Energy Conversion and Management 200 (2019) 112107

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Energy Conversion and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

Experimental investigation of a multi-generation energy system for a nearly T

zero-energy park: A solution toward sustainable future
⁎
Shahab Eslamia,c, Aslan Gholamib, Amin Bakhtiarib, Majid Zandib, Younes Noorollahia,c,
a
Dept. of Renewable Energy and Environmental Eng., Faculty of New Sciences and Technologies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
b
Faculty of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
c
Energy Modelling and Sustainable Energy Systems (METSAP) Research Lab., Faculty of New Sciences and Technologies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In the current paper, the performance of a solar-based multi-generation system was experimentally investigated
Nearly zero energy for one year. The system was composed of a photovoltaic section and a hybrid thermal and desalination section
Techno-economic with a linear parabolic solar collector. Results indicate that besides entirely complies with the electricity,
Multi-generation drinking water and hot water needs, utilization of the system for a nearly zero-energy park prevents 342 tons of
Photovoltaic system
CO2 net annual greenhouse gas emission. Furthermore, the performance of the linear parabolic solar collector
Linear parabolic solar collector
Nanofluid
was experimentally investigated and compared using both water and Al2O3-water nanofluid as the heat transfer
fluids. Results show that using the nanofluid, a noticeable decrease (31%) in the total thermal loss coefficient led
to a significant increase (70%) in the thermal efficiency of the system. Calculating the simple and equity pay-
backs, as well as the Internal Rate of Return, revealed the economic viability of the proposed multi-generation
system. The capacity of the proposed system could be easily extended, and the pattern of the nearly zero-energy
park in the current study could be applied in other urban areas to pursue a more sustainable future.

1. Introduction multi-generation energy systems [28–31].

Even though the cities just cover around 2% of the land area of the
earth, they are responsible for more than 75% of resource consumption
of the world [1]. While the energy demand rises rapidly with popula-
tion growth, environmental concerns such as global warming and the
emission of greenhouse gases, have attracted many attentions toward
the use of clean energies [2–4]. In order to deal with this problem
globally, several agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris
agreement have been signed [5,6].
Among the various renewable resources, solar power is the most
attractive ones [7–9] for future power supply. Arid regions, due to high
potential of irradiation and land availability, are favorable for moun-
ting solar system [10–12]. However, regarding the literature, dust ac-
cumulation on photovoltaic surfaces as well as transition losses are
among the greatest challenges in developing the photovoltaic systems
[13–17]. In order to overcome the dust accumulation, numerous
washing methods were proposed in the literature [18–20]. Distributed
generation is also known as a solution to overcome the transition lost
[21,22], which leads to more economically feasible systems [23–27].
Furthermore, in recent years, several feasibility studies have been done
to investigate the scientific and commercial perspectives of solar-based
The concept of Nearly Zero-Energy Park is considered an optional
solution to some of the world’s critical challenges, which mentioned
earlier [32,33]. The concept was retrieved from the concept of Nearly
Zero-Energy Buildings in which besides providing energy security and
minimizing the carbon emissions [34], could produce reliable, cost-ef-
fective energy and spur economic growth [35–37]. For example,
Barman et al. [38], investigated the impact of solar home lighting
systems on the rural livelihood in Assam, India. Recently integrated
renewable energy park (IREP) approach is also envisioned for com-
bining different renewable energies [38,39]. For instance, BG Subhadra
[39], used algal biorefinery approach for the integration. Since using
renewable energy resources strongly depends on the site climatology,
different renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal or bio-
fuels could be applied in different regions [40–43]. For instance, the
potential of installing rooftop solar photovoltaic was investigated by
Dehwah et al. [44], for the residential sector in Saudi Arabia with a hot
and arid climate condition while in another study done by Wu [45],
small mass buildings in the cold district of China were the main targets.
In another study, Yadav et al. [46], appraised the production of a
rooftop solar photovoltaic in Northern 34 India.
Besides, energy policies play a significant role in the expansion of

