repre-
to represent the
sent the nodes. Through this program it is possible to establish the main
nodes. Through this program it is possible to establish the main research research areas areas within
within the subject studied,studied,
the subject the advances developed
the advances in recentinyears,
developed recentasyears,
well asasthe
well collabo-
as the collaboration
structures involved in the process, being able to develop a global vision of the subject. The
analysis raises some considerations on how solar energy has been implemented throughout
the world, what the trend is, how solar energy competes against other renewable energies
and its role in environmental and socio-economic sustainability.
The method adopted is based on the analysis and use of data mining techniques.
Through its application, inadequate and frequent practices in other publications can be
discovered, in terms of filtering of papers, citations, etc. In this way, papers that do
not present important relationships with other communities are eliminated, as well as
self-cited papers.
The method also allows the elimination of groups that consider a topic of study that
is not related to the purpose of this work. These subgroups are discarded in our work
because they do not provide information on the subject or are not considered important in
terms of relationships with other publications of our interest.
Another important aspect of the method used is the possibility of establishing con-
siderations on the age of the articles, or the emergence of new research groups in the
subject matter. This assessment is established when these works are related to others,
independently of the year in which they were published. The relationship of new works
with others allows them to acquire greater importance and, therefore, a greater node size
in their representation. The identification of incipient communities or groups in their early
phase is still complex, as this requires a meticulous analysis of the papers.
On the other hand, the number of citations of a publication is not a selection parameter,
as it may not be indicative of the importance of a paper in a community. There may be
papers with many citations, but only a few of them refer to papers that meet the search
criteria, so they are of less importance. There may also be articles with a high number of
citations that have no relation to other publications, either because they are self-citations or
citations to publications that have nothing to do with the subject of the study. The criterion
that marks the importance of a paper is established by the number of citations among the
papers that meet the initial selection criteria.
3. Results and Discussion

A generic analysis of the works studied is established, starting from a general aspect
to the most specific one.
3.1. Analysis by Documents

It is important to keep in mind that researchers are the driving force behind present
and future technological development. There are 11,848 authors from 131 countries, in-
vestigating in the nine different areas studied in this paper (Section 3.2). Figure 2 shows
the worldwide representation of research activity in the topics covered, with a range of
colour grading according to the number of authors from the same origin. In the distribution
by continents, Europe stands out with 4080 researchers (35.41%), followed by Asia with
3472 researchers (30.14%), America with 3027 researchers (26.27% with 21.50% from North
America), South Africa (502 researchers and 4.36%) and finally Oceania (440 researchers
and 3.82%). Within Europe, Italy is the country that contributes the most with 6.77% of
the total, the largest contribution in Asia is made by China with 8.59% and in America
the greatest contribution is made by the United States. The map shows that the African
continent is where there is a greater concentration of countries that do not contribute with
any researcher on this subject, as happens in other publications such as [7,8].
The highest concentration of authors is in 25 countries, with a contribution of more
than 100 authors per country (Figure 3). In this figure, 9207 investigators have been
represented, equivalent to 79.91% of the existing total. The country with the highest
contribution of researchers is the United States 2107 (18.29%), followed by China with
990 researchers (8.59%), Italy with 780 researchers (6.77%) and India with 710 researchers
(6.17%). The remaining 21 countries have a percentage contribution of less than 5%. The
results show that both United States and Asian countries are actively collaborating on
progress by creating partnerships with other countries to move forward, as seen by the
interlocking of communities. On the other hand, Europeans work among themselves, as
Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW

is the case of Germans and Spaniards, who have established collaborations during5recent
of 31
years as is reflected in publications and cooperation agreements.
Figure 2. Author distribution by country.

than 100 authors per country (Figure 3). In this figure, 9207 investigators have been rep-
resented, equivalent to 79.91% of the existing total. The country with the highest contri-
bution of researchers is the United States 2107 (18.29%), followed by China with 990 re-
searchers (8.59%), Italy with 780 researchers (6.77%) and India with 710 researchers
progress by creating partnerships with other countries to move forward, as seen by the
is the case of Germans and Spaniards, who have established collaborations during recent
years as is reflected in publications and cooperation agreements.

than 100 authors per country (Figure 3). In this figure, 9207 investigators have been rep-
United
States, resented, equivalent to 79.91% of the existing total. The country with the highest contri-
18.29% bution of researchers is the United States 2107 (18.29%), followed by China with 990 re-
searchers (8.59%), Italy with 780 researchers (6.77%) and India with 710 researchers
China, progress by creating partnerships with other countries to move forward, as seen by the
8.59% United Kingdom,
Italy,
4.39% Germany,
6.77% is the case of Germans
3.86% and Spaniards,
Brazil, Canada, whoSouth
Japan, have established collaborations during recent
2.59% 2.24% France, Korea,
Switzerland, South Africa,
years as is reflected in publications
India, 1.72% and
1.65%cooperation agreements.
1.23% Greece,
1.41% 0.97%
6.17% Spain, 1.03%
Saudi
4.07% Australia, Arabia,
3.39% Malaysia, Turkey, Netherlan Iran, Sweden, Mexico,
2.35% 1.76% ds, 1.68% Portugal, 1.07%
0.89%
1.55% 1.26% 0.97%
United
States,
18.29%Figure 3. Author distribution by top 25 countries (79.91% of the total).
Figure 3. Author distribution by top 25 countries (79.91% of the total).
The analysed data show that 11,785 authors are researching in the field of Solar Energy
and analysed
The Sustainability. Table 1that
data show shows the authors
11,785 list of the are20researching
authors withinthe thehighest
field ofH-Index
Solar En-
according
China,
ergy to
and Sustainability. the data recorded in Scopus. In this list, all authors
Table 1 shows the list of the 20 authors with the highest H-Indexhave an H-Index above
8.59% United Kingdom,
100.
Italy, If the4.39%authors
Germany, in the top 20 are related to their countries of affiliation, we find that
among the 20 3.86%
6.77% Brazil, that
countries publish
Canada, the most on
South this subject, only eight are represented in
Japan,
2.59% 2.24% France, Korea,
Switzerland, South Africa,
Table
India, 1. There are six authors whose 1.72% 1.65%
origin is the country
1.23% Greece, with
0.97%the highest contribution
1.41%
in6.17%
publications
Spain, on this subject, the United States (30%1.03% of top 20 authorsSaudi and with 2107
4.07% Australia, Arabia,
publications). The representatives
3.39% Malaysia, of the
Turkey, Netherlan United States have H
Iran, Sweden, Mexico, indices that range between
2.35% 1.76% ds, 1.68% Portugal, 0.89%
227 and 121. The second country with 1.55% three representatives is Germany (15% of top
1.26% 1.07% 0.97%
20 authors), which occupies the seventh position in research on this subject with 3.86%
of global publications (445 publications) and their representatives in this top 20 authors
Figure 3. Author distribution by top 25 countries (79.91% of the total).
The analysed data show that 11,785 authors are researching in the field of Solar En-
ergy and Sustainability. Table 1 shows the list of the 20 authors with the highest H-Index
have H-Index between 167 and 128. In the third position, with 10% of the top 20 authors
with two representatives per country, are China, Australia, and Switzerland, with the
global positions by publications of 2 (990 publications), 8 (390 publications) and 19 (142
publications), respectively. One of the representatives of this top 20 is from Switzerland and
is the author with the highest H-Index with 256, M. Gräetzel (ID Scopus 35463345800). The
remaining five countries have an author in this top 20, as is the case of the United Kingdom,
that occupies the global position 5 based on 506 publications, France with position 13 with
198 publications, Japan in position 15 with 190 publishers. Denmark is in position 26 with
94 contributions and Singapore is in position 33 with 75 publications. Table 1 does not
include authors from countries with a large number of contributions, such as Italy, India
and Spain, which contribute 780,506 and 469 publications, respectively.
Table 1. Top 20 of the authors according to the H-index.
Scopus ID Indexed Name H-Index City Country University

Ecole Polytechnique
35463345800 Gräetzel, M. 260 Lausanne Switzerland
Fédérale de Lausanne
55711979600 Whitesides, G. 229 Cambridge United States Harvard University
Georgia Institute of
56430045300 Wang, Z. 229 Atlanta United States
Technology
SLAC National
57201126795 Cui, Y. 190 Menlo Park United States
Accelerator Laboratory
Max Planck Institute
7103185149 Antonietti, M. 167 Potsdam Germany of Colloids and
Interfaces
8922262400 Yu, J. 166 Zhengzhou China Zhengzhou University
7403489871 Zhao, D. 153 Melbourne Australia Monash University
56422845100 Jiang, L. 151 Melbourne Australia Monash University
Ecole Polytechnique
35463772200 Nazeeruddin, M. 148 Lausanne Switzerland
Fédérale de Lausanne
University of
7102639063 Lovley, D. 145 Amherst MA United States Massachusetts
Amherst
56265688700 Elimelech, M. 141 New Haven United States Yale University
57205523298 Ramakrishna, S. 138 Singapore Singapore Faculty of Engineering
35416421800 Tarascon J,.M. 137 Paris France Collège de France
Tsinghua-Berkeley
7404285996 Cheng, H. 136 Shenzhen China
Shenzhen Institute
Leibniz Institute for
7101777373 Beller, M. 136 Rostock Germany
Catalysis
35401845700 Domen, K. 129 Matsumoto Japan Shinshu University
8833978100 Snaith, H. 129 Oxford United Kingdom University of Oxford
Max Planck Institute
35511455300 Mölnwald 128 Potsdam Germany of Colloids and
Interfaces
7004992352 Blaabjerg, F. 128 Aalborg Denmark Aalborg Universitet
University of
7005860537 Jen, A. 121 Seattle United States
Washington, Seattle
If we analyse the first three authors in Table 1, according to data published in Scopus:
• Michael Gräetzel (ID 35463345800) has 46 publications with more than 1000 citations.
Two of them have more than 10,000 citations, [9] with 23,972 citations and [10] with
11,058 citations, has published with 2735 co-authors in 1653 publications indexed in
Scopus, with 324,084 total citations.
• George M. Whitesides, (ID 55711979600) is the second largest H-index author with
1367 documents published in collaboration with 1494 co-authors. It has 236,664 cita-
tions. In total, 39 of their papers have more than 1000 citations, standing out [11] with
6401 citations.
1367 documents 6401 citations.
published in collaboration with 1494 co-authors. It has 236,664 cita-
•
tions. In total, 39 ofLin
Zhong theirWang
papers (IDhave
56430045300)
more thanis1000 the third largest
citations, H-index
standing outauthor. He has 27
[11] with
6401 citations. uments with more than 1000 citations, for example [12] with 5492 citations. Th
• Zhong thor has
Lin Wang (IDpublished
56430045300) 1873isdocuments
the third largestindexed in Scopus,
H-index in collaboration
author. He has 27 doc- with 268
uments with authors,
more thanwith1000217,018 total citations.
citations, for example [12] with 5492 citations. The au-
thor has published Figure 41873
shows the logarithmic
documents indexed distribution
in Scopus, of in the H-index ofwith
collaboration the total
2681of co- authors
authors, publish about
•
with 217,018 the
Zhong study,
Lin
total Wang11,785 authors.is The
(ID 56430045300)
citations. highest
the third largest concentration
H-index author. Heofhas authors
27 docu-is show
ments with more than 1000 citations, for example [12] with 5492 citations. The authorof the t
Figurethe lowest
4 shows H-Index
the logarithmicvalues,
has published 1873
in the range
distribution
documentsof
from 0 to 9, with
the H-index
indexed in Scopus, of in 7349
the totalauthors
of authors
collaboration
(62.36%
with 2681 whoco-
publish about the study, 11,785 authors. The highest concentration of authors is shown inof the
of which 1.018 (8.60%
authors, with of the
217,018 total)
total have
citations. an H-index of 0 and 1.843 (15.60%
the lowest H-Index have an values,
H-index inof4the
Figure 1. range
The
shows theranges
from 0ofto0–49
logarithmic have
distribution
9, with 96.87%
of
7349 of the
theauthors
H-index of total.
the
(62.36%total There arewho
of authors
of the total),only 0.36
of which 1.018 authors with
(8.60% an
publish
theH-Index
about the valueangreater
study, 11,785 authors. than 99,
The highestthe maximum
concentration of H-index
authors is valueinbeing 2
shown
the of
lowest total) values,
H-Index have H-index
in the range fromof0 to 0 9,and
with1.843 (15.60%
7349 authors of of
(62.36% thethetotal)
total),
the author M. Gräetzel (ID Scopus 35463345800).
have an H-index of 1. The ranges of 0–49 have 96.87% of the total. There are only 0.36% of
of which 1.018 (8.60% of the total) have an H-index of 0 and 1.843 (15.60% of the total)
have an
authors with an H-Index H-index
value of 1. The
greater ranges
than 99,ofthe
0–49maximum
have 96.87% of the total. value
H-index There are only 0.36%
being of
256 of
authors with an H-Index value greater than 99, the maximum H-index value being 256 of
the author M. Gräetzel (ID Scopus
the author 35463345800).
M. Gräetzel (ID Scopus 35463345800).
Figure 4. Distribution logarithmic by H-index.
Figure 5 shows
Figure the distribution
4. Distribution of the
logarithmic different publication formats of the docum
by H-index.
Figure 4. Distribution logarithmic by H-index.
found in the Scopus search. Articles are 95.02% of the total documents found (13,925
Figure 5 shows the distribution of the different publication formats of the documents
uments); 4.28%
found areScopus
in the
Figure 5 shows the distributionReviewssearch.
of the(627 documents).
Articles
differentare 95.02% of The rest
the total
publication haveofathe
documents
formats total
found contribution
(13,925
documents doc- o
found in thethan 1%. uments); 4.28% are Reviews (627 documents). The rest have a total contribution of less
Scopus search. Articles are 95.02% of the total documents found (13,925 doc-
than 1%.
uments); 4.28% are Reviews (627 documents). The rest have a total contribution of less
than 1%. Book; 4.10% Book Series; 2.36%
Conference Proceedings; Trade Journal; 0.17%

