research paper on renewable energy technology

Towards Sustainable Energy: A Systematic Review of Renewable Energy Sources, Technologies, and Public Opinions

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Green building practices to integrate renewable energy in the construction sector: a review

• Review Article
• Open access
• Published: 15 December 2023
• Volume 22 , pages 751–784, ( 2024 )

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• Lin Chen 1 , 2 ,
• Ying Hu 1 , 2 ,
• Ruiyi Wang 1 , 2 ,
• Xiang Li 1 , 2 ,
• Zhonghao Chen 3 ,
• Jianmin Hua 1 , 2 ,
• Ahmed I. Osman   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2788-7839 4 ,
• Mohamed Farghali 5 , 6 ,
• Lepeng Huang 1 , 2 ,
• Jingjing Li 3 ,
• Liang Dong 7 , 8 , 9 ,
• David W. Rooney 4 &
• Pow-Seng Yap 3  

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The building sector is significantly contributing to climate change, pollution, and energy crises, thus requiring a rapid shift to more sustainable construction practices. Here, we review the emerging practices of integrating renewable energies in the construction sector, with a focus on energy types, policies, innovations, and perspectives. The energy sources include solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass fuels. Case studies in Seattle, USA, and Manama, Bahrain, are presented. Perspectives comprise self-sufficiency, microgrids, carbon neutrality, intelligent buildings, cost reduction, energy storage, policy support, and market recognition. Incorporating wind energy into buildings can fulfill about 15% of a building's energy requirements, while solar energy integration can elevate the renewable contribution to 83%. Financial incentives, such as a 30% subsidy for the adoption of renewable technologies, augment the appeal of these innovations.

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Introduction

With the implementation of economic globalization and the expansion of economic regions, the global consumption of energy and resources is growing rapidly at an average annual rate of 2.2% (Chen et al. 2023a ; Salam et al. 2020 ). The construction industry, as the main sector of energy consumption, accounts for 36% of the total global energy consumption (Chen et al. 2022a ). The rapid growth of the global population will require more urban building capacity in the next 40 years than in the past 4000 years (Chen et al. 2022b ; Gottlieb et al. 2023 ), but traditional buildings rely heavily on coal, oil, natural gas, and other non-renewable energy sources, and excessive energy use causes energy depletion and high pollution. Environmental instability, such as the greenhouse effect and extreme weather caused by energy, have aroused widespread concern for green, low-carbon, sustainable, and other renewable energy. At the same time, international energy deployment has set a goal of near net-zero emissions by 2050, as the construction industry is under intense pressure from energy scarcity and fossil fuel depletion (Zhang et al. 2022 ). Europe and the USA have redefined regulations and policies related to the development of near-zero-energy buildings for the development of renewable energy (Liu and Rodriguez 2021 ; Yang et al. 2022b ), and China also committed to the international government's "dual-carbon" goal of reaching peak carbon by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060 (Osman et al. 2023 ; Paris Agreement 2015 ). The application of renewable energy in buildings has, therefore, become a major driver of the energy transition in conventional buildings and an important cornerstone of urban planning and development strategies to reduce the contribution of the building sector to climate change and energy use.

Renewable energy, as an innovative alternative energy, plays a leading role in getting rid of fossil fuel dependence and mitigating climate change. It is used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions stemming from energy consumption during construction projects (Ghaffarian Hoseini et al. 2013 ; Yang et al. 2022b ). This approach aims to create environmentally friendly, energy-efficient, and sustainable buildings. Moreover, it stands as a pivotal contributor to the evolving global energy landscape as governments worldwide commit to addressing climate change and advancing sustainable development goals. Renewable energy was first used in the European Union, where the main objective was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, thus improving energy efficiency (Yang et al. 2022b ). In China, the initial application of renewable energy in building construction encompassed solar, wind, geothermal, and other sources. As technology in this field continues to mature, it plays a pivotal role in fostering the growth of a sustainable energy ecosystem. This is achieved by assessing how various technologies impact the enhancement of performance efficiency and the regulation of overall energy consumption levels (Zhang et al. 2015 ). Renewable energy is progressively becoming the energy strategy for numerous countries; for instance, the USA is investigating the economic feasibility of incorporating solar and geothermal technologies into heat pump systems (Kim and Junghans 2023 ), while Poland is employing wind and photovoltaic sources to facilitate its energy transition (Igliński et al. 2022 ). Therefore, the development and utilization of renewable energy plays a key role in building energy efficiency and emission reduction and promotes the sustainable development of buildings in the energy sector and even globally through existing natural resources and techno-economic measures.

This review systematically analyzes the current status and potential of renewable energy applications in the building sector. The review highlights the advantages of renewable energy applications in the building sector, such as solar, geothermal, wind, and biomass, as well as the challenges of technological innovation and development. It also provides examples of buildings in the construction sector that have successfully used renewable energy, describes the types of renewable energy used and the socio-economic benefits derived from their use, and analyzes the challenges and lessons learned during implementation. In addition, this review provides an in-depth look at the global policy and regulatory framework for renewable energy in buildings, considering the impact of policy on renewable energy adoption and, from there, analyzing the opportunities and barriers to policy implementation. The paper further explores the latest technological advancements like machine learning and Internet of Things technologies in renewable energy within the building sector and systematically evaluates their potential impact on renewable energy utilization for sustainable cities. Finally, the review concludes by discussing the prospects of renewable energy in the building sector, examining both the potential and challenges involved in promoting its widespread adoption.