⁎
Corresponding author at: Dept. of Renewable Energy and Environmental Eng., Faculty of New Sciences and Technologies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
E-mail address: Noorollahi@ut.ac.ir (Y. Noorollahi).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2019.112107
Received 1 May 2019; Received in revised form 14 September 2019; Accepted 25 September 2019
Available online 27 September 2019
0196-8904/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S. Eslami, et al.
Fig. 1. Installed photovoltaic system on the rooftop of the renewable energies laboratory building.
renewable energies [47,48]. In this regards, Dahal et al. [49], in-
vestigated the role of these policies in the Helsinki Metropolitan area
and recommended several policy solutions to overcome the in-
adequacies. In another recent study [50], Petersen studied applications
of urban applications and appraised the policies of renewable energy in
Denmark.
Besides the energy needs, the water crisis will be one of the concerns
of future generations of mankind [51]. So the need for water desali-
nation systems which use renewable energy sources is growing around
the world [51,52]. Among all types of water desalination systems, solar
desalination is one of the favorable ones and attracted lots of attention
[53–57]. By using a hybrid system which contains both photovoltaic
panels, for supply the power demand, and linear parabolic solar col-
lectors, for capturing the heat, the required energy demand, and also
heating, could be provided for the park. The obtained energy may also
be utilized to produce drinking 47 water by adopting a desalination
system. In a recent study, Mahmoudi et al. [59], studied the feasibility
of a photovoltaic based reverse osmosis water desalination system in
Iran. Although they provided the water demand using solar energy,
electrical and hot water demands were not provided.
Several types of research explained that utilizing nanofluids could
improve heat transfer by convection [58–61]. For example, carbon
nanotube heat transfer fluids were used by Mesgari et al. [62], for solar
radiant heating in buildings. Nanofluids are suspensions with nano-
particles having the diameter of not more than 100 nm [63]. Nanofluids
usually offer anomalous thermal conductivity enhancement of the base
fluid [64]. The potentials of using different nanofluids in solar collec-
tors were investigated in some of the recent studies [63–65]. Previous
researches show the comparatively high capability of Al2O3-water na-
nofluid in enhancing heat transfer in thermal systems with even low
concentration solutions [66,67]. Using nanofluids in a parabolic solar
collector can be considered in different aspects such as economic, en-
hancing efficiency and environmental [68–70]. Linear parabolic col-
lectors are used to absorb sunlight and delivering heat to the fluid
which moves through the collector. The working fluid could be utilized
either directly [71,72], or carries to a thermal storage tank [73].
the middle east countries has a vast land with good solar radiation
at the same time they should deal with a water crisis [74]. Locally,
especially according to new energy policies, lots of attention from the
government, and other sectors have focused on the development of
renewable energies. Recently Zandi et al. [75], appraised and analyzed
the economic policies to raise distributed generation capability in the
Iranian household expenditure sector employing photovoltaic systems.
Through studying the relevant literature, lack of complete
2
Energy Conversion and Management 200 (2019) 112107
consideration towards the renewable energy park can be observed.
Besides, the inadequate publications [76], usually were emphasized on
the energy supply and management.
2. Materials and methods
In this study, a solar-based multi-generation energy system was
proposed for a nearly zero-energy park in which:
• The electricity demand was provided using a photovoltaic system.
• The heating needs, also the drinking water supply, were provided by
a hybrid thermal and desalination system using the linear parabolic
solar collector.
• Both water and Al2O3-water nanofluid was applied as the energy
transfer fluid in the linear parabolic solar collector.
• The effect of nanofluid on the output of the recomended system was
investigated
• In order to ensure the feasibility and sustainability of the proposed
system, a small-scale model of the multi-generation system was
experimentally tested during a year in Tehran, Iran climate condi-
tions.
2.1. The experimental setup
The proposed system consisted of a photovoltaic section and a hy-
brid thermal and desalination section. In the following part, the com-
ponents of the small-scale experimental setup will be described.
2.2. Photovoltaic system
A 15 kWp photovoltaic system mounted on the roof of laboratory in
Shahid Beheshti University, in order to provide and monitor the elec-
trical output of the proposed system (Fig. 1). The photovoltaic panels
were installed with a fixed tilt angle of 30°, toward the south and with
no possibility of shading. to find the optimum tilt angle and the the
interval among PV module rows, several methods were discussed in
previous literature. For example, Castellano et al. [77], optimized the
distance between PV rows using a novel shading model to reduce the
required area. In the present study, the land is free and, there is no cost
in this regard. Therefore, the yearly energy yield was the main concern
to calculate the tilt angle. Based on the previous experimental mea-
surements in the site, the fixed tilt angle of 30° was defined to produce
the maximum annual electrical energy. Table 1 presents the photo-
voltaic aspects of the panels utilized for the for the experimental
S. Eslami, et al. Energy Conversion and Management 200 (2019) 112107