Book;8.64%
4.10% Book Series; 2.36%
Conference Proceedings; Trade Journal; 0.17%

8.64%
Journal;
84.73%
Journal;
Figure 5. Representation
Figure 5. Representation of theof the
typetype
ofofdocuments
documents published in Scopus.
84.73%published in Scopus.
The thematic studied in the different communities is published in 1146 different
The thematic
journals. studied
Table 2 showsinthethe different
20 main journalscommunities
indexed in Scopus is that
published
publish onin 1146
this different
subject,
Figure 5. Representation of the type of documents published in Scopus.
nals. Table 2 shows the 20 main journals indexed in Scopus that publish onasthis su
all of them published in English. This table indicates the main reviews of these journals,
well as the latest available impact factor (2019). The journal with the highest number of
all of them
The thematic studiedpublished
publications
in the in English.
is Renewable
different and This table
Sustainable
communities isindicates
Energy Reviews,the
published inmain
with 30% ofreviews
1146 ofjour-
these jour
the total number
different
nals. Table as well asofthe latest
works (107 available
publications)impact
and with factor (2019).
two subject The publish
categoriesjournal with
in the first thesubject,
quartile. highest
The next numb
2 shows the 20 main journals indexed in Scopus that on this
publications is Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, with 30% of thethe
journal in number of publications is the Journal of Cleaner
all of them published in English. This table indicates the main reviews of these journals,
Production, with 14.58% of total nu
of latest
as well as the worksavailable
(107 publications) and(2019).
impact factor with two
Thesubject
journalcategories in the first
with the highest quartile.
number of The
publicationsjournal in number
is Renewable andofSustainable
publications is theReviews,
Energy Journal ofwith
Cleaner
30% Production, with 14.58% o
of the total number
jobs (52 publications), almost half of the jobs that appear in the journal where the la
jobs (52 publications), almost half of the jobs that appear in the journal where the largest
number of publications is concentrated. The third journal in number of publications is
Applied Energy with 14.30% of the works (51 publications), followed by Renewable Energy
with 13.74% (49 publications) and Sustainability with 12.90% (46 publications).
Table 2. Top 20 of the Scopus-indexed journals according to publish in the studio theme.
2019 Journal
ISSN Journal Category/Rank No. of Papers
Impact Factor
Renewable and Green & Sustainable science &

1364-0321 Sustainable Energy Technology/1 of 41 (Q1) 12,110 107
Reviews Energy & Fuels/7 of 112 (Q1)
Green & Sustainable science &
Journal of Cleaner Technology/6 of 41 (Q1)
0959-6526 7246 52
Production Engineering, Environmental/8 de
53 (Q1)
Environmental Sciences/19 of 265 (Q1)
Energy & Fuels/9 of 112 (Q)
0306-2619 Applied Energy 8848 51
Engineering, Chemical/6 of 143 (Q1)
0960-1481 Renewable Energy Technology/9 of 41 (Q1) 6274 49
Energy & Fuels/19 of 112 (Q1)
2071-1050 Sustainability 2576 46
Technology/26 of 41 (Q3)
0301-4215 Energy Policy 5042 41
0360-5442 Energy 6082 28
Thermodynamics/3 of 61 (Q1)
Energy Conversion and
0196-8904 Thermodynamics/2 of 61 (Q1) 8208 26
Management
Mechanics/3 of 136 (Q1)
International Journal of
0360-3199 Chemistry, Physical/48 of 159 (Q2) 4939 22
Hydrogen Energy
Electrochemistry/7 of 27 (Q2)
0038-092X Solar Energy Energy & Fuels/35 of 112 (Q2) 4608 22
1996-1073 Energies Energy & Fuels/63 of 112 (Q3) 2702 21
0378-7788 Energy and Buildings Construction & Building Technology/7 4867 17
of 63 (Q1)
Engineering, Civil/5 of 134 (Q1)
Energy for Sustainable
0973-0826 Technology/21 of 41 (Q3) 3610 13
Development
International Journal of Energy & Fuels/46 of 112 (Q2)
0363-907X 3741 13
Energy Research Nuclear Science & Technology/1 of
34 (Q1)
Science of the Total
0048-9697 Environmental Sciences/22 of 265 (Q1) 6551 13
Environment
1876-6102 Energy Procedia Open Access 12
Engineering, Chemical/11 of 143 (Q1)
0011-9164 Desalination 7098 8
Water Resources/2 of 94 (Q1)
Desalination and Water Engineering, Chemical/118 of 143 (Q4)
1944-3994 0.854 8
Treatment Water Resources/84 of 94 (Q4)
1470-160X Ecological Indicators Environmental Sciences/61 of 265 (Q1) 4229 8
Green Energy and
1865-3529 8
Technology
The magazines fall into one or more categories, except “Green Energy and Technology”
magazine, which has no category or impact factor. This magazine is a Springer series con-
Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 9

sisting of 299 volumes published from 2008 to 2021 and is focused on energy with ecological
and sustainable solutions with technological approaches and includes contributions to
industrial engineering and engineering design. All categories present in the four journals
fournumber
with the highest journalsofwith the highest
publications arenumber of publications
in the first quartile. Most areofinthe
thecategories
first quartile.
are Most o
categories
directly developed withare directly developed
sustainability or energy,with
exceptsustainability
for categories or energy, except for categories s
such as “Engineering,
Chemical” or as“Chemistry,
“Engineering, Chemical”
Physical”, or “Chemistry,
among others, which Physical”, among others,
are indirectly relatedwhich
to theare indire
related to the search keywords. Among the 20 most
search keywords. Among the 20 most important journals, 50% of the journals have all their important journals, 50% of the j
categories innals haveinallQ2,
Q1, 10% their
5% categories
in Q4 and 25% in Q1,of 10% in Q2, 5%
the journals have in categories
Q4 and 25% of the journals h
in different
categories
percentiles. Most in different percentiles.
of the publications Most focus
listed in the table of theonpublications
journals withlisted a high inimpact
the table focu
factor, with ajournals with a than
value greater high 2.5
impact
in allfactor,
cases,with
excepta value greater
for the journal than 2.5 in all cases,
“Desalination andexcept for
journalwhich
Water Treatment”, “Desalination
is in the andfourthWater Treatment”,
percentile. which
This fact is in the
confirms fourth percentile.
a preference for This
researchers toconfirms a preference
publish their work in for researchers
journals with thetomost
publish their work
appropriate in journals
categories, the with
most the most
favoured journals being
propriate the ones with
categories, a high
the most percentile.
favoured journals being the ones with a high percentil
The languages Thepresent
languages in thepresent
different publications
in the are shown inare
different publications Figure
shown 6. This graph6. This gr
in Figure
shows that theshowsmainthatlanguage
the mainislanguage
English. isItEnglish.
accounts the 98.15%
It accounts theof98.15%
total papers. The
of total papers. The p
preference oference
the researchers is English-language
of the researchers journals. journals.
is English-language German is the second
German is thelanguage
second languag
for publications, and it contributes
publications, to 0.52%to
and it contributes of0.52%
the total
of thepublications. There are
total publications. Therethe are
samethe same n
number of publications in languages such as Chinese or Spanish (16 works),
ber of publications in languages such as Chinese or Spanish (16 works), less than 0.38 less than 0.38%
of the total. In
theaddition,
total. In there is a wide
addition, therevariety of languages,
is a wide variety of such as Portuguese,
languages, French,
such as Portuguese, Fre
Italian, Japanese or Russian, although the number of such publications
Italian, Japanese or Russian, although the number of such publications is exceedingly small
is exceedi
and negligible, 12 publications
small and negligible, in the largest case (0.28%).
12 publications in the largest case (0.28%).
English,
4181
Portuguese,
12
German,
Spanish,
22 Chinese,
16
16 French, Japanese,
2 2 Persian,
1
Bosnian,
Italian, Turkish,
3 Russian,
2 2
1
Figure 6. Representation of 6.
Figure language of publications.
Representation of language of publications.
3.2. Establishing and Analysis of Communities
3.2. Establishing and Analysis of Communities
The search developed in this work yields a total of 4260 documents, among which
The search developed in this work yields a total of 4260 documents, among w
2195 relationships are established. Through a filtering process, documents that do not
2195 relationships
present relationships are established.
with others are eliminated,Through a filtering
considering process,
that most of documents
these works that do not
are in the distribution belt. Finally, the documents between which there are relationships,works ar
sent relationships with others are eliminated, considering that most of these
the distribution
and which essentially belt.core
form the Finally, thedistribution,
of the documents between which there
are maintained, Figureare7.relationships,
The
total numberwhich essentially
of documents formisthe
studied core oftothe
reduced distribution,
26.90% are(1146
of the total maintained,
works) and Figure
the 7. The t
existing distribution presents 1872 relationships (85.28% of the total). The size of the nodes and the
number of documents studied is reduced to 26.90% of the total (1146 works)
depends on theisting distribution between
collaborations presents 1872
authorsrelationships
and not only(85.28%
on theofnumber
the total). The size of the no
of citations
in the documents. A document can be highly referenced, but if the authors worknumber
depends on the collaborations between authors and not only on the alone of citat
in the documents.
and do not interact with others, A document
it has a smallercannode
be highly referenced,
than another but if the
publication withauthors
fewer work a
andindo
references, but not interact
which with others,
the authors developit ahas a smaller
greater numbernodeofthan another publication
collaborations. In the with fe
references,
spatial distribution but
of the in which the
documents, nineauthors develop
communities a greater number
constituted of collaborations.
by the works can be In
spatial distribution of the documents, nine
differentiated, between which there are multiple interactions. communities constituted by the works ca
differentiated, between which there are multiple interactions.
21, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 10 of 31
Sustainability assessment, 15.27%

Sustainable energy solutions,
14.40%
Environmental payback time
Analysis, 14.14%
Sustainability of solar energy
in different scenarios, 13.18%
Environmental sustainability, 12.13%
Solar energy applications, 8.64%
Sustainable energy optimisation,
8.20%
Energy transition, 7.85%
Energy and sustainable scenarios,
6.20%
Figure 7. Distribution of the nodes

Figurestudied.
7. Distribution of the nodes studied.
In the spatial of
In the spatial representation representation
the nodes, of it the nodes, it is
is difficult todifficult
establishto establish
the size the
of size
eachof each one
of the communities, due to the interrelation between
one of the communities, due to the interrelation between them. Among the nine commu- them. Among the nine communities
nities present, five of them have a comparable size and are made up of more than 12% of of the doc-
present, five of them have a comparable size and are made up of more than 12%
uments studied. The Sustainability assessment community stands out notably, comprising
the documents studied. The Sustainability assessment community stands out notably,
15.27% of the works, followed by Sustainable energy solutions (14.40%) and Environmental
comprising 15.27% of the time
payback works, followed
analysis (14.14%),by Sustainable
of equivalentenergy
size. Thesolutions
next two (14.40%)
communities andare slightly
Environmental payback time analysis (14.14%), of equivalent size. The next two commu-
smaller in size, they are the Sustainability of solar energy in different scenarios (13.18%) and
nities are slightly Environmental
smaller in size, they are the
sustainability Sustainability
(12.13%) of solar
communities. energy
There in different
are three other communities
scenarios (13.18%) withand an Environmental
equivalent size and sustainability
less than 9%, (12.13%)
which are communities.
the Solar energyThere are (8.64%),
applications
Sustainable energy optimization (8.20%) and the Energy
three other communities with an equivalent size and less than 9%, which are the Solar transition community (7.85%). The
energy applications (8.64%), Sustainable energy optimization (8.20%) and the Energy tran-documents
smallest community is Energy and sustainable scenarios and is made up of 71
sition communitythat represent
(7.85%). The6.20% of the
smallest total.
community is Energy and sustainable scenarios
In the studied documents, a total of 2746 keywords are presented, including a minority
and is made up of 71 documents that represent 6.20% of the total.
of acronyms. Most of the acronyms have been replaced by their equivalent words and the
In the studiedhyphens
documents, a total of 2746 keywords are presented, including a minor-
have been eliminated, besides, all the words in the singular have been considered,
ity of acronyms. Most of the acronyms
although their expressions haveinbeen replaced
the plural havebybeen
their equivalent
counted. words
Figure and the global
8 shows
the hyphens haverepresentation
been eliminated, besides,
of these keywords, all the words in
considering thetheir
that singular have been
size is related con-
to their frequency of
sidered, althoughappearance.
their expressions
Figure 9in the plural
represents the have
10 mostbeen counted.
repeated Figure
keywords 8 shows
globally andthe
their number
of occurrences.
global representation of these keywords, considering that their size is related to their fre-
quency of appearance.InFigure the previous figures, the
9 represents theword with repeated
10 most the highestkeywords
number of repetitions
globally and is Sustainabil-
ity, with
their number of occurrences. 286 occurrences and it represents more than 10% of the total of keywords, being
usually the most repeated in all communities. The number of repetitions of this word is
much higher than the repetitions of the following word, Renewable energy (6.5% of the
total words), and the difference in sizes in the global representation is very remarkable.
The third word in global importance is Solar energy and its number of appearances is
less than half of the repetitions of the most important word, 4.6% of the total. The rest
of the words have a repetition number fewer than one hundred, as in the case of Energy
(2.95%) or Photovoltaic (2.91%). The 10 most globally repeated words are usually among
the 10 most repeated in each community, and they constitute 37% of the total number of
existing words. All of them are related to the theme of sustainability, renewable energy
and concepts related to solar energy, such as Solar energy or Solar photovoltaic (1.49%).
The rest of the words appear on a small number of occasions, so their size compared to the
rest is much smaller and they represent less than 1% of the total keywords.
ity of acronyms. Most of the acronyms have been replaced by their equivalent words and
the hyphens have been eliminated, besides, all the words in the singular have been con-
sidered, although their expressions in the plural have been counted. Figure 8 shows the
Sustainability 2021, 13, 6295 global representation of these keywords, considering that their size is related to11their
of 31 fre-
quency of appearance. Figure 9 represents the 10 most repeated keywords globally and
their number of occurrences.
, x FOR PEER REVIEW 11 of 31
Figure 8. Representation
Figure ofofthe
8. Representation themost
mostglobally representativekeywords.
globally representative keywords.
Figure 9. Representation of9.the

