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![Kanto region and Tokyo City. The map shows the area of Kanto, outlined in white, and Tokyo City, outlined in red. These regions are used to compute the total rooftop area available, and comprise the region serviced by TEPCO [57]. Background image from Google Maps.](publication/235991226/figure/fig6/AS:1132168927547404@1646941515668/Kanto-region-and-Tokyo-City-The-map-shows-the-area-of-Kanto-outlined-in-white-and.jpg)
Kanto region and Tokyo City. The map shows the area of Kanto, outlined in white, and Tokyo City, outlined in red. These regions are used to compute the total rooftop area available, and comprise the region serviced by TEPCO [57]. Background image from Google Maps.
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In 2010, nuclear power accounted for 27% of electricity production in Japan. The March 2011
disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi power station resulted in the closure of all of Japan’s nuclear
power plants and it remains an open question as to how many will reopen. Even before the loss
of nuclear capacity, there were efforts in Japan to foster the use...
Citations
... 13), the potential electricity market is large. However, nuclear power has unique security, oversight and proliferation issues that impact its deployment, and economics has often been an issue relative to other generation technologies, such as solar systems coupled with large-scale pumped hydroelectric storage 14 . ...
While small-scale nuclear power is typically thought of for niche markets, recent work has suggested that it could help address the massive gaps in energy access in developing countries. However, nuclear energy has safety, governance and economic considerations that affect its deployment. Here we present a global analysis of regions suitable for nuclear reactor deployment based on physical siting criteria, security, governance and economic competitiveness. We use high-resolution population and satellite night-time light data to identify areas in need of electricity. We show that, technically, reactors in the 1–50 MWe range could serve 70.9% of this population. However, economics alone would make microreactors uncompetitive compared with renewables and energy storage for 87% of this population. Grid extensions and small modular nuclear reactors (with more competitive economics) could electrify these populations, but governance issues could limit deployment for all but 20% of this population. Together, governance and economics eliminate 95% of the potential market for microreactors.
... A sun powered thermoelectric generator (STEG) is a framework intended to recuperate heat from sun oriented radiation and convert it into power utilizing a thermoelectric generator (TEG) [5]. It is turning into an innovative other option, and is rivaling the predominant sun powered photovoltaic frameworks regardless of its low transformation effectiveness contrasted with photovoltaic innovation [40]. STEGs are characterized by the sort of optical sensors utilized, specifically, an optical fixation framework or not. ...
In the last few decades, the attention is being carried by the research and development of wearable sensors for the potential, optimization and hand ready data in instantaneous and reliable health monitoring for assessing the health of a person and default measures are taken care of in time. The idea of body heat based thermoelectric power generation permits an attractive solution which is used for thermoelectric power for wearable devices. This review article represents the different types of thermoelectric generators and the successive results which have been achieved till date. The paper also reflects the problems concerning the operation as well as the O/P of wearable sensors based on body heat harvesting method power generation. Specifically, the paper focuses on optimized simulation of human thermoregulatory models, flexible heat sinks, electronics, and energy storage devices. Which are pertinent in nature due to the application and alongside research which leads to the practical implementation of these sensors in practice for a better health monitoring and healthy lifestyle.
... These are the values for a typical house in Tokyo in April. Moreover, the available roof surface area (non-sloped) in Tokyo's typical house is 6.34 m 2 [53,54]. The Fresnel lens size per one lab-scale system is set to 300 × 300 mm 2 , which means that about 70 Fresnel lenses (lab-scale systems) can be used at most in the available roof surface area in Tokyo (6.34 m 2 ). ...
In order to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, solar hot-water household systems containing thermoelectric generators that generate electricity and also store thermal energy are a partial potential solution. However, few studies have reported on the performance of these hybrid systems that can generate nighttime electrical power from excess stored solar thermal energy. A novel high-performance solar thermoelectric lab-scale system using composite phase change materials (consisting of paraffin, high-density polyethylene, and expanded graphite) was fabricated and tested to fill this knowledge gap. This lab-scale system's performance was evaluated by analyzing its thermal behavior both experimentally and theoretically for lab-scale use. The experimental results showed the system's maximum overall efficiency (all-day) was 55.2%. The simulated case study revealed that the scaled-up system with composite phase change materials has the potential to provide 420–426 L of warm water per day, 1.125 kWh of electricity with solar irradiance (simulating daytime operation), and 0.301 kWh of electricity at night for a standard house with 6.34 m² of available roof surface area in Tokyo, Japan. The present study results indicated that this novel lab-scale system can utilize solar energy more effectively than conventional systems and is a promising technology to generate electricity for all-day operation and produce warm water without emitting any CO2. In other words, the proposed lab-scale system has a great potential to contribute to a future low-carbon society.