Table 1 Table 2
Photovoltaic characteristics of the panels used for the experimental measure- The geometric specifications of the manufactured linear parabolic collector.
ments.
Collector Length (L) 2.00 (m)
Rated Power (Pmax) at STC 250 W Collector Width (W) 0.85 (m)
Power tolerance +3% Collector Depth (y) 0.20 (m)
Module efficiency 15.53% The inner diameter of the absorber tube (di) 0.01092 (m)
Maximum power voltage (Vmpp) 30.1 The outer diameter of the absorber tube (do) 0.0127 (m)
Maximum power current (Impp) 8.3 A Edge angle (ϕ) 90°
Open circuit voltage (Voc) 37.2 V Edge radius (r) 0.4275 (m)
Short circuit current (ISC) 8.87 A Concentration ratio (C) 21.11 (m)
Panel Dimensions 1638 mm × 983 mm × 40 mm
Panel Weight 19 kg
facilities in the Center of Innovation and Technology of Ibn Sina located
in the Amir Kabir University of Technology were used. The character-
measurements. istics of the nanoparticle are shown in Table 4. Ultrasonic process for
1 h at 400 W, was used for homogenization of Al2O3 nanoparticles in
2.3. Hybrid thermal and desalination system water. Besides, a stirrer was used to hinder agglomeration and sedi-
mentation.
In the following parts, the linear parabolic collector and the heat
transfer fluids specifications used for in hybrid thermal, desalination,
and the operation of the system, will be presented in details. 2.3.3. System operation
For direct freshwater production, salty water passes through ab-
sorbent tubes and turns into the vapor by absorbing the maximum
2.3.1. Collector specifications
energy from the sun. However, the main problem with this method is
For collector design, geometric equations for linear parabolic col-
that the salt from the evaporation of saltwater remains within the tube,
lectors and heat transfer and thermodynamic equations are applied
and after a while, the absorbent tube will be completely blocked. To
[75,76]. In the current model, polyethylene and polypropylene sheets
solve the problem, the indirect method is proposed in the current work.
are used to construct the concentrator’s stand. Fig. 2.a shows an illus-
In this method, the heat transfer fluid, which was the proposed
tration of the model designed with the Solid Work software. The
nanofluid, cycles inside the collector tube in a closed loop. It absorbs
manufactured linear parabolic collector used in the experiments could
the energy in the collector and transfers it to the saline water in the first
also be shown in Fig. 2.b.
heat exchanger and converts the saline water into a two-phase flow of
The geometric specifications of the manufactured linear parabolic
dense saline water (brine) and steam. The brine is discarded from the
collector, used in the experiments, are summarized in Table 2. Due to its
end of the first heat exchanger, and the steam goes into the second heat
mechanical properties, a mirror steel sheet was used for building the
exchanger, where it condenses to distilled water while providing the
collector. The geometric specifications of the manufactured linear
required heat for the production of hot water. In the second heat ex-
parabolic collector, used in the experiments, are shown in Table 2. To
changer, the cooling water passes through the pipes and as the pipes
gain the focal length accurately, besides the theoretical calculation, the
gain heat from the passing steam, the cooling water gets hotter and
laser test was performed to obtain the focal length and thus to reduce
hotter. Thus, the required hot water is produced.
optical loss. This test has been carried out throughout the collector to
Furthermore, as the steam enters the second heat exchanger,
ensure that the accuracy of the collector focal line is accurate. Fig. 3.a
transfers its heat to the pipes and cools down. This results to vapor
and b show the performed laser test. Furthermore, the absorber tube
condensation and production of distilled water. Fig. 5, illustrated the
and its thermal specifications are presented in Fig. 4 and Table 3, re-
schematic of the desalination and heating systems which were designed
spectively.
in the current study. The hybrid thermal and desalination system was
Al2O3-water nanofluid was used as the heat transfer fluid in the
fabricated and mounteded in Shahid Beheshti University, in order to
manufactured linear parabolic collector. The collector thermal effi-
monitor the water production and heating output during a year. The
ciency was investigated for the nanofluid with respect to water. In the
output of the system was measured and recorded every 15 min.
following part, the synthesis of the nanofluid is described.