Figure 10 most repeated
Representation of the 10 keywords globally.
most repeated keywords globally.
The documents that constitute the main nodes of each community have been carefully
In the previous figures, the word with the highest number of repetitions is Sustaina-
studied. Through this study, the most important achievements of each investigation, its
bility, with 286 occurrences and it represents
scope and implications in currentmore thansociety
and future 10% can of the total of keywords,
be determined.
being usually the most repeated in all communities. The number of repetitions of this
word is much higher 3.2.1.
than Community Sustainability
the repetitions of theAssessment
following word, Renewable energy (6.5%
The evaluation of sustainability
of the total words), and the difference in sizes in the hasglobal
been widely studied, different
representation methods,
is very scenarios
remark-
and parameters are established based on this concept. Additionally, it has been evaluated
able. The third word in global importance is Solar energy and its number of appearances
in different time horizons: current, short, medium, and long term. Despite this, establishing
is less than half of the repetitions
a single standardof or the most important
a common consensus onword, 4.6% oftothe
the indicators total.forThe
be used rest
sustainability
of the words have aassessment
repetitionisnumber
a currentfewer thanSo,
challenge. one hundred,
it is as in the topic
a widely discussed case and
of Energy
a fact that is
observed in this community. It brings together different
(2.95%) or Photovoltaic (2.91%). The 10 most globally repeated words are usually among examples of research, which aim
to guide and evaluate energy systems towards energy sustainability.
the 10 most repeated in each community, and they constitute 37% of the total number of
This community is made up of 175 documents. It is the first community in size with
existing words. All aofcontribution
them are of related
15.27% to the theme
of published of sustainability,
documents. renewable
This community is in theenergy
main area of
and concepts related thetodistribution
solar energy,(Figuresuch as Solar energy
7), highlighting or Solar
the existing photovoltaic
influence with the larger (1.49%).
communities
The rest of the words suchappear on a small
as the Sustainable number
energy of and
solutions occasions, so their
Environmental size analysis
payback compared to
communities.
It also maintains important relationships with
the rest is much smaller and they represent less than 1% of the total keywords.the Solar energy applications community
and the Energy optimization community. This community has an influence on the rest of
The documentsthethat constitute the main nodes of each community have been care-
communities, since the main issue addressed in this community can be considered a
fully studied. Through this study,
cross-cutting issuethe mostthat
to those important achievements
make up the of each investigation,
rest of the communities. Figure 10a shows the
its scope and implications in current
concentration and future
of the nodes society canThree
of this community. be determined.
larger nodes are observed compared
to the rest:
3.2.1. Community Sustainability Assessment
The evaluation of sustainability has been widely studied, different methods, scenar-
ios and parameters are established based on this concept. Additionally, it has been evalu-
ated in different time horizons: current, short, medium, and long term. Despite this, es-
Sustainability
3, x FOR PEER REVIEW 2021, 13, 6295 12 of 31
12 of 31
• “Sustainability assessment of energy systems: Integrating environmental, economic

at the global level and and
both represent 35% of the total of the words present in this com-
social aspects” with 258 cites [13].
munity. Seven of the• 10“Using
mostarepeated words
sustainability intothis
index community
assess are among
energy technologies the electrification”
for rural globally
repeated words (Figurewith
7), as they[14].
50 cites consider issues related to the evaluation of sustainabil-
ity, one of the most•studied
“Energy systemin
aspects assessment with sustainability
the documents discussed. indicators” with 168 cites [15].
LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS 8

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT 8
MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION MAKING 9
SOLAR ENERGY 9
PHOTOVOLTAIC 10
SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT 12
ENERGY 13
LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT 24
RENEWABLE ENERGY 24
SUSTAINABILITY 45
0 10 20 30 40 50
(a) (b)
Figure 10. Sustainability assessment:assessment:
Figure 10. Sustainability (a) Manuscripts published;
(a) Manuscripts (b) keywords.
published; (b) keywords.
E. Santoyo-Castelazo Figure
and10b A.represents
Azapagicthe top 10
(2014) keywordsthe
considers of this
life community
cycle, its cost, and andtheir the
number
of appearances, which constitute 6% of the total keywords. Among these 10 words,
evaluation of socialsustainability
sustainability [13]. For this evaluation, a multicriteria decision system
and renewable energy are the two words with the highest frequency of
is established, and appearance
it is applied at the different
to global levelscenarios with different
and both represent 35% of the energy systems.
total of the words This
present
methodology allows in decision-makers
this community. Seven to incorporate
of the 10 mostdifferent preferences
repeated words for sustainabil-
in this community are among
ity criteria, as wellthe
as globally repeated
to identify thewords
most(Figure 7), as they
sustainable considerFor
options. issues
itsrelated to theitevaluation
analysis, estab- of
sustainability, one of the most studied aspects in the documents discussed.
lishes some environmental, economic, and social indicators, in addition to energy tech-
E. Santoyo-Castelazo and A. Azapagic (2014) considers the life cycle, its cost, and the
nology, two possible scenarios
evaluation (renewable
of social sustainabilityand[13].fossil energy)
For this in Mexico
evaluation, and their
a multicriteria decisiontimesystem
horizon. The resultsis highlight
established,the andneed for support
it is applied to differentor compensation to achieve
scenarios with different energythe most This
systems.
sustainable option,methodology
energy policies allowsthat decision-makers
help sustainable to incorporate different preferences
development for sustainability
being necessary.
criteria, as well as to identify the most sustainable
With the aim to meet the energy and environmental objectives set by the European options. For its analysis, it establishes
some environmental, economic, and social indicators, in addition to energy technology,
Union for 2020, it istwo
necessary to provide the governments with accurate energy studies,
possible scenarios (renewable and fossil energy) in Mexico and their time horizon. The
which assist them to make
results decisions
highlight regarding
the need changes
for support in energy policy.
or compensation to achieve D.the
Streimikiene
most sustainable
and collaborators (2012), a decision
option, energy policies support
that help framework is developed
sustainable development to necessary.
being choose the most
With the aimusing
sustainable energy technologies to meettwo the energy and environmental
multi-criteria methods objectives
[16]. Both set bydecision
the European
Union for 2020, it is necessary to provide the governments with accurate energy studies,
methods show that renewable energy sources should be the ones chosen to address en-
which assist them to make decisions regarding changes in energy policy. D. Streimikiene
ergy demand. Solarand and hydraulic (2012),
collaborators energy stand out
a decision ahead
support of the rest
framework of renewable
is developed to chooseenergythe most
sources, with fossilsustainable
fuels being the least
energy sustainable
technologies using choice.
two multi-criteria methods [16]. Both decision
The evaluationmethods
of the show that renewable
sustainability energy sources
of energy should beapplied
technologies the ones chosen
in rural to address
electrifi- energy
cation is developeddemand. Solar and hydraulic energy stand out ahead of the rest of renewable energy
by B. Mainali and S. Silveira [14]. One of the most important energies
sources, with fossil fuels being the least sustainable choice.
and technological challenges of today
The evaluation of theis sustainability
to give access to electricity
of energy technologies to applied
the most isolated
in rural electrifica-
and disadvantagedtion populations.
is developedIn bythis work,and
B. Mainali theS.sustainability
Silveira [14]. One index
of theofmost
energy technol-
important energies
ogy is evaluated, using multivariate
and technological techniques
challenges of today iscalled
to give Principal Component
access to electricity to the mostAnalysis
isolated and
disadvantaged
(PCA), which are applied to anpopulations.
area of India. In this Inwork,
this thecase,sustainability
the results index of energy
indicate that technology
the
is evaluated, using multivariate techniques called Principal Component Analysis (PCA),
technologies with the highest sustainability yields are those based on biomass, followed
which are applied to an area of India. In this case, the results indicate that the technologies
by hydroelectric ones.
with Solar, wind,
the highest and theiryields
sustainability hybrids have
are those theon
based best sustainability
biomass, followed byconsid-
hydroelectric
erations over time. It is confirmed that in the rural context and without strong political
support, emerging renewable technologies have difficulties competing with fossil-based
technology since their excessive cost must be reduced. By establishing an individual con-
sumption scenario, solar, wind, biomass and fossil energy are valued. In [15] the study is
tions for sustainable development, so developing countries should rely on these energy
sources to ensure sustainable growth.
3.2.2. Community Sustainable Energy Solutions

Currently, the growth of less developed countries implies an increase in global en-
ergy demand, for which sustainable energy solutions must be considered. In this commu-
nity, these types of solutions are established through different alternatives, aimed to re-
ones. Solar, wind, and their hybrids have the best sustainability considerations over time.
duce the environmental impact of power generation. To achieve this goal, sustainable en-
It is confirmed that in the rural context and without strong political support, emerging
ergy sources are proposed, with the disadvantage
renewable technologies have difficultiesof being intermittent
competing andtechnology
with fossil-based fluctuating.since their
This community is made
excessive up of
cost must be 165 documents.
reduced. It is an
By establishing theindividual
second consumption
communityscenario,in size,solar,
with a contributionwind, biomassofand
of 14.40% fossil energy
published are valued. It
documents. Inis
[15] the study
located is carried
at one of the outextremes
in the special
case of an island, using environmental, social, and economic criteria, to which the available
of the total distribution (Figure 2) because its relationship is established with the commu-
resources are added.
nities’ Sustainability assessment, Solar energy
Another publication from this applications and Sustainability
community develops and analyses aof solarforen-
model priori-
ergy in different scenarios.
tizing available renewable sources, to establish a sustainable energy policy in a country
like Malaysia
Figure 11a shows [17], where itofis the
the concentration estimated
nodes,that 90% of
where the energy
there are sixconsumed
medium-sized comes from
fossil sources. Technical, economic,
nodes and three main nodes. The three nodes are: social, and environmental aspects are considered in the
analysis. The study concludes that photovoltaic and hydraulic energy are the best options
• “A review on forclean energydevelopment,
sustainable solutions for better sustainability”
so developing countries shouldwith
rely196 citesenergy
on these [18]. sources
• “A key review to on exergetic
ensure analysis
sustainable growth. and assessment of renewable energy resources
for a sustainable future” with 584 cites [19].
3.2.2. Community Sustainable Energy Solutions
• “Energy, exergy, environmental, enviroeconomic, exergoenvironmental (EXEN) and
Currently, the growth of less developed countries implies an increase in global energy
exergoenviroeconomic (EXENEC) analyses of solar collectors” with 39 cites [20].
demand, for which sustainable energy solutions must be considered. In this community,
Figure 11b represents
these typesthe top 10 ofarethe
of solutions most repeated
established keywords
through different in the community,
alternatives, aimed to reduce
the environmental
with 9.8% of the total keywords. The impact of power
most generation.
repeated word in To this
achieve this goal, sustainable
community is sustaina- energy
sources are proposed, with the disadvantage of being intermittent and fluctuating.
bility, being also the most repeated word globally. Besides, its frequency of appearance
This community is made up of 165 documents. It is the second community in size,
represents 22% of with
the arepetitions
contribution ofthat raise
14.40% the top 10
of published words Itinisthis
documents. community,
located a fre- of
at one of the extremes
quency higher thanthethat
totalpresent in other
distribution (Figurelarger communities.
2) because its relationshipOther words with
is established represented in
the communities’
the top 10 of this community are located among the top 10 of global keywords. An exam- in
Sustainability assessment, Solar energy applications and Sustainability of solar energy
different
ple of this is the words scenarios.
Solar energy, energy, renewable energy efficiency or energy anal-
Figure 11a shows the concentration of the nodes, where there are six medium-sized
ysis. The second word with the highest appearance is exergy (16%). It is not located among
nodes and three main nodes. The three nodes are:
the five with the highest
•
global frequency, but it is among the 10 most repeated. Exergy is
“A review on clean energy solutions for better sustainability” with 196 cites [18].
a concept of vital importance
• in thisoncommunity
“A key review as it and
exergetic analysis is considered
assessment of a renewable
key factorenergy
in energy
resources
efficiency, its quantification and evaluation.
for a sustainable future” withAmong
584 citesthe top 10 keywords there are only
[19].
•
two concepts, hydrogen “Energy, exergy, environmental,
production enviroeconomic,
(6.6%) and hydrogen (6.2%)exergoenvironmental
that are not among (EXEN)
the and
exergoenviroeconomic (EXENEC) analyses of solar collectors” with 39 cites [20].
10 global keywords, but among the 25 with the globally highest repetition.
EXERGY ANALYSIS 13
ENERGY EFFICIENCY 13
HYDROGEN 17
HYDROGEN PRODUCTION 18
RENEWABLE ENERGY 21
EFFICIENCY 23
ENERGY 31
SOLAR ENERGY 32
EXERGY 43
SUSTAINABILITY 60
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
(a) (b)
Figure 11. Sustainable energy solutions:
Figure 11. Sustainable (a) Manuscripts
energy solutions: published;
(a) Manuscripts (b)(b)
published; keywords.
keywords.
Figure 11b
The PhD. Arif Hepbaşli is represents
an author thewith
top 10several
of the most repeated keywords
publications among in the
thecommunity,
most im-with
9.8% of the total keywords. The most repeated word in this community is sustainability,
portant ones in this community. In 2005 he developed an exergy analysis through the
being also the most repeated word globally. Besides, its frequency of appearance represents
thermodynamic simulation of different
22% of the repetitions thatenergy
raise thesystems [21].inExergy
top 10 words allows the
this community, measure-
a frequency higher
ment of the maximum useful work that can be done by a system that interacts with an
environment, under pressure and temperature conditions, and it is used to improve the
than that present in other larger communities. Other words represented in the top 10 of
this community are located among the top 10 of global keywords. An example of this
is the words Solar energy, energy, renewable energy efficiency or energy analysis. The
second word with the highest appearance is exergy (16%). It is not located among the
five with the highest global frequency, but it is among the 10 most repeated. Exergy is a
concept of vital importance in this community as it is considered a key factor in energy
efficiency, its quantification and evaluation. Among the top 10 keywords there are only
two concepts, hydrogen production (6.6%) and hydrogen (6.2%) that are not among the 10
global keywords, but among the 25 with the globally highest repetition.
The PhD. Arif Hepbaşli is an author with several publications among the most im-
portant ones in this community. In 2005 he developed an exergy analysis through the
thermodynamic simulation of different energy systems [21]. Exergy allows the measure-
ment of the maximum useful work that can be done by a system that interacts with an
environment, under pressure and temperature conditions, and it is used to improve the
concept of active energy [22]. One of his most important publications is [19], which es-
tablishes an evaluation from the perspective of the exergetic efficiencies of solar energy
systems, wind energy, geothermal energy, biomass, and other hybrid renewable energy
systems. It should be noted that the system with a hybrid solar collector is the most efficient
(13.3%), while the system with a solar collector has the lowest efficiency (4.4%). In wind
systems, greater efficiency is obtained at high wind speeds (55%), compared to low wind
speed systems (40%). These results can be useful to identify opportunities for energy
efficiency and/or energy conservation, as well as to dictate the correct energy and exergetic
management strategies in a country.
Subsequently, the researcher Hakan Caliskan (2017) performs a similar review on sys-
tems with solar collectors [20]. This publication includes analyses of exergy, environmental,
energy-based environmental analysis (enviroeconomic), exergy-based environmental anal-
ysis (EXEN), exergy-based environmental and economic analysis (EXENEC). The results
show that for a better evaluation, environmental and environmental-economic aspects
must be considered, all of them based on exergy.
The most important publication of this community is a review, where energy sources
are classified, to establish improvements according to technical, economic, and environ-
mental performance criteria [18]. The results show that the comparison criteria indicate
the different levels of applicability of each type of energy. If environmental impacts are
considered, the most applicable energies are geothermal energy, wind energy, hydro (river
run), oceanic, solar, hydroelectric, nuclear, and lastly, biomass energy.
Exergy is also essential in the study of the energy requirements of buildings, as it
is a very important factor in the global energy framework [22]. Currently, buildings
consume 40% of the world’s energy, which is used mainly for heating, ventilation, and air
conditioning (HVAC). Therefore, low exergy systems (LowEx) are proposed, implying small
energy values, which could be achieved with sustainable sources, reducing CO2 levels.
The current energy problem could be solved, from the point of view of sustainability,
using hydrogen as fuel for energy generation [23]. Some of the advantages of this energy
source are its elevated level of conversion, its abundance, the easiness to be transported over
long distances, its easy conversion to other energy sources and its HHV (higher heating
values) and LHV (lower heating values) higher than those present in conventional fossil
fuels. Among the different methods to produce hydrogen, the photocatalytic methods for
the separation of water stand out [24]. Research reveals that the efforts should be focused
on studying new materials and photocatalysts, which allow creating photocatalytic systems
with great stability, having appropriate forbidden bands and with correctly located valence
and conduction bands. All possible advances in this field will make the establishment of
more efficient photocatalytic water separation processes and greater efficiency in hydrogen
production systems possible.
13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 15 of 31
3.2.3. Community Environmental Payback Time Analysis