... This also applies to many other highly industrialized countries such as e.g. Japan [11], the Piedmont Region of Italy [12] and Switzerland [13]. In these countries, too, it is to be expected that the installed PV capacity on buildings will have to be increased drastically. ...
... Also in this project, initial results confirm that sufficiently large areas are available on buildings [14], showing that there is a very high potential for the installation of PV modules on buildings, which exceeds 200 GW p by far. Other studies for other countries show similar trends [11] [12] [13]. ...
This paper reviews and analyzes technological design options, which have become available to date for BIPV systems on roofs and facades, independently of specific products or building projects. This means that this survey does not analyze existing products or realized buildings, but provides an overview of the technologies for BIPV. The starting point is an analysis of the relevance of BIPV technologies for the decarbonization of energy systems, providing energy for direct use of electricity and sector coupling together with an analysis of the German BIPV market. The paper presents the wide range of technical design options for BIPV systems and categorizes and analyzes them to provide a structured overview. This comprises a detailed analysis of the design options for BIPV modules, in which not only the design options for the PV cell layer were comprehensively investigated, but also the different variants of embedding materials, front and rear cover materials, additional interlayers and electrical module layout. Two fundamental module-level design options were investigated in particular detail: The use of PV cells as basic elements of patterns and the use of color to conceal the PV cells. Subsequently, options for the design of complete electrical systems are reviewed, ranging from sub-module level design parameters to building energy systems. Design options for the constructional integration of BIPV modules in the building envelope complete the review of technological design possibilities.
... These energy sources are polluting, they emit greenhouse gases and, furthermore, will run out in a few decades' time [1]. The only current competitor is nuclear power, but the fatal risks involved in nuclear operation, as seen in the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant (Japan) in March 2011, have limited any expansion or development in the nuclear sector [2]. ...
... These energy sources are polluting, they emit greenhouse gases and, furthermore, will run out in a few decades' time [1]. The only current competitor is nuclear power, but the fatal risks involved in nuclear operation, as seen in the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant (Japan) in March 2011, have limited any expansion or development in the nuclear sector [2]. ...
A thermoelectric effect is a physical phenomenon consisting of the direct conversion of heat into electrical energy (Seebeck effect) or inversely from electrical current into heat (Peltier effect) without moving mechanical parts. The low efficiency of thermoelectric devices has limited their applications to certain areas, such as refrigeration, heat recovery, power generation and renewable energy. However, for specific applications like space probes, laboratory equipment and medical applications, where cost and efficiency are not as important as availability, reliability and predictability, thermoelectricity offers noteworthy potential. The challenge of making thermoelectricity a future leader in waste heat recovery and renewable energy is intensified by the integration of nanotechnology. In this review, state-of-the-art thermoelectric generators, applications and recent progress are reported. Fundamental knowledge of the thermoelectric effect, basic laws, and parameters affecting the efficiency of conventional and new thermoelectric materials are discussed. The applications of thermoelectricity are grouped into three main domains. The first group deals with the use of heat emitted from a radioisotope to supply electricity to various devices. In this group, space exploration was the only application for which thermoelectricity was successful. In the second group, a natural heat source could prove useful for producing electricity, but as thermoelectricity is still at an initial phase because of low conversion efficiency, applications are still at laboratory level. The third group is progressing at a high speed, mainly because the investigations are funded by governments and/or car manufacturers, with the final aim of reducing vehicle fuel consumption and ultimately mitigating the effect of greenhouse gas emissions.
... These energy sources are polluting, they emit greenhouse gases and, furthermore, will run out in a few decades' time [1]. The only current competitor is nuclear power, but the fatal risks involved in nuclear operation, as seen in the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant (Japan) in March 2011, have limited any expansion or development in the nuclear sector [2]. ...
A thermoelectric effect is a physical phenomenon consisting of the direct conversion of heat into electrical energy (Seebeck effect) or inversely from electrical current into heat (Peltier effect) without moving mechanical parts. The low efficiency of thermoelectric devices has limited their applications to certain areas, such as refrigeration, heat recovery, power generation and renewable energy. However, for specific applications like space probes, laboratory equipment and medical applications, where cost and efficiency are not as important as availability, reliability and predictability, thermoelectricity offers noteworthy potential. The challenge of making thermoelectricity a future leader in waste heat recovery and renewable energy is intensified by the integration of nanotechnology. In this review, state-of-the-art thermoelectric generators, applications and recent progress are reported. Fundamental knowledge of the thermoelectric effect, basic laws, and parameters affecting the efficiency of conventional and new thermoelectric materials are discussed. The applications of thermoelectricity are grouped into three main domains. The first group deals with the use of heat emitted from a radioisotope to supply electricity to various devices. In this group, space exploration was the only application for which thermoelectricity was successful. In the second group, a natural heat source could prove useful for producing electricity, but as thermoelectricity is still at an initial phase because of low conversion efficiency, applications are still at laboratory level. The third group is progressing at a high speed, mainly because the investigations are funded by governments and/or car manufacturers, with the final aim of reducing vehicle fuel consumption and ultimately mitigating the effect of greenhouse gas emissions.