2.3.2. Nanofluid synthesis
for investigating the effects of Al2O3 nanoparticles on the output of
the linear parabolic solar collector, the nanofluid was synthesized using
an ultrasonic homogenizer. Ten liters solution was povided with a 0.5%
volumetric concentration of nanoparticles. For homogenizing, the
2.4. Monitoring systems and their respective uncertainties
For better precision, the expected climate and weather data during
the experiments were obtained by the System Monitoring Sunny (SMA)
SensorBox installed at the test location. Furthermore, the amount of

Fig. 2. a. Schematic design of the current model b. The manufactured linear parabolic collector used in the experiment.

3
S. Eslami, et al. Energy Conversion and Management 200 (2019) 112107

Fig. 3. a. Performing laser test to find the exact focal length of the collector. b. the absorber tube was placed precisely on the focal line.

2 2 2
⎡ ∂η ∂η ∂η
U (ηth) = ⎢ ⎛ th × U ( ∀̇ ) ⎞ + ⎛ th × U (TO ) ⎞ + ⎛ th × U (Ti ) ⎞
⎜ ⎟ ⎜ ⎟ ⎜ ⎟

∂∀̇ ∂T ⎝ ∂Ti
⎣⎝ ⎠ ⎝ O ⎠ ⎠
1
2 2 2
∂η ∂η ⎤
+ ⎛ th × U (GB ) ⎞ + ⎜⎛ th × U (Aap ) ⎟⎞ ⎥
⎜ ⎟

⎝ ∂GB ⎠ ⎝ ∂Aap ⎠⎦
(1)
where U ( ∀̇ ) , U (TO ) , U (Ti ) , U (GB ) and U (Aap ) respectively represent
the uncertainty of measurement of flow rate, fluid outlet temperature,
fluid inlet temperature, radiation intensity, and collector surface area.
The uncertainty of measured temperature and radiation intensity were
obtained according to the technical specifications of their measurement
devices and are given in Table 5.
According to Table 5, it can be stated that the reported data for the
collector thermal efficiency has an uncertainty of 5.09% and 4.83%
Fig. 4. The absorber tube in the manufactured linear parabolic. respectively for using water and Al2O3-water nanofluid as heat transfer
fluid. The weather conditions and climatology of the test region are
Table 3 described in the following part.
The thermal specifications of the absorber tube.
Thermal conductivity (k) 400 (W/m2) 2.5. Test area environment
Emission coefficient (εr) 0.9
Absorption coefficient (αr) 0.8
Test apparatuses were placed in Shahid Beheshti University at
35°44′23″ north latitude and 51°34′31″ east longitude in Tehran.
Table 4
Average high temperatures are around 35 °C. The recorded high and
The properties of the nanoparticle. low temperatures of all time, are respectively 43 °C and −17 °C [78].
Fig. 6 illustrated the maximum as well as minimum ambient tem-
Nanoparticles Thermal Thermal Density Mean
perature recorded during the test year. It should be noted that the
Conductivity Capacity Diameter
ρ ( )
kg
m3 dnp (m)
highest recorded ambient temperature recorded during the measure-
K ( )
W
mK Cp ( )
J
kgK ment was 40.44 °C on July 8th, while the lowest one was −9.81 °C on
February 3rd.
(γ − Al2O3) 36 773 3880 20

2.6. Nearly zero-energy park design

radiation was measured using a LUTRON SPM-1116SD solar power
meter with an accuracy of 0.1 W m−2. In conducting the experiment
and performing thermal analyzes, the temperature of the heat transfer
fluid, as well as the pipe surface temperature, were measured. For this
purpose, the TES-1384 Thermo data logger, with an accuracy of 0.01%,
has been used.
In the current study, the Kelvin and McClintock uncertainty analysis
were used to determine the reliability of the final result of the test,
which was the collector thermal efficiency. The uncertainty equation
for the collector thermal efficiency is defined as:
The proposed solar-based multi-generation energy system in the
current study was designed to be utilized in a nearly zero-energy park.
Therefore, besides experimentally investigating during a year, the fea-
sibility of the system for applying in a nearly zero-energy park was also
evaluated for the project life of 25 years. The nearly zero-energy park
was considered to be located at Shahid Abbaspour Campus at Shahid
Beheshti University. A sports complex including a football field, an
outdoor swimming pool, and several fitness halls are also located next
to the park. In the following part, by considering the electrical, heating
and drinking water demand of the park, the sizing of different sections
of the multi-generation system would be determined. Furthermore,
using several simulations, the economic viability, and the environ-
mental advantages of using the proposed solar-based system for the
nearly zero-energy park, would be investigated.