Overview of renewable energies in the building sector

Renewable energy derived from natural resources, is less harmful to the environment than fossil fuels and serves as an alternative to traditional energy sources (Dey et al. 2022 ). Renewable energy in buildings refers to the integration of sustainable energy sources, such as solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass, into the full building life cycle of design, construction, operation, and maintenance to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and traditional energy sources, promoting environmental sustainability and mitigating climate change. The roots of renewable energy in architecture can be traced back to early experiments in passive solar design, maximizing the use of sunlight for heating and natural ventilation to design the orientation of buildings (Gong et al. 2022 ; Ionescu et al. 2015 ). With the increasing awareness of environmental protection, the application technology of renewable energy in modern buildings has also gained momentum for innovative development.

The application of renewable energy in buildings depends mainly on the characteristics of the energy required for the building and the type of different energy sources. Among the existing renewable energy sources, solar, wind, hydro, tidal, geothermal, biomass, and hydrogen are widely recognized as key and mature technologies in the renewable energy sector. However, solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass energy have a greater potential to fulfill the energy needs of buildings (Khan and Al-Ghamdi 2021 ; Wu and Skye 2021 ), as shown in Fig.  1 .

Types and sources of renewable energy in the building sector. Advancing the use of renewable energy within buildings is crucial for combatting climate change. The figure presented visually categorizes the types of renewable energy prevalent in the building sector. The dominant forms include solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, and biomass energy. Gaining a comprehensive understanding of these energy sources is pivotal. By integrating renewable installations with existing infrastructure and aligning them with energy demand patterns and environmental considerations, we can optimize overall efficiency

Solar energy

Solar energy stands as the most accessible and commonly adopted form of renewable energy, achieved by capturing the ionization of the sun's radiant energy. It is acclaimed for its limitless supply and eco-friendly attributes, positioning it as the leading-edge renewable energy technology poised to replace fossil fuels. Aldhshan et al. ( 2021 ) defined solar energy as one of the sustainable energy sources for generating electricity using photovoltaic systems. Building solar energy technology, the main source of energy from solar radiation and thermal energy in two aspects, photovoltaic technology and solar thermal energy for the integrated application of buildings is currently commonly used renewable energy technologies, and from the building characterization of the form can be divided into active solar energy and passive solar energy. Photovoltaic systems, solar power generation, and solar hot water are the main components of active solar systems, while building orientation, air circulation, and thermal biomass together constitute passive solar systems (Dey et al. 2022 ). Wu and Skye ( 2021 ) conducted statistics on the total amount of renewable energy utilized in residential buildings in the USA, where solar energy accounted for 31% of the total energy consumption.

The use of photovoltaic technology is critical to reducing building operating costs. Researchers use Geographic Information Systems to model photovoltaic systems and explore the economic and environmental benefits, showing that photovoltaic systems on rooftops could save the government an estimated $202 billion in costs while dramatically improving environmental performance (Asif et al. 2019 ). At the same time, solar distributed integration technology can meet the functional requirements of different components of the building according to specific requirements. The collected solar technology is applied to building windows to control the increase and decrease of building solar heat and thermal insulation, and the integrated application of distributed energy in building components greatly improves the comfort of occupants and climate energy-saving control (Vasiliev et al. 2019 ).

Improving the environmental performance of buildings and facilitating climate circulation is one of the characteristics of solar technology as a renewable energy source. For instance, Vassiliades et al. ( 2022 ) observed that active solar building integration systems can change the characteristics of buildings and reduce the negative climate impacts of building public spaces. In addition, the integrated application of solar energy and photovoltaic technology has a greater advantage in improving energy utilization efficiency and reducing energy demand. Research in Italy describes how a photovoltaic thermal solar-assisted heat pump system integrated with a photovoltaic thermal collector and a vapor-compression heat pump can be used to meet all of a building's thermal needs, increasing the efficiency of solar energy exploitation while reducing the consumption of ground-source heat pumps (Miglioli et al. 2023 ). Another study analyzed the capabilities of the solar cooling system by developing a dynamic calculation model compared to conventional systems, and the calculation results showed that the solar system can increase the renewable energy factor to 83% and reduce energy demand by 48% (Bilardo et al. 2020 ).

Building structures and designs need to integrate the use of solar energy resources to maximize the use of solar energy, which is often overlooked in many existing buildings. The building-integrated photovoltaic thermal systems can meet the electrical and thermal energy requirements of a building's domestic use, but the inconsistent supply of solar energy makes it very difficult to integrate building-integrated photovoltaic thermal air collectors into the building structure, and the system design is strongly influenced by the structural load-bearing capacity of the building (Şirin et al. 2023 ). Building-integrated photovoltaics play an important role in promoting the design and implementation of zero-energy buildings, but economic and technical obstacles need to be overcome. Regular maintenance and replacement of photovoltaic system components and auxiliary equipment are issues that designers focus on. The resulting economic cost directly affects its policies and the proprietor's willingness to support (Maghrabie et al. 2021 ).