• “Review on life cycle assessment
The production of energysolar
of photovoltaic payback and
energy is greenhouse
considered gas emission
clean energy, of
but throughout
its life cycle (LCA) some effects
solar photovoltaic systems” with 343 cites [25]. deviate from the concept of clean production. In this
community, some of the multiple sustainability evaluation indicators that exist in the
• “The sustainability indicators of power production systems” with 81 cites [26].
literature are raised and that allows, through life cycle analysis, the evaluation of and
• “Environmental payback
reduction in the time analysisimpact
environmental of a roof-mounted building-integrated
of the energy production process. pho-
tovoltaic (BIPV) This
system in Hong
community Kong”
is made up with
of 162 119 cites [27].
documents. It is the third community in size with
a contribution of 14.14% of published documents. In Figure 7, it is located at one extreme
Figure 12b shows the top 10 keywords with a representation of 4.9% of total key-
because the topic discussed maintain relationships with the communities: Sustainability
words. The most common
assessment,word is Photovoltaic,
Environmental withSolar
sustainability, a 3.6%.
energy ofapplications,
the total words
Energypresent
transitioninand
this community. Sustainable
In contrastenergy
to what happensFigure
optimisation. in most communities,
12a shows the most
the concentration repeated
of the nodes, the
word is not the most frequent globally, although it is the fifth in the global ranking. The
main node and 11 medium-sized nodes are observed. The three main nodes are:
following keywords• according
“Review onto lifethe appearance
cycle assessment in this community
of energy payback andare sustainable
greenhouse (3.5%) of
gas emission
solar photovoltaic systems” with 343 cites [25].
and renewable energy (2.7%), being the two most globally frequent keywords. The rest of
• “The sustainability indicators of power production systems” with 81 cites [26].
the words that make
•
up the top 10 are among the 20 most frequent words, except for solar
“Environmental payback time analysis of a roof-mounted building-integrated photo-
cells (0.8%) which is among the 50system
voltaic (BIPV) mostinglobally frequent
Hong Kong” words
with 119 (8%).
cites [27].
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT 5
SOLAR CELLS 6
LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS 6
ENERGY 6
SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC 7
SOLAR ENERGY 17
RENEWABLE ENERGY 19
SUSTAINABILITY 25
PHOTOVOLTAIC 26
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
(a) (b)
Figure 12. Environmental
Figure payback
12. Environmental time
payback analysis:
time analysis: (a) Manuscripts
(a) Manuscripts published;
(b) keywords.
Figure 12b shows the top 10 keywords with a representation of 4.9% of total keywords.
Sustainability can be assessed using the energy payback time indicator (EPBT) and
The most common word is Photovoltaic, with a 3.6%. of the total words present in this
the rate of emission of greenhouse
community. In contrastgases (GHG),
to what as in
happens [25]. communities,
in most In this work, theseveral photovol-
most repeated word is
taic systems are compared:
not the most mono-crystalline, multi-crystalline,
frequent globally, although amorphous-silicon
it is the fifth in the global ranking. The (a-Si),
following
CdTethin film (CdTe),
keywords CISthin
according filmto (CIS), high-concentration
the appearance in this community PV, are
heterojunction solarand
sustainable (3.5%)
renewable energy (2.7%), being the two most globally frequent
cells and dye-sensitized solar cells. A summary of the results extracted from this compar- keywords. The rest of the
words that make up the top 10 are among the 20 most frequent words, except for solar cells
ison is shown in (0.8%)
Tablewhich
3. It should be noted that the new production processes of solar
is among the 50 most globally frequent words (8%).
cells and their application in technologies
Sustainability such as
can be assessed building
using integrated
the energy photovoltaic
payback time (BIPV)and
indicator (EPBT)
or PV-thermal (PV-T) canofhelp
the rate to reduce
emission the lifegases
of greenhouse cycle(GHG),
energy as and unwanted
in [25]. environmen-
In this work, several photo-
voltaic systems
tal impacts of photovoltaic systems. are compared: mono-crystalline, multi-crystalline, amorphous-silicon (a-Si),
CdTethin film (CdTe), CISthin film (CIS), high-concentration PV, heterojunction solar cells
and dye-sensitized solar cells. A summary of the results extracted from this comparison
Table 3. Sustainability indicator data [25].
is shown in Table 3. It should be noted that the new production processes of solar cells
and their application in technologies such asEPBT
LCA building integrated photovoltaic
GHG (BIPV) or
Solar CellPV-thermal (PV-T) can help to reduce the life cycle energy and unwanted environmental
(MJ/m
impacts of photovoltaic
2)
systems. (Year) (g CO2-eq./kW h)
Mono-crystalline 2860–5253 1.7–2.7 29–45
Multi-crystalline 2699–5150 1.5–2.6 23–44
710–1990 1.8–3.5 18–50
CdTe thin film 790–1803 0.75–2.1 14–35
CIS thin film 1069–1684 1.45–2.2 10.5–46
Table 3. Sustainability indicator data [25].
LCA EPBT GHG

Solar Cell
(MJ/m2 ) (Year) (g CO2 -eq./kW h)
Mono-crystalline 2860–5253 1.7–2.7 29–45
Multi-crystalline 2699–5150 1.5–2.6 23–44
710–1990 1.8–3.5 18–50
CdTe thin film 790–1803 0.75–2.1 14–35
CIS thin film 1069–1684 1.45–2.2 10.5–46
L. Lu and H.X. Yang carried out a study in 2010 where they analysed the EPBT
indicator and the greenhouse gas recovery time (GPBT) of a 22 KW BIPV system, located on
the roof of a building and connected to the network in the city of Hong Kong [27]. In this
type of system, the orientation and location of the panels notably influence the indicators.
In the same installation, values range from 7.1 years (optimal orientations) to 20 years (less
favoured orientations). Therefore, the locations and orientations where the highest incident
solar irradiance is captured must be selected, being a fundamental concept to obtain better
sustainable results.
Other sustainability indicators such as Unit energy cost, CO2 emissions, Availability,
Efficiency, Freshwater consumption, Land use, and Social influences, [26] are also studied.
From the comparative analysis of these indicators, it can be deduced that wind power
plants are the most sustainable, followed by nuclear, hydroelectric, and photovoltaic plants.
The difficulty in the availability of geothermal resources is remarkable, being into the least
sustainable, with values like those of natural gas and fuel cell technologies. Coal-fired
power plants are at the least sustainable base of the analysed technologies, and the disuse
of coal is forecast by 2050.
In [28], the environmental and economic impact of two photovoltaic plants located
in Milan and Palermo (Italy) is analysed. It is concluded that with 134 MW, 8.5 teq. of
CO2 can be saved per KW installed, generating a positive economic net flow of €2000 per
KW installed.
In recent years, reviews have been carried out on the relationship between renewable
energies and sustainability, considering the economic, social, and environmental dimen-
sions, an example of this is [29]. This work is the first critical review that considers these
three aspects simultaneously, showing that the countries with the highest production in
terms of renewable energy and sustainability are the United States, the European Union,
China, and the United Kingdom. In developed countries, a greater variety of renewable
energy sources are used, with wind and solar energy being among the most investigated.
Furthermore, the dimension with the most weight within sustainability is environmental,
followed by economic.
To achieve sustainability, it is essential to promote sustainable electricity generation
in the industry, which represents 37% of the total energy consumption. Currently, the
goal is that solar heat could replace fossil fuels, which are used to satisfy 80% of the
industrial demand, so the integration of a sustainable thermal energy storage system
is essential. Koçak, Fernandez and Paksoy (2020), a global review of current research
on sensitive thermal energy storage (STES) and its applications in industrial solar heat
processes is presented [30]. At this moment, solar applications in industry are designed
for low temperature processes (less than 150 ◦ C) and more than a half are being used to
supply hot water up to 95 ◦ C in pasteurization, cleaning, and preheating processes. The
STES systems significantly reduce the cost of fuel and CO2 emissions. In the future, if
the applications of industrial solar heat strengthen, the objectives of climate change could
be achieved.
3.2.4. Community Sustainability of Solar Energy in Different Scenarios