4
S. Eslami, et al. Energy Conversion and Management 200 (2019) 112107

Fig. 5. The schematic design of the current desalination and its heating model.

Table 5 daily sunlight exposure is around 5 kWh/m2.

The uncertainty of the effective parameters in calculating the collector thermal The sizing constraint for the photovoltaic section was the maximum
efficiency. available area. The photovoltaic panels were designed to be mounted
Parameter The uncertainty of measurement on the parking lot with a maximum available area of about 7500 m2
(Fig. 7.a). However, considering shading and other effective factors, the
Flow Rate U ( ∀̇ ) = ±4.166 × 10−8 photovoltaic panels could at best occupied 6600 m2 (209 kWp). Fig. 7.b
Fluid Outlet Temperature U (TO ) = ±0.05% or ± 1.0 °C (the one that is higher) shows the layout of the panels, which are designed using the PVSyst
Fluid Inlet Temperature U (Ti ) = ±0.05% or ± 1.0 °C (the one that is higher)
software. The 250 W Canadian Poly Crystal panels from Solar Inc was
Radiation Intensity U (GB ) = ±5% or ± 10
W
(the one that is higher)
m2 used for the simulation. In order to gain the maximum annual energy
Collector Surface Area U (Aap ) = \; ± 0.002175092 output, the panels were tilted with a fixed angle of 30° facing towards
the south and with no possibility of shading. Moreover, due to the
geographic conditions, high sustainability and efficiency, two SMA in-
2.7. Photovoltaic section verters with a capacity of 100 kW were considered for this project.
In-situ measurements, and historical billing records covering years
For simulating the photovoltaic section in the nearly zero-energy dated between January 2012 and January 2017, were obtained to de-
park, PVSyst software was employed. According to the PVSyst software, termine the electrical demand of the park. Fig. 8 illustrates the average
the average daily temperature is calculated as 16.6 °C, and the average

Fig. 6. Maximum and Minimum ambient temperature measured during the test time (1 year).

