scholarly journals Complete Procedure for the Economic, Financial and Cost-Competitiveness of Photovoltaic Systems with Self-Consumption

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 345 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. Talavera ◽  
E. Muñoz-Cerón ◽  
J. de la Casa ◽  
D. Lozano-Arjona ◽  
M. Theristis ◽  
...  

Nowadays, the integration of photovoltaic (PV) systems into the grid involves new and competitive ways to realize this. Thus, it is necessary to define procedures that not only include energy calculations but also incorporate economic and funding feasibility features. According to the literature review, there are numerous tools that are available to carry out a profitability analysis of a photovoltaic system. However, certain shortcomings have been identified, either in the definition of the economic and financial scenarios or in the results obtained, as they do not provide all the necessary information, do not use all the most common economic criteria, or in some cases the complexity and training requirements for their correct implementation may discourage their use. Therefore, in this paper a complete procedure that can be used as a preliminary decision tool prior to the design of an in-depth PV self-consumption system is proposed. Realistic input data makes it possible to not only obtain results for common economic and financial feasibility criteria (Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return, Discounted Pay-Back Time and Net Cash Balance), but it also allow for a cost-competitiveness evaluation based on the Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE). The novel concept of the direct cost of PV self-consumed electricity is also introduced.

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federica Cucchiella ◽  
Idiano D’Adamo ◽  
Massimo Gastaldi ◽  
Vincenzo Stornelli

Renewable energy is a wide topic in environmental engineering and management science. Photovoltaic (PV) power has had great interest and growth in recent years. The energy produced by the PV system is intermittent and it depends on the weather conditions, presenting lower levels of production than other renewable resources (RESs). The economic feasibility of PV systems is linked typically to the share of self-consumption in a developed market and consequently, energy storage system (ESS) can be a solution to increase this share. This paper proposes an economic feasibility of residential lead-acid ESS combined with PV panels and the assumptions at which these systems become economically viable. The profitability analysis is conducted on the base of the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) method and the index used is Net Present Value (NPV). The analysis evaluates several scenarios concerning a 3-kW plant located in a residential building in a PV developed market (Italy). It is determined by combinations of the following critical variables: levels of insolation, electricity purchase prices, electricity sales prices, investment costs of PV systems, specific tax deduction of PV systems, size of batteries, investment costs of ESS, lifetime of a battery, increases of self-consumption following the adoption of an ESS, and subsidies of ESS. Results show that the increase of the share of self-consumption is the main critical variable and consequently, the break-even point (BEP) analysis defines the case-studies in which the profitability is verified.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 72-80
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Jagodzinska ◽  

The definition of negotiation has already been broadly examined in literature and varies from one author to another. However, there does not exist a complete conceptualization, which would grasp all the essential constituents of negotiation. This article aims to fill this niche by revisiting the concept of negotiation and broadening it by the elusive element that, if not properly addressed, too often causes negotiations to fail: the ego factor. Consequently, this paper introduces the novel concept of egotiation. The new conceptual framework provides a straightforward and user-friendly reference that can be used when preparing for a negotiation or at any time during a negotiation to help better understand all the dynamics behind the negotiation process. Furthermore, this article unravels what negotiation really is based on the responses collected from a multicultural audience, and shows how these results align with the novel concept of negotiation.