Promoting access to electricity supplies is a great concern of governments. Access to
electricity is a challenge in some rural areas far from cities, where in most cases the best
option is an off-grid renewable energy system. In this community, studies are established
• “Renewable rural electrification:
in different Sustainability
scenarios, which aim to solve assessment of mini-hybrid
access to electricity. off-grid
Possible improvements to
technological systems in the
be implemented in African context”
future facilities arewith 88 cites
identified, [32].
considering that to achieve a sustain-
• “Sustainability assessment
able energy ofcomplex
supply, renewable energy projects
institutional, economic,for environmental,
off-grid rural electrifica-
and socio-cultural
interactions must be developed.
tion: The Pangan-an Island case in the Philippines” with 50 cites [33].
This community is made up of 151 documents. It is the fourth community in size
Figure 13b represents the 10 most frequent keywords of this community, which con-
with a contribution of 13.18% of published documents. This community mainly maintains
stitute 4.8% of the total,with
relations a proportion to that
the Sustainable of the
energy previous
solutions, community,
Energy as they
transition and are of energy
Sustainable
similar sizes. The keywords renewable energy and sustainability are the most repeated,
optimization communities (Figure 7). Figure 13a shows the concentration of the nodes,
with the same frequency
where threeof of appearance in theones,
them are the main community (3.9%).
and the rest These words
are medium-sized are also
nodes. These three
the two most globally important keywords, a fact that is usually the general tone in most
nodes are:
communities. Other
• words such asofSolar
“Sustainability energy
off-grid (1.9%), solar
photovoltaic photovoltaic
systems (1.6%) andinpho-
for rural electrification developing
tovoltaic (1.3%), arecountries:
among the 10 mostwith
A review” globally
32 citesfrequent.
[31]. Most of the words that make
up the top 10 of• this“Renewable
communityruraldealelectrification:
with concepts Sustainability assessment
related to solar energyoformini-hybrid
renewableoff-grid
energies, such as thetechnological systems(0.9%),
solar home system in the African context”transitions
sustainability with 88 cites(0.9%),
[32]. microgrid
•
(0.8%) or renewables (0.8%). All the words in the top 10 of this community off-grid
“Sustainability assessment of renewable energy projects for are amongruralthe
electrifica-
tion: The Pangan-an Island case in the Philippines” with 50 cites [33].
50 most globally repeated.
RENEWABLES 6
MICROGRID 6
SUSTAINABILITY TRANSITIONS 7
SOLAR HOME SYSTEM 7
PHOTOVOLTAIC 10
SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC 12
RURAL ELECTRIFICATION 12
SOLAR ENERGY 14
SUSTAINABILITY 29
RENEWABLE ENERGY 29
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
(a) (b)
Figure13.
Figure 13.Sustainability
Sustainability of solar
of solar energy
energy in different
in different scenarios:
scenarios: (a) Manuscripts
(a) Manuscripts published;
published; (b) key-
(b) keywords.
words.
Figure 13b represents the 10 most frequent keywords of this community, which
constitute
S. Feron (2016) 4.8% aofreview
presents the total,
ofathe
proportion
limitation to that of the previousin
of sustainability community, as they are of
a rural electri-
similar sizes. The keywords renewable energy and sustainability
fication scenario based on photovoltaic systems without connection to the grid [31]. Sus- are the most repeated,
tainability indicators are analysed from an institutional, economic, environmental, andare also
with the same frequency of appearance in the community (3.9%). These words
the two most globally important keywords, a fact that is usually the general tone in most
sociocultural perspective. From the institutional aspect, the countries with the least rural
communities. Other words such as Solar energy (1.9%), solar photovoltaic (1.6%) and
electrification are the least stable. Decentralized institutions do not consider the needs or
photovoltaic (1.3%), are among the 10 most globally frequent. Most of the words that make
lack of specialized knowledge
up the of the
top 10 of this users, so deal
community therewith
is a concepts
lack of coordination
related to solar between local
energy or renewable
and national governments. From an economic point of view, there are drawbacks
energies, such as the solar home system (0.9%), sustainability transitions (0.9%), microgrid since
photovoltaic systems
(0.8%) orrequire an initial
renewables (0.8%).investment.
All the words Ininthethelong
top 10term, they
of this are profitable
community are among the
50 most globally
and more environmentally repeated.
friendly, contrary to traditional energy systems. The low envi-
ronmental awareness S. in
Feron
rural(2016) presents
areas, whereathe review of the limitation
socio-economic levelofissustainability
low, does not inhelp
a rural elec-
to implement sustainable energy systems. To overcome all these inconveniences, it is nec-grid [31].
trification scenario based on photovoltaic systems without connection to the
Sustainability indicators are analysed from an institutional, economic, environmental, and
essary to coordinate and implement economic and environmental policies, through sub-
sociocultural perspective. From the institutional aspect, the countries with the least rural
sidies or microcredits, as well as environmental awareness. In line with this research,
electrification are the least stable. Decentralized institutions do not consider the needs or
Ulsrud et al. (2015) discusses
lack of specializeda solar powerofmodel
knowledge thatsoisthere
the users, developed
is a lackand tested in collab-
of coordination between local
oration with a Kenyan
and national governments. From an economic point of view, there are[34].
community and a team of scientific and technical experts The since
drawbacks
model is based on villages located
photovoltaic systemsinrequire
areas with dispersed
an initial settlement
investment. In thepatterns,
long term,representa-
they are profitable
tive of large parts
andofmore
Africa. This research
environmentally showscontrary
friendly, that to plan and develop
to traditional energyansystems.
energyThe sup-low envi-
ronmental awareness in rural areas, where the socio-economic
ply system it is necessary to consider the sociocultural and geographical context of the level is low, does not help to
area.
The case study of different remote scenarios reflects that to develop renewable sys-
tems in remote areas in a sustainable way, the connection to the national grid should be
considered in its design [31,32]. Brent and Rogers (2010) the sustainability of an off-grid
implement sustainable energy systems. To overcome all these inconveniences, it is neces-

sary to coordinate and implement economic and environmental policies, through subsidies
or microcredits, as well as environmental awareness. In line with this research, Ulsrud
et al. (2015) discusses a solar power model that is developed and tested in collaboration
with a Kenyan community and a team of scientific and technical experts [34]. The model
is based on villages located in areas with dispersed settlement patterns, representative
of large parts of Africa. This research shows that to plan and develop an energy supply
system it is necessary to consider the sociocultural and geographical context of the area.
The case study of different remote scenarios reflects that to develop renewable sys-
tems in remote areas in a sustainable way, the connection to the national grid should be
considered in its design [31,32]. Brent and Rogers (2010) the sustainability of an off-grid
mini-hybrid system for a rural village in South Africa is evaluated [32]. The system is made
up of wind, solar and lead-acid batteries. The results show that it is not a viable system,
due to the lack of economic subsidies that minimize the costs of supply in the short and
long term (maintenance of the installation). The problems derived from the technological
complexity to be developed must also be solved. A centralized off-grid solar plant on
Pangan—an island in the Philippines—is presented in [33]. The target group of this project
were users with low economic and cultural resources, whose main source of income was
fishing. These facilities require an initial investment and capital for their maintenance.
Due to the peculiarities of the location, no benefits were reported to compensate for the
minimal expense in electricity consumption, which makes this type of facility unviable.
Another case arises Amran et al. (2020), where a system in Saudi Arabia, a country in a
phase of economic and social growth, is studied [35]. So far, the energy consumption of this
country has been produced using natural gas and oil from its fields, which has significantly
increased CO2 emissions. These facts motivate government leaders of countries like this to
consider the need to build a sustainable energy network, supported by renewable energy
sources. In the work outlined Dauenhauer et al. (2020), it is determined that a compendium
between solar energy and photovoltaic energy can make the Saudi Arabian electricity grid
more sustainable, allowing the satisfaction of its internal demand and even selling energy
abroad [36]. Another country analysed in this community is Malawi, where 91% of its pop-
ulation does not have access to electricity. A sustainability analysis of 65 off-grid projects is
presented in [36]. The electricity supply of these projects is based on photovoltaics panels.
The analysis uses a novel assessment methodology that includes organisational, social,
technical, and economic factors. The sustainability of such projects is found to be low.
The most unfavourable aspect is the economic factor, due to the fact that only 9 of the 65
projects covered 80% of their long-term cost.
3.2.5. Community Environmental Sustainability

The main problem with renewable energy sources lies in making them competitive
and efficient, in comparison with conventional energy sources, keeping in mind their
environmental sustainability. In this community, the documents that are published relate
environmental sustainability with solar energy production. Currently, there is no agreed
upon method in the scientific community to assess sustainability, only indices that allow
its assessment from different perspectives. One of the most widely used concepts in this
community for the assessment of environmental sustainability is the emergency. This word
was defined in 1996 by Howard T. Odum as the sum of all energy inputs required directly
or indirectly in a process, to provide a given output, where the inputs are expressed in the
same form, usually solar energy [37].
This community is made up of 139 documents. It is the fifth community in size with a
contribution of 12.13% of published documents. This community maintains a relationship
with the Solar energy applications, Environmental payback time analysis and Sustainability
assessment communities mainly (Figure 7). Figure 14a shows the concentration of the
nodes, where there are three main nodes, while the rest are medium-sized nodes. The three
nodes are:
• “Monitoring patterns of sustainability in natural and man-made ecosystems” with

293 cites [38].
• “Environmental sustainability of wind power: An emergy analysis of a Chinese wind
OR PEER REVIEW farm” with 49 cites [39]. 19 of 31
• “Emergy evaluation of the performance and sustainability of three agricultural systems
with different scales and management” with 122 cites [40].
SOLAR 5
RENEWABLE ENERGY 5
DESALINATION 6
SOLAR ENERGY 7
EXERGY 8
ENERGY 12
EXERGY ANALYSIS 24
EMERGY 27
SUSTAINABILITY 45
0 10 20 30 40 50
(a) (b)
Figure 14. Environmental sustainability:
Figure 14. Environmental (a) Manuscripts
sustainability: published;
(a) Manuscripts (b)
published; (b)keywords.
keywords.
Figure 14b shows the top 10 of the most frequent keywords in this community, rep-
Figure 14b shows the top
resenting 10 of
21.9% thetotal
of the most frequent
words. The word keywords in thisnumber
with the highest community, rep-is
of repetitions
resenting 21.9% of the total words.
sustainability, which The word 6.83%
represents with ofthe thehighest
words that number
make upof therepetitions
community and is
which coincides with the most globally repeated
sustainability, which represents 6.83% of the words that make up the community and word. Among the 10 most important
words in this community, there are seven that also coincide with the 10 most globally
which coincides withfrequent,
the most globally repeated word. Among the 10 most important
although in a different order, as in exergy analysis (3.6%), energy (1.82%), exergy
words in this community, there
(1.21%) and are
solar seven
energy thatThe
(1.06%). also coincide
second with the
most repeated word10 in most globallyis
this community
frequent, although in emergy, whichorder,
a different representsas in4.10% of the analysis
exergy total of the(3.6%),
words inenergy
this community
(1.82%), (lessexergy
than 1%
global) and it is not among the top 10 global keywords, but in position 14. Other words
(1.21%) and solar energy (1.06%). The second most repeated word in this community is
that appear in the top 10 of the words of the community and not among those that make up
emergy, which represents
the top4.10% of the
10 of global wordstotalareof the words
desalination in this
(0.91%) and community (less these
solar (0.76%), despite thanbeing
1%
among the 25 most globally repeated and are strongly
global) and it is not among the top 10 global keywords, but in position 14. Other words related to concepts of environmental
sustainability, such as those treated in this community.
that appear in the top 10 S.ofUlgiati
the words of the community and not among those that make
and M.T. Brown (1998) in [38] the oscillating state of environmental sustain-
up the top 10 of global words
ability arethrough
is studied desalination
the emergency (0.91%) andconsidering
indicator, solar (0.76%), despite
that a system these
is sustainable
being among the 25 mostwhen itglobally
comprisesrepeated
ecological and andeconomic compatibility.
are strongly By studying
related the emergy
to concepts of indices,
envi-
as the environmental load index, the emergency return ratio, and the sustainability in-
ronmental sustainability, such as those treated in this community.
dex (defined as the relationship between the Emergency Return Ratio and the Emergy
S. Ulgiati and M.T. Brown
Investment (1998)
Ratio), in [38] the
the behaviour of theoscillating
system can bestate of environmental
established, sus-
and appropriate policy
measures can be applied to steer the system towards
tainability is studied through the emergency indicator, considering that a system is sus- more sustainable behaviours. In
this paper, seven countries with major differences in industrial development and natu-
tainable when it comprises ecological and economic compatibility. By studying the
ral resources are analysed (Papua New Guinea, Ecuador, Thailand, Mexico, the United
emergy indices, as theStates,
environmental loadAs
Italy, and Taiwan). index, the emergency
basic energy returnsociety
resources dwindle, ratio,will
andbethe sus-to
driven
tainability index (defined as theconversion
more efficient relationship systemsbetween
and greaterthe Emergency
dependence Return
on locally Ratio
available and
renewable
emergency sources.
the Emergy Investment Ratio), the behaviour of the system can be established, and appro-
Other studies analyse emergency indicators in other fields of study and different
priate policy measures can beYang
scenarios. applied to steer
et al., (2013) studythe system towards
the emergency indices from more sustainable
the ecological be-
perspective
haviours. In this paper, seven countries with major differences in industrial development
for the case of a wind farm in Guangxi, China [39]. Five indices are used for this study:
and natural resourcesThe areRenewable Percentage, Emergency Performance Ratio, Environmental Burden Ratio,
analysed (Papua New Guinea, Ecuador, Thailand, Mexico, the
Emerging Investment Ratio Emergy In-vestment Ratio, and the Emerging Sustainability
United States, Italy, Index.
and Taiwan).
The comparison As basic
with otherenergy resources
renewable systems dwindle, societyinwill
shows superiorities, termsbeof
driven to more efficient conversion systems and greater dependence on locally available
renewable emergency sources.
Other studies analyse emergency indicators in other fields of study and different sce-
narios. Yang et al., (2013) study the emergency indices from the ecological perspective for
sustainability and ecological cost, of wind energy, solar thermal energy and photovoltaic
technologies. These results can help to improve the planning of future wind farms and to
increase their sustainability.
J.F. Martin and collaborators (2006) the behaviour of emergy indicators in three agri-
cultural systems is studied: conventional corn production (Zea mays L.) in Kansas, USA,
blackberry (Ru-busrubus Watson) in Ohio, USA, and a polyculture rotation system in
Chiapas, Mexico [40]. From the analysis of the indicators, it can be concluded that the most
sustainable crops require renewable sources of energy, due to the substantial amounts of
energy needed for agricultural production.
Energy and heat cogeneration (CHP) processes using biomass and coal are also evalu-
ated, using an energy-focused environmental accounting method based on the embodied
solar energy (emergy) [41]. Plants are analysed from the point of view of long-term and
large-scale sustainability. Comparing cogeneration and independent production, biomass
cogeneration was found to be 3.3 times more efficient from the emergy point of view than
independent coal-based production. The emergy expresses how much work the biosphere
must do to provide a product or service. Given these results, the biosphere needs to work
77% less for the cogeneration of biomass compared to the independent production of heat
and energy based on coal. So, biomass-fed plants are much more sustainable from an
emergy point of view.
Emergy has also been used to compare renewable energy sources with traditional
energy sources. An example of this is presented in [42], where a thermal power plant is
compared to a photovoltaic power plant. The results show that the thermal plant was more
sustainable and efficient than the photovoltaic plant.
A different use of emergy is proposed in [43], where an environmental accounting
method was applied to the production of concrete and cement to evaluate its dependence on
natural resources, even non-renewable, and heavily relied on external inflows. The authors
evaluate the main stages of the production process of this material, the Emergy Investment
Ratio is evaluated, and it is presented as a synthetic indicator of sustainability. This type
of study reveals the over-exploitation of natural resources and the unsustainability of the
current construction system.
3.2.6. Community Solar Energy Applications