In conclusion, solar energy offers significant benefits for buildings by reducing operating costs, enhancing the functionality of building components, improving energy use efficiency, and diminishing energy demand. Nonetheless, challenges persist, including the need for technological advancements, high maintenance and renewal costs, and the intricacies of structural design tailored for building applications. Therefore, integrated consideration of the utilization of solar energy resources is essential to maximize their potential.

Wind energy

With the development of offshore wind energy, the application of wind energy in the building sector is gradually becoming widespread and is considered to be one of the most commercially promising renewable energy sources (Zhang et al. 2023 ). The wind energy system consists of wind turbines, which work on the principle of converting kinetic energy into electrical energy, mechanical energy, and other required energy using wind vortex machines. Similar to solar, wind systems can be categorized into active and passive systems based on the size of the turbine, with the biggest difference between the two being the type of power drive, with the active rotating with the motor and the passive rotating with the wind direction (Palraj and Rajamanickam 2020 ). Wind power generation using wind energy, development of natural ventilation systems, wind energy testing, and wind impedance design are now common technologies for renewable energy applications in buildings (Deymi-Dashtebayaz et al. 2022 ; Peng et al. 2020b ).

The most direct impact of wind power generation is to reduce carbon emissions and consumption of non-renewable energy. According to research statistics, as of 2017, the use of wind energy resources has avoided at least 600 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions (Yousefi et al. 2019 ). The integration of wind energy systems in buildings generates renewable energy on the construction site, which can provide around 15% of the building's energy needs (Kwok and Hu 2023 ). The building design adopts a natural ventilation system to achieve the effect of indoor and outdoor air circulation through natural wind power, which can reduce the degree of dependence on air conditioning and, to a certain extent, reduce energy consumption. In this context, Wang et al. ( 2021a ) developed an innovative energy-efficient turbine damper ventilator, which reduces unwanted exhaust airflow to provide a comfortable indoor environment. Also, it can stabilize the air exchange in the building to meet minimum air quality standards.

Compared with conventional energy sources, wind energy generation equipment requires a significant investment in manufacturing and installation, including maintenance costs at a later stage. The electricity converted by the wind turbine and then supplied by the heat pump was simulated using the Energy PLAN software, and the results exhibited that the total energy cost increases by 653.2% under this scenario (Noorollahi et al. 2021 ). Noise generated by the operation of wind turbines is a concern for nearby residents, which originates from the mutual collision of turbine components and noise generated by air vibration (Zhang et al. 2023 ). In urban environments, the height and density between buildings limit the utilization of wind energy. The wind speed and direction between elevated buildings may be affected by blocking and turbulence, reducing the efficiency of wind power generation (Kwok and Hu 2023 ). Also, due to the uncontrollable and uncertain characteristics of wind, wind power generation is intermittent, which also seriously affects the efficiency of energy use (Roga et al. 2022 ).

In conclusion, while wind energy substantially contributes to emission reductions and meets the energy demands of buildings, it comes with higher upfront costs. Its efficiency is heavily dependent on natural wind speeds and is significantly influenced by the building's layout. Therefore, there is an urgent need to explore smart or other new technologies to improve the efficiency of wind energy use.

Geothermal energy

Geothermal energy is derived from the Earth's internal heat (Osman et al. 2023 ). The constant heat flow within the Earth contributes to the storage of internal heat, while rainfall within the Earth's crust plays a crucial role in completing the water cycle (Palmero-Marrero et al. 2020 ). Therefore, geothermal energy is a non-intermittent renewable energy source that is not dependent on climate or time of day and can supply energy 24 hours a day independently of external conditions. In terms of usage, solar and wind energy are more used for power generation, while geothermal energy is mainly used for heat production and cooling. In addition, it can work in conjunction with other energy systems, such as solar energy, to add effective for improving industrial competitiveness and positively impact job creation and economic development in the medium to long term. Depending on the depth of the subterranean layers, they can be categorized as shallow, intermediate and deep geothermal systems, but there is no specific universal definition or classification (Romanov and Leiss 2022b ). Geothermal technology development can be utilized for power generation, direct use, and heat extraction through shallow ground-source heat pumps.

Compared to conventional heating and cooling systems, geothermal energy systems can improve energy efficiency while significantly reducing energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. D'Agostino et al. ( 2022b ) conducted simulation modeling based on Energy Plus software to systematically analyze the energy retrofitting of existing buildings with two types of low-hale geothermal systems: ground-source heat pumps and geo-aerothermal heat exchangers. The scholar observed that the use of these systems significantly reduces primary energy demand, energy costs, and CO 2 emissions compared to conventional gas boilers, demonstrating their effectiveness in achieving the goal of net-zero-energy buildings. Geothermal systems operate quietly without the noise of traditional heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, improving building operating comfort and health (Shah et al. 2022 ). At the same time, geothermal systems require a relatively small land area, making them suitable for urban environments where space is limited. Studies have estimated the land use intensity of geothermal power plants in buildings to be 7.5 m 2 per MW per year, which is much smaller than other energy technologies (Tester et al. 2021 ). In addition, geothermal systems can be integrated with a variety of architectural styles and provide design flexibility for buildings by utilizing different sizes and configurations of ground-source heat pumps to meet specific heating and cooling needs based on building size, load requirements, and space availability.