... The total daily hot water consumption and the total daily electricity usage in the typical house in Tokyo are 400 L [23] and 11.2 kWh [24], respectively. The available roof surface area (non-sloped) for the system is 6.34 m 2 [25,26]. In this available roof surface area, we can utilize the solar collector equivalent of about 51 Fresnel lenses at most, which means that the system equivalent of about 51 lab-scale systems can be used. ...
Solar thermal systems, especially solar hot water household heating/storage systems, are considered the most cost-effective alternatives to fossil fuel hot water heating energy systems. Recently, solar hot water systems are combined with a thermoelectric generator, forming hybrid systems. However, these hybrid systems described in the literature cannot generate electricity from sunset to sunrise, or at night, when residential consumers use the most electricity. In this paper, an all-day energy harvesting power system utilizing a thermoelectric generator with water-based heat storage is presented to generate electricity all-day and also produce warm water. The experimental and theoretical analyses were conducted to evaluate and verify the performance of the systems. In the case study, the scaled-up system shows potential to provide 198.9 L of warm water per day, 0.912 kWh of electricity in the daytime, and 0.0332 kWh of electricity at nighttime for a typical house with 6.34 m2 of available surface area in Tokyo, Japan. Although the electric power at night is low, this novel lab-scale system shows the potential to be a viable source of electricity and warm water throughout the day, without emitting any greenhouse gas.
... Climate change in the world requires taking action to reduce CO2 emissions. Many countries in the world achieve this goal by improving the energy efficiency of the economy and replacing conventional fuels with modern technologies that use the natural energy resources of the Earth and the Sun [1,2]. ...
Historical buildings in the centre of European cities are characterized by compact built-up areas with diversified heights of buildings, most often with multi-sloped roofs. Architectural elements, dormers, chimneys and bay windows, cause limitations in the availability of surface area for solar installations. The paper presents the results of an analysis for possibilities in meeting energy requirements with the use of solar energy for old-town buildings in the centre of Bydgoszcz. Based on the calculations made, it was determined that the dense downtown development has a very large roof surface, however, the vicinity of buildings, roof slope angles, and obstacles cause significant restrictions on the location of such installations. The article analyzes selected fragments of the Downtown district. The height of buildings, their shape and the surface of their roofs and all the obstacles that occur there were taken into account. The conclusions concern an assessment of the possibility of using the potential of solar energy in this type of building. The efficiency of solar installations and the losses associated with energy conversion and transmission to customers is also included.
... RE systems can sometimes be integrated rather easily, e.g. solar panels on buildings (De Schepper et al. 2012;Stoll et al. 2013). However, implementation of renewable energy systems often leads to substantial alterations in the amount and quality of ecosystem services (ES) (Hastik et al. 2015;Moriarty and Honnery 2016). ...
... Simultaneously, the sociocultural context may influence estimated electricity potentials (Hastik et al. 2015). While solar panels mounted on facades and roofs may only trigger minor conflicts with aesthetics (De Schepper et al. 2012;Stoll et al. 2013), ground-mounted solar parks are less accepted (Tsoutsos et al. 2005;Michel et al. 2015;Grilli et al. 2016). In line with Cattin et al. (2012), we did not assess the placement of solar panels on open land. ...
Replacement of conventional energy sources with renewables such as solar panels and wind turbines requires adequate land. Impact assessments should be conducted to identify sites exhibiting least conflict with current and future land-uses and corresponding ecosystem services. We assessed the electricity potential and geographical distribution of wind turbines and solar panels for current land-use and under three Swiss land-change scenarios. The future scenario A2 with limited construction regulations, a liberalized market and more building surfaces increases the electricity potential of solar panels by 69% from 16.6 TWh (potential under current land-use and regulations) to a future 28.2 TWh. An increase of approximately 26% electricity potential from solar panels is expected for scenario B2 (regionalized economy) and the trend scenario. Wind-electricity potential could increase by 61% from 93 to 150 TWh under A2, and 29% under a B2 or trend scenario. The electricity potential for solar panels remains largely unaffected by conflicts with ecosystem services, but electricity production from wind could be reduced by as much as 98% due to conflicts with ecosystem services. Depending on the scenario used, low-conflict sites for solar panels and wind turbines could contribute between 85% (trend and B2 scenario) and >100% (A2 scenario) to the Swiss energy target of generating 25 TWh from new renewable energy sources by 2050. This includes expected technological developments. Positive impacts of sustainable energy production on regional economies are moderate and will not lead to strong changes in regional-economic development.