5
S. Eslami, et al.
Fig. 7. a. The 7500 m2 field in the parking lot, allocated for mounting photovoltaic panels, b. photovoltaic panels mounting designed, using the PVsyst software.
monthly electricity consumption over the billing history analysis years.
The average total required electricity demand of the park according to
the university electric bill was 304.64 MWh/year.
2.8. Hybrid thermal and desalination system
The required linear parabolic solar collectors were considered to be
located on the roof of the buildings near the park. To design the col-
lector, the first step is determining the amount of drinking water as well
as the heating demand. To calculate the consumption demand, the
number of people which will be presented at the site is vital. However,
the proposed hybrid thermal and desalination system is designed in a
way, which can be extended in the future and by installing several
collectors in parallel, the supply capacity could be easily extended, for
further needs. Based on simple random sampling during the test period,
on average 450 people visited the nearly zero-energy park per day,
which results in an average of 894 L per day drinking water demand.
Fig. 9 represents the average drinking water demand of the park for
different months throughout a year.
Fig. 8. The average monthly electricity consumption over the billing history analysis years, dated between January 2012 and January 2017.
6
Energy Conversion and Management 200 (2019) 112107
3. Results and discussion
In the current section, the experimental results, investigating the
performance of the solar-based multi-generation system, as well as the
simulation results of applying the proposed system for a nearly zero-
energy park will be presented and discussed.
3.1. The experimental results
The output of the photovoltaic section was measured experimen-
tally during the test period under the real weather conditions in Tehran.
Fig. 10 illustrates the monthly electricity exported to the grid through
the course of the experiment. The 15 kWp photovoltaic section of the
solar-based multi-generation system generates 26.066 MWh electricity.
Therefore, the annual production per kW capacity of the system would
be 1738 kWh/kWp/year.
The output volume of freshwater was measured and recorded every
15 min. Fig. 11 shows the measured values of the freshwater production
during a 5-h test period for seven days (from 10 am to 3 pm) at the
installation site. Regarding the measurement taken over one year, the
desalinated water production of the hybrid thermal and desalination
S. Eslami, et al.
Fig. 9. The average drinking water demand of the park for different months throughout a year.
system was 8749 L (23.97 L per day), which can provide the con-
sumption need of ten to twelve people. Therefore, considering the
drinking water demand (an average of 894 L per day), 38 parallel hy-
brid thermal and desalination system would be required. As illustrated
in Fig. 9, the maximum demand would be 970 L per day from June to
August. However, based on the experimental measurement in the test
year, drinking water production could meet the demand. That was
because in these months solar radiation intensity and availability were
at their highest level. Furthermore, the capacity of the hybrid thermal
and desalination system could be easily extended by installing several
collectors in parallel.
Furthermore, the performances of this section using either nano-
fluids or water as the heat transfer fluid were investigated and com-
pared. Fig. 12 illustrates the thermal efficiency of the manufactured
model using Al2O3-water nanofluids and water as the heat transfer
fluid. Respectively, the annual thermal efficiencies were 80.83% and
Fig. 10. Monthly electricity exported to grid experimentally (MWh).
7
Energy Conversion and Management 200 (2019) 112107
47.5%, which indicates that using nanofluids led to a 70% improve-
ment.
Fig. 13 shows the total thermal loss coefficient of the manufactured
system during the test period. The presented data are the monthly
average and compares the total thermal loss coefficient while using
either nanofluids or water as the heat transfer fluid. The results indicate
that by using Al2O3-water nanofluids as the heat transfer fluid, total
thermal loss coefficient of the manufactured system will be reduced by
around 31% on average.
3.2. The simulation results
Based on the PVsyst software results, the annual electricity gen-
eration of the 209 kWp photovoltaic section of the park is 362.56 MWh/
year. Furthermore, the annual production per kW capacity of the
system would be 1735 kWh/kWp/year. This result shows a good match
S. Eslami, et al.
Fig. 11. Experimental curves for freshwater production during the seven days in July.
with the experimental measured data during the experiments
(1738 kWh/kWp/year). The Capacity Factor (CF) for the designed
system is around 20%. Furthermore, the performance ratio of system is
estimated to be 83.7%. The performance ratio is defined as the ratio of
the effective generated energy (inverter output), to the output energy of
an ideal system operating at Standard Test Condition (STC) on the same
irradiance.
The simulation results indicate electricity production of
362.56 MWh/year for the park, considering the photovoltaic section.
Comparing with the average total required electricity demand of the
park according to the historical billing records (304.64 MWh/year), the
photovoltaic section could easily meet the electrical demand of the
park. However, for more energy security and certainty, the proposed
solar-based multi-generation system is designed to be connected to the
grid.
Fig. 12. Comparison of thermal efficiency of the manufactured system using nanofluids and water as the heat transfer fluid during one year of the experiment.
8
Energy Conversion and Management 200 (2019) 112107
3.3. Environmental and economic analysis
Utilizing the photovoltaic system to harvest solar energy, plus, to
supply the demand for the park, leads to a reduction of 207.2 tons of
CO2 net annual emission, which is equal to the 19.1 ha of forest for
absorbing carbon. It should also be mentioned that the simple payback,
as well as the equity payback for the designed photovoltaic system, are
4.8 and 3.8 years, respectively (Fig. 14). The Internal Rate of Return
(IRR) for the system, with the inflation rate of 9% and the project life of
25 years, is 31.7%. As calculated, the initial investment of the photo-
voltaic part, containing photovoltaic panels, inverters, structures, and
installation is 200,000 $, while the operation and maintenance cost is
10,000 $ per year. The economic characteristics of the photovoltaic
section are reported in Table 6.
After a one-year operation period of the experiment, results show
that the hybrid thermal and desalination section could meet both the
drinking water needs as well as the heating demands of the park.
Furthermore, utilizing this solar-based section leads to a reduction of
S. Eslami, et al. Energy Conversion and Management 200 (2019) 112107

Fig. 13. Comparison of total thermal loss coefficient of the manufactured system using nanofluids and water as the heat transfer fluid during one year of the
experiment.