Author(s):  
Anatoly S. Kuprin ◽  
Galina I. Danilina

The purpose of this study is the analysis of limit situation in the narrative of war. The material of the study is the novel of Daniil Granin “My Lieutenant” and related texts. In the first part of the paper, the authors explore existing approaches to the term “limit situation” and similar concepts into scientific and philosophical traditions; limits of its applicability in literary studies and its relation to the categories of “narrative instances” and “event”. Proposed a literary-theoretical definition of the limit situation, which can be used in the analysis of fiction texts. Existing approaches to the examination of the situation of war are analyzed: philosophical-existential, psychoanalytic, sociological, literary. In the second part of the paper, the authors propose their method for analyzing limit situations in texts about war, which basis on existing approaches and preserves the text-centric principle of studying the structure of the story. Two interrelated areas of research have been identified: the study of war as a continuous limit situation in the intertextual aspect (the discourse of war); the study of limit situations (death, suffering, guilt, accident) in the narrative of war as part of a specific text. In the third part of the scientific work,the analysis of war as a continuous limit situation results in the study of the concept of “limit” (border) in a fiction text. The role of “limit” (border) concept in the texts about the war is studied, the possible types of limits in the discourse of war are examined. Limit situations in the narrative of war are analyzed on the basis of the novel “My Lieutenant” by Daniil Granin. A review of journalistic and scientific works about the novel revealed both the continuity and the differences between the novel and the “lieutenant” prose of the 20th century. An analysis of the limit situations in the novel revealed their key position in the narrative. These situations are independent of the fiction time, of the fluctuation of the point of view’; the function of the abstract author is to build the narrative as a “directive” immersion of the hero and narrator in these situations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 1034
Author(s):  
Sara Lettieri ◽  
Chandra Bortolotto ◽  
Francesco Agustoni ◽  
Filippo Lococo ◽  
Andrea Lancia ◽  
...  

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare and aggressive malignancy that most commonly affects the pleural lining of the lungs. It has a strong association with exposure to biopersistent fibers, mainly asbestos (80% of cases) and—in specific geographic regions—erionite, zeolites, ophiolites, and fluoro-edenite. Individuals with a chronic exposure to asbestos generally have a long latency with no or few symptoms. Then, when patients do become symptomatic, they present with advanced disease and a worse overall survival (about 13/15 months). The fibers from industrial production not only pose a substantial risk to workers, but also to their relatives and to the surrounding community. Modern targeted therapies that have shown benefit in other human tumors have thus far failed in MPM. Overall, MPM has been listed as orphan disease by the European Union. However, molecular high-throughput profiling is currently unveiling novel biomarkers and actionable targets. We here discuss the natural evolution, mainly focusing on the novel concept of molecular epidemiology. The application of innovative endpoints, quantification of genetic damages, and definition of genetic susceptibility are reviewed, with the ultimate goal to point out new tools for screening of exposed subject and for designing more efficient diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Zoltán I. Búzás

Abstract Formal racial equality is a key aspect of the current Liberal International Order (LIO). It is subject to two main challenges: resurgent racial nationalism and substantive racial inequality. Combining work in International Relations with interdisciplinary studies on race, I submit that these challenges are the latest iteration of struggles between two transnational coalitions over the LIO's central racial provisions, which I call racial diversity regimes (RDRs). The traditional coalition has historically favored RDRs based on racial inequality and racial nationalism. The transformative coalition has favored RDRs based on racial equality and nonracial nationalism. I illustrate the argument by tracing the development of the liberal order's RDR as a function of intercoalitional struggles from one based on racial nationalism and inequality in 1919 to the current regime based on nonracial nationalism and limited equality. Today, racial nationalists belong to the traditional coalition and critics of racial inequality are part of the transformative coalition. The stakes of their struggles are high because they will determine whether we will live in a more racist or a more antiracist world. This article articulates a comprehensive framework that places race at the heart of the liberal order, offers the novel concept of “embedded racism” to capture how sovereignty shields domestic racism from foreign interference, and proposes an agenda for mainstream International Relations that takes race seriously.


Author(s):  
Rieke Hansen ◽  
Martina van Lierop ◽  
Werner Rolf ◽  
Damjana Gantar ◽  
Ina Šuklje Erjavec ◽  
...  