Solar energy is an inexhaustible source of sustainable energy, so its applicability has
been expanded through advances in production techniques. A wide community of scien-
tists has developed, publishing their findings in the different production fields and possible
scenarios for this energy. In this community, jobs based on the use of photovoltaic solar
energy are concentrated to produce drinking water, in agriculture or the implementation of
photovoltaic greenhouses.
This community is made up of 99 documents. It is the fifth community in size, with a
contribution of 8.64% of published documents. This community is related to Environmental
sustainability, Sustainability assessment, Sustainable energy solutions and Environmental
payback time analysis communities (Figure 7). Figure 15a shows the concentration of the
nodes, where there are eight larger nodes, while the rest are medium-sized nodes. The
three major nodes are:
• “A review of renewable energy technologies integrated with desalination systems”
with 273 cites [44].
• “Energy sustainable greenhouse crop cultivation using photovoltaic technologies”
with 20 cites [45].
• “Solar radiation distribution inside a greenhouse with south-oriented photovoltaic
roofs and effects on crop productivity” with 102 cites [46].
x FOR PEER REVIEW 21 of 31
osmosis
Sustainability 2021, (2.03%),
shading (1.22%) or water (1.02%), which can reflect the variability of ap-
13, 6295 21 of 31
plications from the main theme of this community.
WATER 5
ENERGY EFFICIENCY 5
ENERGY 5
SHADING 6
REVERSE OSMOSIS 10
PHOTOVOLTAIC 10
SOLAR ENERGY 12
DESALINATION 17
SUSTAINABILITY 22
RENEWABLE ENERGY 24
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
(a) (b)
Figure 15. Solar energy
Figure application: (a)application:
15. Solar energy Manuscripts published;
(a) Manuscripts (b) keywords.
In this community, worksFigure 15b have represents the 10 mostwhere

been published frequent words
solar in thisresources
energy community, arerepresenting
in-
23.57% of the words present in the community and 4.22% of the total global keywords. The
tegrated with production systems. An example of this is the integration of
two words with the highest number of repetitions are renewable energy and sustainability,
solar energy
for desalination and withwater purification.
a frequency M.A. Eltawil,
of appearance Z. Zhengming,
in the community of 4.88% and L. A. respectively.
and 4.47%, Yuan, L. Both
(2009), global efforts to produce
words coincidefreshwater
with the most using renewable
globally important, energy areinreviewed
although reverse order[44]. De-
of importance.
In total, 60% of the words that make up the top
salination is a traditional way of providing fresh water, but in most cases, fossil fuel is10 of this community are part of the 10
most globally important words, a common trend in most of the communities. It should
used for this, which does not provide environmental sustainability. The analysis of the
be noted that the third most repeated word in this community is desalination (3.46%), a
different renewable sources
word thatfor this application
is among yields frequent
the 25 most globally recommendations depending
and that constitutes the main ontopic of
the place and the renewable energy resources
many publications, as it is one available. Photovoltaic
of the most frequent solarofenergy
applications is rec-Besides,
solar energy.
the top 10 keywords
ommended for the autonomous use ofofdesalination
this community inare diverseareas.
remote words In such as reverse
places withosmosis
access(2.03%),
to wind resources, wind shading (1.22%)
energy isorconsidered
water (1.02%), thewhich
bestcan reflectsince
option the variability
its costofisapplications
lower than from the
main theme of this community.
photovoltaic solar energy. In Where geothermal
this community, works energy
have beenresources
published predominate,
where solar energythey can be are
resources
applied at a reasonable cost. From
integrated an environmental
with production systems. Anperspective,
example of this work
is themust be done
integration on energy
of solar
the elimination of waste products, and
for desalination suchwater as brine and theM.A.
purification. production
Eltawil, Z.of greenhouse
Zhengming, andgases.
L. A. Yuan, L.
Exploring renewable energy solutions can provide sustainable viability. Despite this, the [44].
(2009), global efforts to produce freshwater using renewable energy are reviewed
Desalination is a traditional way of providing fresh water, but in most cases, fossil fuel
results of the analyses indicate that its real-world penetration is low, despite being a ma-
is used for this, which does not provide environmental sustainability. The analysis of
ture technique, so considerable
the different technical
renewable sourcesimprovements must beyields
for this application established.
recommendations depending
R. Aroca-Delgado andplace
on the collaborators
and the renewable in [2] energy
the environmental,
resources available. economic, andsolar
Photovoltaic socialenergy is
sustainability of water desalination is evaluated, using the electrodesalination method fed with
recommended for the autonomous use of desalination in remote areas. In places
access to wind resources, wind energy is considered the best option since its cost is lower
with photovoltaic energy. From an environmental point of view, the use of photovoltaic
than photovoltaic solar energy. Where geothermal energy resources predominate, they
energy represents a significant
can be applied reduction in CO2cost.
at a reasonable emissions.
From anEconomically, the authors
environmental perspective, pre-must be
work
dict a decrease in thedonecost on
of the
photovoltaic
elimination ofinstallations
waste products, and such anasincrease
brine andin thethe price ofofelec-
production greenhouse
tricity. It is also necessary
gases.to consider
Exploring the increase
renewable energyin local employment
solutions in the places
can provide sustainable where
viability. Despite this,
this type of system isthe results of Therefore,
installed. the analyses this indicate that itsof
method real-world
desalinationpenetration
with is low, despite being a
photovoltaic
mature technique, so considerable technical improvements must be established.
energy can be profitable. R. Aroca-Delgado and collaborators in [2] the environmental, economic, and social
Another combination proposed
sustainability of wateris the production
desalination of electrical
is evaluated, energy
using the through photo-
electrodesalination method fed
voltaic capture and agricultural
with photovoltaicproduction
energy. From under a greenhousepoint
an environmental [47].ofIn thethe
view, photovoltaic
use of photovoltaic
greenhouse, 50% of the energy representsarea
greenhouse a significant
is covered reduction in CO2 emissions.
with photovoltaic panels,Economically,
reducingthe theauthors
predict a decrease in the cost of photovoltaic installations and an increase in the price
surface area for capturing solar radiation for agricultural production. Under these condi-
of electricity. It is also necessary to consider the increase in local employment in the
tions, the crop yield decreases
places where concerning
this type of the systemtraditional
is installed. greenhouse,
Therefore, this although
method of andesalination
income with
is established to produce electricity.
photovoltaic energyIncan this study, it is proposed that in the design of the
be profitable.
panel installation, the levels of persistent shade should be avoided in the crop, and the
crop should also be properly selected. All these recommendations are aimed to ensure
that the agrochemical products and the environmental conditions generated in the photo-
voltaic greenhouse do not reduce agricultural production or affect the long-term mainte-
Another combination proposed is the production of electrical energy through photo-

voltaic capture and agricultural production under a greenhouse [47]. In the photovoltaic
greenhouse, 50% of the greenhouse area is covered with photovoltaic panels, reducing
the surface area for capturing solar radiation for agricultural production. Under these
conditions, the crop yield decreases concerning the traditional greenhouse, although an
income is established to produce electricity. In this study, it is proposed that in the design of
the panel installation, the levels of persistent shade should be avoided in the crop, and the
crop should also be properly selected. All these recommendations are aimed to ensure that
the agrochemical products and the environmental conditions generated in the photovoltaic
greenhouse do not reduce agricultural production or affect the long-term maintenance
and useful life of the photovoltaic installation. Other subsequent studies support the
same experimental results [45]. Yano and Cossu (2019) review photovoltaic greenhouses
and confirm that they can reduce traditional non-sustainable energy consumption. This
study collects several cases to improve crop-photovoltaic compatibility. This compatibility
varies according to combinations of geography, season, crop species and photovoltaic
technologies. Another study with a similar theme is [47], where the optimal configurations
of the photovoltaic panels on the greenhouse are studied. The detection of strategies to
design photovoltaic greenhouses is the main purpose of the research. To achieve the goal,
the study considers the selection of species and crop management practices adapted to a
persistent and high shade. Suitable crops, crop management techniques and innovations in
photovoltaic greenhouses can be identified by characterising the solar distribution.
Emerging technologies in the field of integrating photovoltaic systems in greenhouses
are also studied [48]. The electrical performance is compared as a function of the coverage
ratio and the type of photovoltaic technology, establishing that the electrical performance
increases almost linearly with the coverage index. As a result of the research, a correlation
between the growth parameters and the characteristics of the photovoltaic installation has
been observed. Finally, the application of new photovoltaic technologies such organic,
dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells has been analysed. Organic solar cells offer many
photoactive materials, which allows the spectral features to be adjusted to the characteristics
of the crops inside the greenhouse.
3.2.7. Community Sustainable Energy Optimisation

Solar energy presents great contributions as a sustainable energy source, and in
conjunction with other renewable energy sources, it allows addressing the electric demand
in remote places without the need to be connected to the electricity grid. This energy
source reduces the environmental impact of the generation stations, although there are
safety, health, and environmental barriers. To reduce these obstacles and to achieve the
optimization and sustainability of the system, methods for optimizing operations should
be established, as well as the planning of the established electrical system.
In this community, applications are investigated where processes are optimized, and
the necessary recommendations are made to solve the negative complications associated
with this type of system. This community is made up of 94 documents. It is the seventh
community in size with a contribution of 8.20% of published documents. It is related to the
communities Sustainability of solar energy in different scenarios, Sustainability assessment,
Energy transition and Environmental payback time analysis (Figure 7). Figure 16a shows
the concentration of the nodes, where there is a predominance of medium-sized nodes over
small ones. The three principal nodes are:
• “A review of Safety, Health and Environmental (SHE) issues of solar energy system”
with 99 cites [49].
• “Multi-objective optimum design of hybrid renewable energy system for sustainable
energy supply to a green cellular networks” with 1 cite [50].
• “Hybrid off-grid SPV/WTG power system for remote cellular base stations towards
green and sustainable cellular networks in South Korea” with 25 cites [51].
FOSSIL FUEL 5
ENERGY SUSTAINABILITY 5
LTE CELLULAR NETWORK 6
GREEN CELLULAR NETWORK 6
WIND ENERGY 7
ENERGY HARVESTING 7
ENERGY EFFICIENCY 10
SOLAR ENERGY 17
SUSTAINABILITY 26
RENEWABLE ENERGY 28
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
(a) (b)
Figure 16.Figure
Sustainable energy optimization:
16. Sustainable (a) Manuscripts
energy optimization: published;
(a) Manuscripts (b) (b)
published; keywords.
keywords.
Figure 16bisrepresents
The scientific community aware of the thetop 10 of the most
importance repeated keywords
of improving the production in this community,
of
sustainable alternative energies so that CO2 emissions and the greenhouse effect are re- previous
representing 24.89% of the total community (4.26% of the total). As in the
duced. To achieve community,
this goal, the two most important
investigations in which keywords coincide withof
the disadvantages thesolar
mostenergy
important arewords at a
global level, although the order of appearance is reversed. They are renewable energy and
reviewed are being carried out [49], from the perspective of safety, health, and environ-
sustainability, with 5.96% and 5.53% of the total words of this community, respectively. The
ment. Among itsthirdfindings, in order to reduce the adverse ecological effects of this energy
word with the highest appearance is solar energy (3.62%), which coincides with the
source, various measures
third mostor actions
globally can beword.
repeated established,
It shouldthe most that
be noted important
only 40%ones of the are theimportant
most
improvement of the efficiency
keywords in thisofcommunity
photovoltaic aremodules
present among for the theuse10 of
mostcovered
globally land in the The rest
important.
facilities, the reduction in the use
of the keywords in of
thehazardous
top 10 havematerials
a repetitioninfrequency
manufacturing,
almost five or times
the use of than the
lower
other alternative materials that are more ecological, with longer useful life and less silicon energies,
most important word, considering concepts related to several types of sustainable
content per module.suchAttention
as wind energy should (1.49%),
also begreenpaidcelltonetwork (1.28%)process,
the recycling or energyby sustainability
collecting (1.06%).
waste from facilities, The scientific
recycling community is
at specialized aware of and
locations, the importance
treating waste of improving
to avoidthe con-production
of sustainable alternative energies so that CO2 emissions and the greenhouse effect are
tamination.
reduced. To achieve this goal, investigations in which the disadvantages of solar energy
Numerous publications that appear in the literature are related to the optimization
are reviewed are being carried out [49], from the perspective of safety, health, and en-
of energy resourcesvironment. Among perspectives.
from different its findings, in As order society advances,
to reduce novelecological
the adverse solutionseffects
to of this
everyday applications
energyemerge, focusedmeasures
source, various on solving or the
actionselectricity supply, or optimizing
can be established, the
the most important ones
system so that it is
areviable from an energetic,
the improvement technical,
of the efficiency economic, and
of photovoltaic modulesenvironmental
for the use ofper- covered land
spective. An example
in the of this are
facilities, thepublications
reduction in [51] andof[50],
the use wherematerials
hazardous it is investigated how or the
in manufacturing,
to provide energy usesupport
of other to alternative materials that are
telecommunications more ecological,
networks. with longer
These facilities areuseful
spread life and less
silicon content per module. Attention should
throughout the world, consume a large amount of energy, and require improving energy also be paid to the recycling process, by
collecting waste from facilities, recycling at specialized locations, and treating waste to
sustainability and reducing cost. Alsharif and Kim (2017) propose a solar photovoltaic
avoid contamination.
hybrid energy supply system and a wind turbine generator [51]. The purpose of this sys-
Numerous publications that appear in the literature are related to the optimization
tem is to supply of energy
energyto the basefrom
resources station located
different in a remote
perspectives. place and
As society disconnected
advances, novel solutions to
from the South Korean grid. For this, the system is optimized, while the
everyday applications emerge, focused on solving the electricity supply, or optimizingenergy efficiency,
the economic costthe and greenhouse
system so that itgas emissions
is viable from an areenergetic,
minimized. The study
technical, economic,compares the
and environmental
economic and environmental
perspective. Anviability
exampleof of the
this developed
are publications system[51] to
anda [50],
diesel generator
where sys-
it is investigated how
to provide energy support to telecommunications
tem. The authors concluded that the best solution is the hybrid generator. Another pro- networks. These facilities are spread
posal is a hybrid throughout the world, consume
system of photovoltaic a large amount
solar energy and one ofgenerated
energy, andby require
biomass,improving
de- energy
sustainability and reducing cost. Alsharif and Kim (2017) propose a solar photovoltaic
veloped by Hossain and collaborators (2020) [50]. The result of the simulations carried out
hybrid energy supply system and a wind turbine generator [51]. The purpose of this
is encouraging, since the energy system and the base station can provide service without
system is to supply energy to the base station located in a remote place and disconnected
reducing the quality
fromof thecommunications,
South Korean grid.using a battery
For this, the system bank as backupwhile
is optimized, power. theThe
energyre-efficiency,
sults were compared with other alternative systems such as photovoltaic,
the economic cost and greenhouse gas emissions are minimized. The study compares the with the hybrid
system showing the best results
economic in the simulations.
and environmental viability of the developed system to a diesel generator system.
EstablishingThe
coverage
authorsof mobile networks
concluded that the best in solution
rural areas is theishybrid
not angenerator.
easy task, since in
Another proposal is
a hybrid system of photovoltaic solar energy and one
most of the cases they are areas that lack an electricity network. M.H. Alsharif and collab- generated by biomass, developed
orators in [52], the feasibility of integrating a solar power system with a diesel generator out is
by Hossain and collaborators (2020) [50]. The result of the simulations carried
to supply powerencouraging,
to remote base since the energy system and the base station can provide service without
stations at off-grid sites in Malaysia is examined. The
indicators used are energy performance analysis, economic analysis, and greenhouse gas
emissions. The established conclusions indicate that in regions such as Malaysia, where
the solar incidence is considerable, this type of hybrid generator manages to reduce the
emission of greenhouse gases and the cost of the system operation. Hybrid power stations
Bangladeshi grid is exposed. For the feasibility analysis, simulation based on the Hybrid
Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER) is used. Performance is analysed
using Matlab-based Monte Carlo simulations. The results of the research reveal that the
proposed system is ecologically and technically viable, which is why it is a sustainable
Sustainabilitysolution
2021, 13, 6295
to the problem posed. 24 of 31
3.2.8. Community Energy Transition