Despite the low operating costs of geothermal energy technologies, the need to drill holes and install underground components results in high installation costs and significant upfront investment costs (Hu et al. 2021 ; Lizana et al. 2018 ). The geological characteristics of the building project site largely determine the success or failure of a geothermal system (Chen and Feng 2020 ). Therefore, an accurate assessment of subsurface conditions is essential to determine the feasibility and potential output of a geothermal system, and uncertainties in geology can increase the risk of drilling failures and lead to additional costs. The application of geothermal energy is site-specific, and locations with sufficient thermal potential have become challenging. Studies have calculated subsurface thermal storage capacities of 8,300–16,600 GJ to satisfy winter heating in buildings using finite element methods (Chen and Feng 2020 ). In addition, the establishment and operation of geothermal systems have potential impacts on the environment. The noise generated by drilling construction and the treatment of geothermal fluids are all challenges faced by geothermal technology.

In summary, geothermal energy offers substantial improvements in energy efficiency, reductions in energy costs, and decreases in greenhouse gas emissions. Its design flexibility for integration with buildings presents a solution for energy transitions in space-limited urban structures. However, its high installation costs and the necessity for thorough evaluations of geological conditions and environmental impacts remain challenges.

Biomass energy

Biomass derived from organic materials extracted from living or sentient organisms such as animals, plants, or microorganisms can be combusted through aerobic and anaerobic digestion to produce energy and is by far the longest renewable energy source used by humans (Yang et al. 2022a ). Biomass in the building sector is usually utilized in the form of biomaterials in structural or non-structural parts of buildings to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and lower emissions. In general, biomass energy predominantly relies on resources like wood, agroforestry residues, plant fibers, as well as various organic waste materials, encompassing human, animal, and plant wastes. Biogas and direct combustion techniques primarily find application in the context of building energy needs. Additionally, biomass, including materials such as construction waste and animal excreta, can be utilized to generate electricity through dedicated power plants (Khan and Al-Ghamdi 2021 ). For example, Rahman et al. ( 2015 ) investigated biomass energy by studying the peak load of a biomass-powered 115 kW power plant, which can meet the power demand of an entire residential building. Thus, biomass can be utilized in buildings in several areas, such as biomass gas, biomass fuel, biomass heat, and biomass power generation (Allouhi et al. 2021 ; Furubayashi and Nakata 2021 ; Wu and Skye 2021 ).

Biomass plays a vital role in advancing the objectives of the Europe 2020 climate and energy strategy (Farghali et al. 2023b ). This involves initiatives like replacing conventional boilers with more efficient models and emphasizing renewable energy sources. For example, Las-Heras-Casas et al. ( 2018 ) investigated the possibility of substituting central fossil fuel boilers with biomass alternatives across diverse climatic zones in the peninsular region during winter. Their findings indicated the potential for significant reductions in non-renewable energy consumption (up to 93%) and substantial decreases in carbon dioxide emissions (up to 94%). Biomass offers a low-carbon footprint, given its carbon–neutral nature (Wang et al. 2018 ). Comparatively, using wood chips and pellets as fuel for biomass boilers instead of diesel resulted in substantial greenhouse gas reductions of 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide over 30 years for 54,241 households (Rafique and Williams 2021 ). Biomass boilers are well-known for their heating efficiency. Solid biomass fuels with calorific values between 14 and 23 MJ/kg exhibit high combustion efficiencies, with peak mass collection efficiencies of around 98% for wood chip pellets powered by 50 kW boilers, though overall collection efficiencies typically range from 70% to 90% (Baumgarten et al. 2022 ; Wang et al. 2017 ). The efficiency is further enhanced when biomass wood is compressed into pellets under high pressure and temperature (Hartmann and Lenz 2019 ). However, it is important to note that biomass combustion can lead to corrosion on heating surfaces due to boiler deposits (Chen et al. 2021b ). Furthermore, Pognant et al. ( 2018 ) highlighted that woodchip boilers may not be as environmentally friendly as natural gas boilers on a local scale. Nonetheless, woodchip boilers do improve local air quality and significantly reduce local ground-level particulate matter concentrations.

Biomass has a high calorific value of chemical energy and can be used directly in technologies such as combustion to generate electricity or in the production of biofuels. These biofuels can be burned to produce high-quality and high-temperature heat applications for heating buildings (He et al. 2019 ; Khan and Al-Ghamdi 2021 ). In addition to energy applications, biomass itself can also be used as a construction material, providing an environmentally friendly alternative to building components such as structural elements or thermal insulation. Studies have observed that the use of phase change materials made of biomass-derived porous carbon in buildings has a positive impact in terms of improved building thermal performance and building energy efficiency (Jiang et al. 2022b ). Furthermore, the integration of biomass energy into the construction sector can diversify energy supply chains and enhance energy security by reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels. Smart building energy efficiency systems that mix solar photovoltaic thermal panels and biomass heaters improve energy reliability while meeting building energy efficiency, and the availability of biomass energy throughout the year makes the biomass heaters in the system promote energy security (Behzadi et al. 2023 ).