134.8 tons of CO2 net annual greenhouse gas emission, which is equal Table 6
to the 12.4 ha of forest for absorbing carbon. The economic character- The economic characteristics of the photovoltaic section.
istics of the hybrid thermal and desalination section are presented in Characteristic Explanation & cost
Table 7. The simple and equity paybacks of this section were 5.8 and
4.6 years (Fig. 15). Moreover, the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of the Per 1 kW Unit Nearly Zero-Energy Park
section, with the inflation rate of 9% and the project life of 25 years, is
Photovoltaic system 1000 dollars 200,000 dollars
27.3%. Land purchase free free
Annually maintenance 10 dollars 10,000 dollars
Energy production 1523 kW 304.64 MWh/year
3.4. Discussion Inflation rate 9% 9%
Internal Rate of Return – 31.7%

The experimental and simulation results, as well as the environ-

mental and economic analysis for the proposed multi-generation
Table 7
system, confirmed the viability and feasibility of the system. The ex-
The economic characteristics of the hybrid thermal and desalination section.
perimental study showed that the proposed system could work in the
real condition and meet the electrical, thermal and water demand Characteristic Explanation & cost
during the test year. Reviewing the previous investigations on the
Unit Nearly Zero-Energy Park
multi-generation systems, indicate a lack of full attention, especially
locally, towards the renewable energy park. However, some studies Water desalination 150 dollars 5700 dollars
have been done on multi-generation systems in Iran. For instance, Land purchase free free
Annually maintenance 5 dollars 190 dollars
Fazelpour et al. [79], stated that a hybrid wind-diesel-battery system is
Capacity 24 L/day 912 L/day
the best economic option to meet the electrical demand of a hotel on Water price 3 dollar/m3 3 dollar/m3
Kish Island, Iran.
Furthermore, other local studies have been done regarding the

Fig. 14. Cumulative cash flows for the photovoltaic section during the project life.

9
S. Eslami, et al.
Fig. 15. Cumulative cash flows for the hybrid thermal and desalination section during the project life.
multi-generation hybrid systems in Tehran [80], and Qeshm Island
[81]. It could be observed that all of the previous systems consisted of a
diesel generator section. Regarding the increasing environmental con-
cerns in recent years, the utilization of diesel generator sections may
not be the best solution toward a sustainable future. Furthermore, other
limited local publications were mainly emphasized on the energy
supply and management [76] and neglected the water crisis in Iran.
Therefore, applying the proposed multi-generation system in the cur-
rent study, could overcome the challenges regarding the energy and
water supply as well as the environmental concerns and ease the path
toward a sustainable future.
4. Conclusions and perspectives
The present study experimentally investigates a solar-based multi-
generation system in order to provide drinking water as well as energy
demand. The system consists of a photovoltaic section and a hybrid
thermal and desalination section. The performance of the system was
experimentally tested during a year, and the results indicate an average
1738 kWh/kWp/year electricity generation and 23.97 L per day water
production. Moreover, the effects of using Al2O3-water nanofluid as
well as water as the heat transfer fluid in the hybrid thermal and de-
salination section were also investigated throughout the experiment. It
was found through the course of the experiment that using nanofluids
led to a 70% increase in the thermal efficiency of the manufactured
model and raised it from 47.5% to 80.83%. Furthermore, by using the
nanofluids instead of water, around 31% reduction in the annual
average of the total thermal loss coefficient of the manufactured system
was observed. Using experimental analysis as well as simulation, the
utilization of the proposed solar-based multi-generation system for a
nearly zero-energy park was also investigated. It was shown that using
such a system could save carbon emission equal to the 31.5 ha of re-
forestation (342-tons carbon). The simple and equity paybacks were
respectively 4.8 and 3.8 years for the photovoltaic section as well as 5.8
and 4.6 years for the hybrid thermal and desalination section of the
system. Furthermore, considering an inflation rate of 9% and the pro-
ject life of 25 years, the Internal Rate of Return was 31.7% for the
photovoltaic section and 27.3% for the hybrid thermal and desalination
section. Regarding technoeconomical and environmental point of view,
the results indicate the feasibility of the solar-based multi-generation
system. The capacity system could be easily extended, and therefore,
the pattern of the nearly zero-energy park can be applied in other re-
gions to ease the path toward sustainable cities and societies.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
10
Energy Conversion and Management 200 (2019) 112107
influence the work reported in this paper.
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