reducing the quality of communications, using a battery bank as backup power. The results
In the last two decades, profound changes have been experienced in technical, social,
were compared with other alternative systems such as photovoltaic, with the hybrid system
economic, and environmental
showing the bestaspects,
results in derived from the energy transition. This commu-
the simulations.
nity includes publications whichcoverage
Establishing have asoftheir
mobilemain topicinthe
networks energy
rural areas transition,
is not an easythe exist-
task, since
in most of the cases they are areas that lack an electricity
ing changes and how they are insufficient to manage future environmental and social network. M.H. Alsharif and
collaborators in [52], the feasibility of integrating a solar power system with a diesel
challenges.
generator to supply power to remote base stations at off-grid sites in Malaysia is examined.
This community is madeused
The indicators up of
are90 documents.
energy It isanalysis,
performance the eighth community
economic in size
analysis, and with
greenhouse
a contribution of gas
7.85% of published
emissions. documents.
The established This community
conclusions indicate thatmaintains
in regions relations with
such as Malaysia,
the following communities: Sustainable energy optimisation, Sustainability of solarreduce
where the solar incidence is considerable, this type of hybrid generator manages to en-
ergy in differentthe emissionand
scenarios of greenhouse gases and
Environmental the cost time
payback of the analysis
system operation.
mainly Hybrid
(Figurepower
7).
stations have also been analysed in Bangladesh, composed of solar photovoltaic energy,
Figure 17a showswind the energy
concentration of the nodes, medium-sized nodes predominate. This
and biomass [53]. Through an optimal distribution of energy sources, the
indicates that it issystem
a current topic.potential
has enough The three principal
to supply nodes
its energy are: without interruptions in time.
demand
• In line with
“Structural changes ofthis research,
global powerin [54], the feasibility
generation and effectiveness
capacity of a hybrid generation
towards sustainability and
system based on a photovoltaic system and a biomass resource generator in stations located
the risk of stranded investments supported by a sustainability indicator” with 92 cites
outside the Bangladeshi grid is exposed. For the feasibility analysis, simulation based on
[55]. the Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER) is used. Performance
• “How to achieve a 100%
is analysed RES
using electricity Monte
Matlab-based supplyCarlo
for Portugal?”
simulations. with 132 cites
The results [56].
of the research
• “The features of sustainable Solar Hydroelectric Power Plant” with 40 cites [57]. it is a
reveal that the proposed system is ecologically and technically viable, which is why
sustainable solution to the problem posed.
Figure 17b shows the top ten words in the community. These words represent 16.18%
of the keywords 3.2.8. Community
in the community Energy Transition
and 3.06% of the total number of keywords. Despite
being one of the smallest communities, itprofound
In the last two decades, changes
has a higher have been
number ofexperienced
keywordsinthan technical, social,
the pre-
economic, and environmental aspects, derived from the energy
vious largest community. This is due to the variability and topicality of the subjects cov- transition. This community
includes publications which have as their main topic the energy transition, the existing changes
ered. Like in the smaller
and how communities,
they are insufficientthetonumber of top
manage future 10 community
environmental keywords
and social challenges.present
in the top 10 of the keywords
This communityis only four.upOfofthese
is made four words,
90 documents. It is thethe firstcommunity
eighth three coincide in
in size with
order of appearance with theofmost
a contribution 7.85% important
of publishedwords at the global
documents. level. These
This community words
maintains are
relations
with the following communities: Sustainable energy optimisation,
sustainability (3.08%), renewable energy (2.70%) and solar energy (2.12%). The fourth Sustainability of solar
energy in different scenarios and Environmental payback time analysis mainly (Figure 7).
word, photovoltaic (1.54%), is the fifth most globally frequent word. The rest of the words
Figure 17a shows the concentration of the nodes, medium-sized nodes predominate. This
that make up theindicates
top 10 of the
that community
it is have
a current topic. Theathree
low principal
frequency of repetition
nodes are: and they are
mostly in the top • 50 globally, such as renewable energy source (1.54%), optimization
“Structural changes of global power generation capacity towards sustainability and the
(1.16%) and renewables (0.96%).
risk of strandedAinvestments
special case is the by
supported word hydroenergy
a sustainability which
indicator” withis92located
cites [55].
after position 100• in “How to achieve
repetition a 100% RESand
importance electricity supply 0.22%
represents for Portugal?”
of the with
total132number
cites [56].of
keywords. • “The features of sustainable Solar Hydroelectric Power Plant” with 40 cites [57].
SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC ENERGY 5

RENEWABLES 5
HYDRO ENERGY 5
OPTIMIZATION 6
ENERGY STORAGE 6
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES 8
PHOTOVOLTAIC 8
SOLAR ENERGY 11
RENEWABLE ENERGY 14
SUSTAINABILITY 16
0 5 10 15
(a) (b)
Figure 17. Energy transition: (a) Manuscripts published; (b) keywords.

Figure 17b shows the top ten words in the community. These words represent 16.18%
of the keywords in the community and 3.06% of the total number of keywords. Despite
being one of the smallest communities, it has a higher number of keywords than the
previous largest community. This is due to the variability and topicality of the subjects
covered. Like in the smaller communities, the number of top 10 community keywords
present in the top 10 of the keywords is only four. Of these four words, the first three
coincide in order of appearance with the most important words at the global level. These
words are sustainability (3.08%), renewable energy (2.70%) and solar energy (2.12%). The
fourth word, photovoltaic (1.54%), is the fifth most globally frequent word. The rest of
the words that make up the top 10 of the community have a low frequency of repetition
and they are mostly in the top 50 globally, such as renewable energy source (1.54%),
optimization (1.16%) and renewables (0.96%). A special case is the word hydroenergy
which is located after position 100 in repetition importance and represents 0.22% of the
total number of keywords.
There are enough renewable energy resources in the world to meet present and
future energy needs, although some of these resources are currently not economically or
technically viable. Modernizing power plants is necessary to achieve a sustainable future.
Z. Glasnovic and J. Margeta (2009), a Solar Hydroelectric Plant that uses solar energy as
the only means to produce solar and hydraulic energy is presented [57]. This system was
sized to establish the electricity supply for the island of Vis in Croatia, where its technical
and sustainable viability was proven.
In this community, the transition process towards fully sustainable energy systems
is established in different countries. An example is presented in [56], the simulation of
the planning of the Portuguese energy system and the technical solutions to achieve 100%
electricity production by renewable means. It proposes to reduce consumption by making
more efficient use of energy and betting on hydro and wind energy. Applying energy
efficiency measures could accelerate and facilitate the conversion process of the energy
industry in this country.
The trend usually found in most countries is an increase in renewable energy, coal,
and gas power plants, as well as a decrease in new nuclear power plants [55]. Reaching
the goal of zero emissions in 2050 goes through a conversion of the energy sector towards
100% renewable. An analysis of the operational useful life of traditional power plants (40 to
34 years), nuclear power plants (28 years) and hydroelectric plants is carried out, in which
the lifespan can be extended to more than 100 years with renovations. Solar and wind
energy production can extend their useful life, taking advantage of technological advances
in solar panels or wind turbines. While the production of energy based on coal has its
days numbered, those based on gas can be redirected to renewables through biogas, which
is why the oil companies are not affected to a great extent. J. Farfan and C. Breyer (2017)
in [55], the energy system transition model is also exposed and analysed. According to this
model, the average cost of energy throughout the planet will gradually decrease during the
transition process, with 95% decarbonisation being possible by 2040. The model predicts
that in 2050 around 69% of electricity generation will come from photovoltaic generators.
This will be possible if the cost of photovoltaic systems and batteries continues to decline.
The exploitation of solar energy is essential to carry out the energy transition. A.
Kasaeian and collaborators (2020) in [58], the use of various sources of solar energy in
polygeneration systems is studied. These systems enable high efficiency and provide
multiple useful energy outputs, including heating, cooling, electricity, hydrogen, and
fresh water. In line with this research, Dominković and collaborators (2016) presents the
transition steps to achieve a fully renewable energy system by 2050 in Southeast Europe
with a zero-carbon footprint [59]. In this publication, the authors present an innovative
characteristic: the sustainable use of biomass and a combination of renewable energies
where none exceed 30% participation. This transition, in addition to the clear environmental
benefit, will be a driver of economic growth. Completing this transition is not a simple
task, coordinated measures must be taken on a large scale to implement it.
3.2.9. Community Energy and Sustainable Scenarios