AbstractConcepts such as green infrastructure, nature-based solutions, and ecosystem services gained popularity in recent discourses on urban planning. Despite their recognition as innovative concepts, all of them share a degree of ambiguity. Fuzziness can be a weakness but also an opportunity to shape novel concepts together with the stakeholders that are supposed to implement them in the planning practice. The paper traces concept development processes of green infrastructure through transdisciplinary knowledge exchange in three different projects, a European and a national research project and a local city-regional project as part of an EU regional cooperation project. In all projects, the green infrastructure concept evolved in different stages. Stakeholder involvement during these stages span from consultation to co-creation. The cases reveal two different approaches: concepts that are developed “for planning practice” might be based on a plethora of insight via consultation, while those “with planning practice” foster co-creation and might result in high acceptance among the involved stakeholders. Depending on the purpose of the novel concept, each approach can be beneficial and result in practice-related and operational products, such as guidance documents or planning strategies. However, the cases also show that in any new context an exchange about fuzzy concepts is not only needed but also a chance to stimulate cooperation and joint understanding about urban challenges and how to address them.


Blood ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 118 (23) ◽  
pp. 6107-6114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelle de Wit ◽  
Yuri Souwer ◽  
Astrid J. van Beelen ◽  
Rosa de Groot ◽  
Femke J. M. Muller ◽  
...  

Abstract IL-17–producing CD4+ T helper (Th17) cells are important for immunity against extracellular pathogens and in autoimmune diseases. The factors that drive Th17 development in human remain a matter of debate. Here we show that, compared with classic CD28 costimulation, alternative costimulation via the CD5 or CD6 lymphocyte receptors forms a superior pathway for human Th17-priming. In the presence of the Th17-promoting cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, IL-23, and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), CD5 costimulation induces more Th17 cells that produce higher amounts of IL-17, which is preceded by prolonged activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), a key regulator in Th17 differentiation, and enhanced levels of the IL-17–associated transcription factor retinoid-related orphan receptor-γt (ROR-γt). Strikingly, these Th17-promoting signals critically depend on CD5-induced elevation of IL-23 receptor (IL-23R) expression. The present data favor the novel concept that alternative costimulation via CD5, rather than classic costimulation via CD28, primes naive T cells for stable Th17 development through promoting the expression of IL-23R.


Microbiome ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Pascual-García

AbstractIn this comment, we analyse the conceptual framework proposed by Aguirre de Cárcer (Microbiome 7:142, 2019), introducing the novel concept of Phylogenetic Core Groups (PCGs). This notion aims to complement the traditional classification in operational taxonomic units (OTUs), widely used in microbial ecology, to provide a more intrinsic taxonomical classification which avoids the use of pre-determined thresholds. However, to introduce this concept, the author frames his proposal in a wider theoretical framework based on a conceptualization of selection that we argue is a tautology. This blurs the subsequent formulation of an assembly principle for microbial communities, favouring that some contradictory examples introduced to support the framework appear aligned in their conclusions. And more importantly, under this framework and its derived methodology, it is not possible to infer PCGs from data in a consistent way. We reanalyse the proposal to identify its logical and methodological flaws and, through the analysis of synthetic scenarios, we propose a number of methodological refinements to contribute towards the determination of PCGs in a consistent way. We hope our analysis will promote the exploration of PCGs as a potentially valuable tool, helping to bridge the gap between environmental conditions and community composition in microbial ecology.


Author(s):  
Amir A. Kharazi ◽  
Pezhman Akbari ◽  
Norbert Mu¨ller

A number of technical challenges have often hindered the economical application of refrigeration cycles using water (R718) as refrigerant. The novel concept of condensing wave rotor provides a solution for performance improvement of R718 refrigeration cycles. The wave rotor implementation can increase efficiency and reduce the size and cost of R718 units. The condensing wave rotor employs pressurized water to pressurize, desuperheat, and condense the refrigerant vapor — all in one dynamic process. In this study, the underlying phenomena of flash evaporation, shock wave compression, desuperheating, and condensation inside the wave rotor channels are described in a wave and phase-change diagram. A computer program based on a thermodynamic model is generated to evaluate the performance of R718 baseline and wave-rotor-enhanced cycles. The detailed thermodynamic approach for the baseline and the modified cycles is described. The effect of some key parameters on the performance enhancement is demonstrated as an aid for optimization. A generated performance map summarizes the findings.


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