As biomass is mainly derived from cultivated products, wood, or other wastes, extensive extraction for energy can exacerbate the destruction of vegetation, and biomass materials often compete with other land uses such as agriculture and forestry for resources such as land and water, balancing competing demands is essential for sustainable biomass extraction (Bungau et al. 2022 ; Yana et al. 2022 ). Some biomass materials may be less durable and less resistant to environmental factors such as moisture, pests, and fire than traditional building materials, and ensuring the long-term performance and longevity of biomass-based systems may require additional treatment and protection measures (Liuzzi et al. 2020 ). In addition, biomass materials have limited availability and may vary in quality and performance depending on factors such as seasonal cycles, climatic conditions, and regional differences (Hiloidhari et al. 2023 ). Therefore, ensuring a continuous and reliable supply of biomass materials may be a challenge for large-scale construction projects.

In summary, biomass holds a pivotal position in Europe's climate and energy strategy. It notably curtails non-renewable energy consumption and diminishes greenhouse gas emissions. Nonetheless, to harness biomass sustainably in extensive construction projects, challenges like resource competition, material durability, and supply reliability must be tackled.

This section delves into the pros and cons of four renewable energy types for building applications. Renewable energies leverage the inherent benefits of natural resources, curbing our reliance on fossil fuels to elevate energy efficiency and cut down greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, they are often marred by substantial upfront infrastructure costs and hurdles in technological advancement and innovation.

Case studies of renewable energy use in the building sector

In order to further concretize the above viewpoint and more intuitively demonstrate the application of renewable energy in building practice, the following section will conduct in-depth case studies through two cases: the Bullitt Center and Bahrain World Trade Center. We will elaborate on the successful implementation of renewable energy in these buildings, analyze the benefits of using these energy sources, as well as the challenges and lessons learned during the implementation process. These two cases provide us with valuable insights on how to promote renewable energy more widely in the construction field.

The Bullitt Center, Seattle, USA

Completed in 2013, the Bullitt Center, situated in Seattle, Washington, goes beyond conventional boundaries in energy efficiency, environmental responsibility, and occupant comfort. It serves as a prominent model of sustainable architecture, showcasing the seamless integration of renewable energy. This groundbreaking commercial structure not only redefines eco-friendly buildings but also establishes fresh benchmarks for energy efficiency, earning global recognition as one of the greenest edifices worldwide.

The core of the sustainable development of the Bullitt Center is the reliance on solar panels as the main source of renewable energy. The roof of the building is decorated with many photovoltaic solar panels, which can capture sufficient sunlight in the Pacific Northwest and convert sunlight into clean, renewable electricity. Solar power generation is the core of the building's net-zero-energy goal, and the building also has renewable technologies such as rainwater collection, composting toilets, and ground-source heat pumps. Based on the work of multiple authors in this field, we can further emphasize the advantages of the Brett Center in renewable energy integration, energy efficiency, and sustainability.

The Bullitt Center has attained net-zero-energy status, a milestone emphasized by Caballero et al. ( 2023 ), who highlight the crucial role of photovoltaic systems in this achievement. The extensive array of solar panels installed at the Bullitt Center ensures that it generates more energy than it consumes, thus solidifying its net-zero-energy building designation. This is consistent with the global shift toward sustainable building practices driven by high electricity costs and renewable energy availability. Energy self-sufficiency can be achieved. On-site photovoltaic systems, such as those on the roof of the Bullitt Center, are crucial for energy self-sufficiency in urban areas with limited rooftop space (D'Agostino et al. 2022a ). Some researches highlight the importance of combining solar power generation with improved insulation during roof renovation (D'Agostino et al. 2022c ). The Bullitt Center utilizes rooftop installation of solar panels to ensure that a significant portion of its energy demand comes from on-site renewable energy, maximizing energy efficiency and renewable energy utilization. This intervention greatly reduces costs. In addition, it adopts an energy-saving design, which maximizes the use of natural lighting in the building and reduces the need for artificial lighting during the day. Efficient heating and cooling systems, as well as advanced insulation technology, ensure that the energy consumption of buildings remains extremely low, ultimately achieving energy self-sufficiency.

By collecting rainwater, the Bullitt Center has reduced its dependence on traditional water sources, saving water and energy required for water treatment and distribution. The framework of the rainwater harvesting system is shown in Fig.  2 , as demonstrated by the research of (Ali and Sang 2023 ); the rainwater harvesting system effectively addresses the water and energy shortages of sustainable urban development. If designed properly, rainwater harvesting is economically feasible (Almeida et al. 2021 ). At the same time, the performance of rainwater collection system is influenced by climate zones (Ali and Sang 2023 ), and the Bullitt Center experiences a mild marine climate and regular rainfall, which is conducive to the functioning of rainwater collection systems. To further reduce water waste, the Bullitt Center has adopted composting toilets. These innovative devices reduce water consumption and wastewater treatment requirements, helping to reduce the overall environmental impact of buildings.