There is a long way to go towards a sustainable energy system. The application of
this transformation is increasing, considering that renewable energy facilities improve the
system, considering the present climate change. This community investigates the new
x FOR PEER REVIEW 26 of systems,
perspectives of changes in traditional applications, to redesign more sustainable 31
using renewable energy.
This community is made up of 71 documents. It is a small community in size with a
contribution of 6.20% of published documents. This community maintains a relationship
and Sustainability assessment communities
with the Sustainable mainly Sustainability
energy solutions, (Figure 7). Figure
of solar 18a shows
energy the con-
in different scenarios
centration of the nodes, the predominance
and Sustainability assessmentbeing mediummainly
communities nodes, although
(Figure some18a
7). Figure larger
shows the
concentration
ones can be identified. The threeofmain
the nodes,
nodesthe are:
predominance being medium nodes, although some larger
ones can be identified. The three main nodes are:
• “Life cycle assessment
•
of a parabolic trough concentrating solar power plant and the
“Life cycle assessment of a parabolic trough concentrating solar power plant and the
impacts of key design alternatives”
impacts of key designwith 133 citeswith
alternatives” [60].
133 cites [60].
• “A review on development
• “A review ofon solar dryingofapplications”
development with 95 cites
solar drying applications” with[61].
95 cites [61].
• •
“A review on energy scenario and sustainable energy in Malaysia” with 249with
“A review on energy scenario and sustainable energy in Malaysia” 249[3].
cites cites [3].
ENERGY EFFICIENCY 5
CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER 6
BIOMASS 6
ENERGY 6
SOLAR DRYING 7
GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION… 8
SOLAR ENERGY 9
RENEWABLE ENERGY 15
SUSTAINABILITY 18
0 5 10 15 20
(a) (b)
Figure 18. Energy
Figureand sustainable
18. Energy scenarios:
and sustainable (a) Manuscripts
scenarios: published;
(a) Manuscripts published;(b)
(b)keywords.
keywords.
This community is This the community

smallest and is theits
smallest
keywords and itsare
keywords
13.51% areof
13.51% of the total.
the total. The The represen-
repre-
tation of the 10 most important keywords of this community is shown in Figure 18b and
sentation of the 10 most important keywords of this community is shown in Figure 18b
they represent 23.18% of the total of its keywords. The keyword with the highest number of
and they represent repetitions
23.18% of the total
coincides withof theits
mostkeywords. The keyword
globally frequent with thewhich
word, sustainability, highest
represents
number of repetitions 4.85% coincides
of the totalwith
wordsthein themost globally
community. As infrequent word, sustainability,
most communities, 60% of the keywords
which represents 4.85%in the of
topthe10 matches
total wordsthe top in10the of global keywords.
community. AsAn in example of this is the words
most communities,
renewable energy (4.04%), solar energy (2.43%) or life cycle assessment (1.62%). The rest of
60% of the keywords in the top 10 matches the top 10 of global keywords. An example of
the words that make up the top 10 are words of a different nature, with an exceptionally
this is the words renewable
low frequency,energy (4.04%),
as occurs withsolar energyinformation
geographical (2.43%) or(2.16%),
life cycle
solarassessment
drying (1.89%) or
(1.62%). The rest of biomass
the words that
(1.62%). make up the top 10 are words of a different nature,
with an exceptionally low The world is goingas
frequency, towards
occurs a necessary transformationinformation
with geographical to sustainable (2.16%),
systems due to
climate change.
solar drying (1.89%) or biomass (1.62%). Burkhardt et al. (2011) analyse the design of a parabolic cylindrical collector
(CSP) concentrating solar power installation, located in Daggett (USA). This analysis is
The world is going
carriedtowards
out from the a necessary
point of view transformation
of water consumption to sustainable systems
and CO2 emissions [60].due
The plant
to climate change. Burkhardt
emits 26 g ofet COal.
2 (2011)
eq per analyse
kWh, consumesthe design
4,7 L/kWh of a
of parabolic
water and cylindrical
demands 0.40 MJcol-
eq/kWh
lector (CSP) concentrating solar power installation, located in Daggett (USA). This analy- gas
of energy, with an energy recovery time of approximately 1 year. The greenhouse
emission
sis is carried out from rate isof
the point lower
view than
of that
water established
consumption by traditional
and CO2 production,
emissions 46%,[60].
and takes
place in the manufacturing phase. The energy storage systems used in these facilities
The plant emits 26 g of CO2 eq per kWh, consumes 4,7 L/kWh of water and demands 0.40
depend on the salts used. In this work, they evaluate the use of synthetic or natural salts as
MJ eq/kWh of energy, with anfor
thermocline energy
the dryrecovery timeIn
cooling system. ofthe
approximately 1 year. Thegreenhouse
life cycle of the thermocline, green- gas
house gas emission rate is lower than that established by traditional production, 46%, and
takes place in the manufacturing phase. The energy storage systems used in these facilities
depend on the salts used. In this work, they evaluate the use of synthetic or natural salts
as thermocline for the dry cooling system. In the life cycle of the thermocline, greenhouse
gas emissions are reduced, compared to synthetic salts (52% increase), and water con-
emissions are reduced, compared to synthetic salts (52% increase), and water consumption
is also reduced.
Another example of an energy challenge occurs in Malaysia [3]. Despite having
many renewable resources in biomass through palm oil, it has energy difficulties and
must strive to achieve greater efficiency in the conversion, transmission and use of energy,
to reconversion towards energy sustainability. Ong and collaborators (2011) affirm that
Malaysia is not prepared to adopt the transformation towards the near future of renewable
energy, requiring an institutional and social effort to promote the use of these energies.
The industry also requires a reconversion to optimize energy consumption. In the
case of the food, dairy, textile, sewage sludge, wood and cement industries, a solar drying
process is carried out [61]. This process improves product quality, reduces greenhouse
gas and CO2 emissions, and allows economic recovery in the short-medium term. The
study shows that the payback period ranges from 1 to 10 years, which implies economic
viability and environmental improvements since its implementation. In line with this
study, Ndukwu et al. (2017) in [62] a natural convection solar dryer (NCSDR) for drying
red chilli is analysed. This study concludes that using sodium sulphate decahydrate as
thermal energy storage increases the efficiency of the dryer and reduces its carbon footprint
compared to those that use diesel.
Currently, research efforts and economic investment by governments are needed
for the development of sustainable technology. Baral et al. (2015), an experiment and
thermo-economic analysis of a small-scale organic Rankine cycle (ORC) is carried out [63].
This technology consists of a renewable energy generation system, it can be implemented
in rural areas without access to the electricity grid of developing countries and it was
developed for the atmospheric conditions of Busan (South Korea). The results obtained
show that the system is sustainable, although with a payback period of 19 years. This
technology is only employed in rural areas of developing countries because of the long
payback period. These places often lack electricity to light homes.
Many of the energy generation systems from renewable sources depend on fossil
fuels for their proper operation. An example of this is concentrating solar power (CSP)
plants based on parabolic troughs, which requires the use of auxiliary fuel to start up
and increase power generation. Corona, San Miguel and Cerrajero (2014) the impact on
the sustainability of different load configurations of natural gas as an auxiliary fuel is
analysed, being essential to size this impact in hybrid systems, to achieve the sustainability
objectives [64].
4. Conclusions
This work has analysed the research collected in the publications of sustainability
associated with the topic of solar energy, from 1995 to 2020. In the publications studied,
a total of 2746 keywords were obtained. The keyword with the highest appearance is
Sustainability, with 286 repetitions (10.41%). The next most important words according
to the number of repetitions are Renewable energy (6.5%) and Solar energy (4.6%). The
10 most globally repeated words are among the 10 most repeated of each community
separately and together they constitute 37% of the total of the existing words. All of
them are related to the theme of sustainability, renewable energy and concepts related to
solar energy. The rest of the words appear on a small number of occasions, so their size
compared to the rest is small and they represent less than 1% of the total of the keywords,
as it happens with Environmental impact (0.9%).
There are 11,848 authors from 131 countries researching the subject. The countries
with the highest contribution of researchers are the United States, China, Italy, and India.
The 20 authors with the highest H index present values higher than 100. The author
with the highest H index is from Switzerland, the second, third and fourth are from the
United States.
Most of the publications are articles and the main language is English. The subject
matter studied in the different communities is published in 1146 different magazines.
The most frequent are Renewable and Sustainable Energy Review, Journal of Cleaner
Production and Applied Energy. Most of these publications are established in journals with
a high impact factor, with a value greater than 2.5 in most cases.
After the review process using keywords, 4260 documents were obtained that pre-
sented 2195 relationships. This information was treated later with bibliometric techniques
and filtered until the 1146 documents with 1872 relationships were established. These
documents are distributed in nine communities according to the subject matter and the
collaborations present between the authors. The largest community is Sustainability as-
sessment (15.27% of the documents), followed by Sustainable energy solutions (14.40%)
and Environmental payback time analysis (14.14%). The next two communities are slightly
smaller in size, 13.18% and 12.13%, being the Sustainability of solar energy in different
scenarios and Environmental sustainability communities, respectively. The rest of the
communities are smaller than 9%, Solar energy applications (8.64%) and Sustainable energy
optimization (8.20%) are similar in size. The smallest communities are Energy transition
(7.87%) and Energy and sustainable scenarios (6.20%).
The Sustainability assessment community is a highly active community due to the
lack of standards in sustainability assessment indicators. This community has strong
relationships with the Sustainable energy solutions community, which aims to provide
sustainable solutions for solving the inconveniences that the use of renewable energies
presents. It is also related to the community Environmental payback time analysis, in
which the life cycle indicator is applied to assess the environmental impact of the use of
these energies. These strong relationships may be because the sustainability assessment
indicators must consider energy and environmental aspects, such as those discussed in
the Sustainable energy solutions and Environmental payback time analysis communities,
respectively. There is a scientific community where emergy has been considered as a
reference indicator of environmental sustainability. It is an active community due to
the unification of the application of the concept and its breadth, where economic, social,
environmental, and efficient aspects are considered.
Two communities strongly related to solar energy have been established, from the
point of view of its sustainability and its possible applications. These communities are
the Sustainability of solar energy in different scenarios and Solar energy applications. It
should be considered that the most applicable energy at present is photovoltaic energy, a
fact that is expected to increase in the future, although it is not the only one. Although it
is a mature technique, the improvement of techniques is still required to achieve greater
efficiencies soon. The Sustainable energy optimization community aims to establish the
optimization of remote energy systems, where energy needs are paramount. Therefore,
the optimization of these systems is mandatory to achieve their applicability, as there are
no other alternatives available. Currently, there are remote areas without basic energy
resources, so this issue continues to be actively investigated and is considered a social,
economic, and environmental challenge. This requires the active collaboration of the
scientific community and the political and social support of the governments, which
should contribute to the economic endowment of the installation and maintenance of these
energy systems.
The Energy transition community is small, but it indicates the concern of the scientific
community in the application of energy changes and putting them into operation, consid-
ering technical, social, economic, and environmental aspects. The Energy and sustainable
scenarios community considered one aspect of Sustainable energy solutions, focuses on
the implication of climate change and its relationship with sustainable energies. It is the
smallest community, and it considers a topic that is highly debated in different fields at
present and that will raise new future research.
The analysis of the topics studied in this document proposes that energy sustainability
should not be treated as an individual approach, since socioeconomic, technological, and
environmental characteristics must be considered. The resources available in the start-up
of the system should be considered in order to be efficient in the long term. To facilitate
the implementation in this interactive framework, the mindset must be changed, and
the energy transformation plan. A science-engineering approach should be considered
that encompasses research, education, and efficient practice of the renewal of energy
production systems, where the domain of renewable energies is properly implemented.
Environmental awareness of users and governors is required, it being in the hands of
the governments to facilitate such policies for the energy transformation and plan the
operations for the best use of the renewable energy resources available in each area. They
must provide infrastructures that allow the long-term maintenance of the investments
developed. The next generation of scientists and engineers must also be adequately trained
in environmental awareness, to solve the pending technical challenges, to make better
use of natural energy resources that are still unexploited or with low applicability. In this
work, real installations, contexts, and present and future scenarios of the energy system
have been analysed, always considering that the trend must be directed towards global
sustainability. The interrelationships between the industrial, academic, and political sectors
are necessary for the growth and insertion of recent technologies, allowing a consolidated
knowledge base of innovation systems in the proliferation of sustainable solar energies.
Many of the manuscripts studied indicated that polygeneration systems powered by
(i) solar energy with parabolic trough collectors; (ii) concentration photo-voltaic thermal
energy and (iii) solar tower, can be sustainable and viable systems for their application in
future energy products, fundamental for the energy transition. The trend that is usually
found in most countries is an increase in renewable energy. The study of past trends
can help to plan the future environmental sustainability, while it is directly related to the
well-being of society. Changes were observed in the energy system in society and gaps
were revealed for future research and investment in renewable energy.
Author Contributions: N.N. and R.M.G. formed and revised the manuscript; R.M.G. and A.A.
developed the figures and tables; A.A. contributed to the search of dates and the realization of
the maps; N.N., R.M.G. and J.M.C. wrote the manuscript; N.N. and R.M.G. checked the whole
manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Institutional Review Board Statement: Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement: The data is published in the Scopus database which collects informa-
tion on publications.
Acknowledgments: Under I+D+I Project UAL18-TIC-A025-A, University of Almeria, the Min-
istry of Economy, Knowledge, Business and University, and the European Regional Development
Fund (FEDER); Andalusian Regional Government through the Electronics, Communications and
Telemedicine TIC019 Research Group of the University of Almeria, Spain; and in part by the European
Union FEDER Program and CIAMBITAL Group.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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sustainability

Sustainability 2021, 13, 6295. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116295 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability

2. Materials and Methods

Sustainability 2021, 13, 6295 3 of 31

results of community detection, extraction of keywords by community, authors by com-

Figure 1. Flowchart of the methodology.

“Sustainability” and “Solar energy”

3. Results and Discussion

3.1. Analysis by Documents

Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW

Figure 2. Author distribution by country.

The highest concentration of authors is in 25 countries, with a contribution of more

The highest concentration of authors is in 25 countries, with a contribution of more

Table 1. Top 20 of the authors according to the H-index.

Scopus ID Indexed Name H-Index City Country University

Figure 4. Distribution logarithmic by H-index.

Conference Proceedings; Trade Journal; 0.17%

Conference Proceedings; Trade Journal; 0.17%

Renewable and Green & Sustainable science &

Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 9

Sustainability assessment, 15.27%

Figure 7. Distribution of the nodes

, x FOR PEER REVIEW 11 of 31

Figure 9. Representation of9.the

• “Sustainability assessment of energy systems: Integrating environmental, economic

LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS 8

3.2.2. Community Sustainable Energy Solutions

3.2.3. Community Environmental Payback Time Analysis

Table 3. Sustainability indicator data [25].

LCA EPBT GHG

3.2.4. Community Sustainability of Solar Energy in Different Scenarios

implement sustainable energy systems. To overcome all these inconveniences, it is neces-

3.2.5. Community Environmental Sustainability

• “Monitoring patterns of sustainability in natural and man-made ecosystems” with

3.2.6. Community Solar Energy Applications

plications from the main theme of this community.

In this community, worksFigure 15b have represents the 10 mostwhere

Another combination proposed is the production of electrical energy through photo-

3.2.7. Community Sustainable Energy Optimisation

3.2.8. Community Energy Transition

SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC ENERGY 5

Figure 17. Energy transition: (a) Manuscripts published; (b) keywords.

3.2.9. Community Energy and Sustainable Scenarios

This community is This the community

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