The framework of the rainwater collection system. This figure illustrates the operational mechanism of the rainwater harvesting system. The system captures rainwater via the roof, directs it through designated pipelines to a storage tank, and subsequently distributes it for toilet flushing and garden irrigation based on water requirements

The rainwater collection system at the Bullitt Center not only saves water but also helps reduce the risk of urban flooding. The research by Hdeib and Aouad ( 2023 ) suggested that rainwater harvesting systems can alleviate urban floods. Although their research focuses on arid areas, these principles apply to various climates. Effectively managing rainwater can help enhance its ability to withstand extreme weather events. In addition, the Bullitt Center also has certain economic benefits. Megahed and Radwan ( 2020 ) pointed out the economic advantages of using solar energy, including generating potential revenue by selling surplus energy to the grid. The model proposed by Ye et al. ( 2023 ) indicated that photovoltaic panel rainwater harvesting systems can allocate resources more effectively, increasing revenue while saving water and energy. This method is in line with the spirit of resource optimization and economic efficiency of the Bullitt Center.

Although these technologies bring many benefits to sustainability and energy efficiency, they also pose some challenges during implementation. In the case of the Bullitt Center, we examine the hurdles associated with various renewable technologies. Deploying multiple renewable energy sources frequently demands navigating intricate and continuously evolving regulatory frameworks. The Bullitt Center's commitment to renewable energy, such as solar panels, geothermal heating, and refrigeration systems, requires compliance with various federal, state, and local regulations related to renewable energy generation, grid interconnection, and building codes. Ensuring compliance with these regulations while breaking the boundaries of sustainable design is a daunting challenge. In addition, integrating various renewable energy sources into a building presents challenges related to system compatibility and coordination (Canale et al. 2021 ). Coordinating the operation of these systems, optimizing their performance, and ensuring their harmonious collaboration require high-level technical expertise and skilled technical personnel. Ensuring that the Bullitt Center has access to the necessary professional knowledge and resources is crucial for the success of these technologies.

The initial capital expenditures linked to the installation of multiple renewable technologies can be substantial. While these investments often result in long-term energy and water savings, securing the necessary upfront funding can be a hurdle, particularly for projects with limited budgets. Furthermore, all renewable technologies entail ongoing maintenance obligations to guarantee their sustained reliability and performance. Solar panels require regular cleaning and occasional maintenance, while geothermal systems require continuous monitoring. The continuous maintenance and monitoring of rainwater collection systems are crucial for preventing issues such as blockage, algae growth, or bacterial contamination (Clark et al. 2019 ), and key maintenance is needed to ensure water quality and system efficiency. Effectively managing these maintenance tasks and resolving unexpected failures can be resource-intensive and challenging.

The success of the Bullitt Center highlights the importance of adopting a holistic approach to sustainability, which focuses not only on energy efficiency but also on water conservation, material selection, and overall environmental impact. At the same time, the design and planning phase of the Bullitt Center is very detailed, with architects, engineers, and sustainable development experts involved. They need to make cautious, data-driven design decisions that consider local climate, energy, and resource availability. In addition, it is necessary to advocate and collaborate with local authorities to adjust building codes and regulations to adapt to innovative sustainability characteristics. Engaging with policy makers and regulatory agencies can promote the implementation of advanced green building practices. The Bullitt Center's success can be a model for similar projects in different regions and climates. Future endeavors should consider how lessons from the Bullitt Center can be adapted to their unique contexts.

This section delves into the Bullitt Center's accomplishments and challenges related to sustainability. The Bullitt Center achieved net-zero-energy status by leveraging photovoltaic systems, optimizing the use of solar energy and natural light. Furthermore, their efficient rainwater harvesting methods diminish reliance on conventional water sources, while also mitigating urban flooding. These sustainable practices not only benefit the environment but also present potential economic advantages, including the possibility of profit from excess energy. However, the adoption of such innovative technologies is not without its difficulties. Challenges include compliance with regulatory standards, harmonizing multiple renewable energy sources, and navigating both initial investment and recurring expenses. The Bullitt Center's achievements highlight the merit of a holistic approach to sustainability, considering local climatic conditions, available resources, and regulatory frameworks. Their success could pave the way for similar sustainable projects in future.

Bahrain World Trade Center, Manama, Bahrain

Bahrain is located in the southwest of the Persian Gulf, between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, with a tropical desert climate and hot and humid summers. The Bahrain World Trade Center is located on the Persian Gulf coast of the capital city of Manama, costs $96 million with a total construction area of 12,096 m 2 , and consists of two identical towers, each with a height of over 240 m and a total of 50 floors. Designers have set up a 75-ton bridge at the 16th, 25th, and 35th floors between the two towers and fix three horizontal axis wind turbines with a diameter of 29 m and their connected generators on these three bridges.

Due to the advantage of geographical location, the potential of wind energy resources has been explored. The study conducted by Adnan et al. ( 2021 ) in Pakistan emphasizes the importance of accurately evaluating wind energy resources to ensure efficient utilization of wind energy potential. This analysis includes average wind speed, Weibull parameters, as well as power and energy density, which helps determine suitable locations for wind energy production. In addition, reasonable building layout, height, and corner shape can also improve wind density and utilize urban wind energy (Juan et al. 2022 ). As shown in Fig.  3 , the wind power generation diagram of the Bahrain World Trade Center is located in a coastal urban area. By designing the building as a sail, sea wind convection is formed between the buildings, accelerating the wind speed, and making wind turbine power generation possible. In addition, batteries can be discharged in the event of insufficient wind power, assisting and stabilizing users' electricity usage by setting up to store excess electrical energy.

Schematic diagram of wind power generation for Bahrain World Trade Center. Incorporating an innovative design, the structure resembles a sail, strategically positioned to harness the prevailing sea winds. This unique design promotes wind convection between the buildings, channeling the flow efficiently. Positioned at an optimal height within the structure, a wind turbine captures this enhanced airflow, converting the kinetic energy of the wind into electrical power. This generated direct current is then processed through a converter, facilitating its efficient storage and transmission. In the final step, an inverter transforms the stored direct current back into alternating current to meet the building's electrical needs. This seamless integration of architecture and renewable energy technology not only serves the building's power requirements but also stands as a testament to sustainable and forward-thinking design

The Bahrain World Trade Center was a pioneer in incorporating wind power into its architectural design but faced several major challenges during its implementation. These challenges not only include technical and engineering aspects but also affect the functionality and overall sustainability of the building. The efficiency of wind turbines needs to be considered in urban environments characterized by turbulent wind patterns. Traditional wind farms are usually located in open areas with consistent wind flow to ensure optimal energy generation. In contrast, urban environments have complex wind patterns due to the presence of high-rise buildings and structures that disrupt and redirect airflow. To address this challenge, computational fluid dynamics simulations and wind tunnel tests can be used to evaluate the wind direction around buildings (Arteaga-López et al. 2019 ). These results can provide a basis for the design and layout of turbines, maximizing their exposure to the mainstream wind direction while reducing the impact of turbulence.

Maintaining wind turbines at considerable heights in coastal environments is a unique challenge. In this case, the standard maintenance procedures for ground turbines are not sufficient. Professional equipment, such as cranes or elevators, that can reach extreme heights is crucial for turbine maintenance. In addition, daily inspections and repairs need to consider harsh coastal environments, including exposure to salt water and humidity, which may accelerate wear and corrosion (Mourad et al. 2023 ). Developing maintenance plans for Bahrain World Trade Center turbines is crucial for their long-term reliability.

Managing the noise and vibration generated by wind turbines is crucial for creating a favorable working environment for the occupants of buildings. Excessive noise and vibration may disrupt office space, affect attention, and reduce the overall comfort of occupants (Karasmanaki 2022 ). Innovative solutions, such as sound barriers or damping mechanisms, may be incorporated into turbine design to mitigate these impacts. In addition, the layout and insulation of the building may have been optimized to reduce the spread of noise and vibration into the internal space.

Incorporating the relevant research findings into the context of the Bahrain World Trade Center, we can find that the wind turbine integration of the Bahrain World Trade Center is not only a symbol of architectural originality but also a practical model for sustainable urban development: by strategically placing wind turbines between the twin towers, Bahrain World Trade Center effectively utilizes wind energy, reduces dependence on traditional energy, and contributes to environmental sustainability. In addition, by incorporating wind energy, the Bahrain World Trade Center aligns with the broader concept of hybrid renewable systems and demonstrates how multiple renewable energy sources work together to improve energy efficiency. As emphasized by the research institute, the Bahrain World Trade Center reflects the importance attached to the utilization of wind energy resources and the assessment of wind energy potential in urban environments.

This section highlights the Bahrain World Trade Center's innovative approach to harnessing wind energy, using its unique sail-inspired design to optimize sea wind convection and turbine output. While integrated batteries ensure power during low-wind situations, challenges arise from urban wind dynamics, demanding sophisticated placement strategies. Additionally, maintaining turbines in coastal heights brings its own set of challenges, and addressing noise and vibration is crucial for ensuring comfort within the building.

• Policy and regulatory framework

Renewable energy policies and regulatory frameworks in the building sector

As a key sector of national economic growth, the construction industry has played an indispensable role in promoting China's urbanization process, but it has also had an irreversible impact on the global environment, the most direct impact on human survival being the series of chain reactions brought about by the greenhouse effect (Ahmed et al. 2021 ). The overexploitation and consumption of non-renewable energy sources, especially fossil fuels, is the main driver of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. According to the Global Carbon Atlas, greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion account for 28.9% of total global emissions in 2022 (Liu et al. 2023b ). However, primary energy sources, such as fossil fuels, have limited reserves globally, and the scarcity of resources is facing a serious challenge, and there is an urgent need for the global energy mix to transition to sustainable energy sources (Chen et al. 2023b ; Hoang et al. 2021b ).

Notably, the year-on-year decline in the cost of renewable power generation has contributed to a trend of continued growth in renewable energy sector applications, with approximately 77% of capacity additions to sustainable energy generation due to solar and wind energy in 2017 (Al-Shahri et al. 2021 ). Besides, according to the World Health Organization, 7 million people die each year due to air pollution, which mainly stems from the burning of fossil fuels (Arya 2022 ). The development and implementation of regulatory frameworks and policies aimed at accelerating the deployment of renewable energy are therefore critical for mitigating climate change, enhancing energy security, and promoting sustainable development (Lu et al. 2020 ).

In the construction industry, policies and regulatory frameworks influence the use of renewable energy (Gielen et al. 2019 ). Inês et al. ( 2020 ) reviewed the development of energy policies in five countries, namely the USA, Germany, the UK, Denmark, and China, to provide a comprehensive overview of sustainable energy policies that promote renewable energy. Meanwhile, the concept of biomaterials has been applied in the construction industry, where the use of biomaterials can reduce the carbon footprint of the construction process, improve sustainability, and reduce dependence on limited resources (Raza et al. 2023 ). However, the disposal of construction materials and waste management can be affected by waste regulations related to biomaterials (Philp 2018 ). Figure  4 shows the history of the evolution of policy and regulatory frameworks for renewable energy in construction. These policies and regulations will vary between countries and regions, but they are all guiding the construction industry to adopt renewable energy for more sustainable practices.

History of the evolution of renewable energy policies and regulatory frameworks in the building sector. The figure presented delineates a quintet of stages marking the evolution of renewable energy policies within the building sector. It chronicles a journey from nascent environmental consciousness to an unwavering global pledge, underscoring the pivotal influence of such policies on sustainable development and climate initiatives. Central to this narrative is the indispensable role of governmental regulations and policies in championing the emergence and growth of renewable energy technologies. In alignment with tenets of sustainable development, these policies foster the adoption of cleaner energy modalities, curtail ecological adversities, and enhance societal well-being

Since the onset of the oil crisis in the last century, growing environmental concerns and energy security issues have prompted the exploration of strategies related to renewable energy and sustainability in a variety of fields, including buildings (Economidou et al. 2020 ). Renewable energy and sustainability strategies have evolved from environmental awareness to a fully market-driven phase, where experimental initiatives in the 1990s to the development of mandatory standards in the 2000s became an important turning point, such as the Renewable Portfolio Standard and the Renewable Energy Standard, which marked a successful transition of renewable energy policies from theory to practice (Solangi et al. 2021 ; Tan et al. 2021 ). International agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement have played a key role in the development of global sustainability strategies, emphasizing the importance of coordinated action and shared commitment in combating climate change (Cifuentes-Faura 2022 ; Ottonelli et al. 2023 ). In addition, technological advances have become an integral part of renewable energy strategies, with smart building technologies, decentralized energy production, and energy storage solutions increasing efficiency and resilience (Walker et al. 2021 ). Future strategies will emphasize circular economy principles, resilience, and the integration of multiple approaches to create holistic and adaptive solutions for sustainable development (Farghali et al. 2023a ; Hoang et al. 2021a ).

The strategic principles for the development and implementation of policy and regulatory frameworks in the field of renewable energy and sustainable development reflect a proactive, forward-looking approach to adapting to changing environmental challenges and technological advances (Jiang et al. 2022a ). As promised in the Paris Agreement, policymakers prioritize international cooperation to align national strategies with global sustainable development goals (Iacobuţă et al. 2022 ). Effective strategic markets include market-driven incentives that are predominantly government-led, using mainly economic instruments to promote the use of renewable energy and application practices in the building sector (Solaymani 2021 ). It also emphasizes the importance of circular economy principles and builds the capacity to cope with future uncertainties. Together, these principles guide policy development and implementation to support renewable energy adoption, sustainability, and resilience in response to the changing global landscape.

In summary, governments and international organizations play an indispensable role in the development and implementation of renewable energy policies and regulatory frameworks. The formulation of strategic policies plays a pivotal role in curbing energy consumption, mitigating environmental repercussions, and steering the building sector toward elevated sustainability benchmarks, aligning with the escalating imperative for sustainable development. Nevertheless, an inclusive consideration of stakeholders is paramount to guarantee that these policies are both robust and effectively enforceable.

Impact of policies and regulations on the adoption of renewable energy

In the context of addressing the global climate crisis, countries around the world have committed to autonomous greenhouse gas contributions at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (Meinshausen et al. 2022 ). The European Union is at the forefront of global carbon action, announcing the "European Green Deal" in 2019, which sets an ambitious goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gases emissions by 2050 (Lu et al. 2020 ). The realization of the target is based on a comprehensive policy framework for the development and implementation of climate, energy, environmental, and economic policies and regulations to improve energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and promote the sustainable development of buildings. Policies that encourage the adoption of renewable energy in buildings are the most effective and carbon-reducing actions (Topcu and Tugcu 2020 ). Policies to support the application of renewable energy are diverse, ranging from economic incentives such as financial subsidies and tax breaks to the setting of stringent energy efficiency standards and renewable energy portfolio mandates (Romano et al. 2017 ). Table 1 shows the variety of policies that have been adopted to promote renewable energy solutions in the built environment in major energy countries, both nationally and internationally.

Based on the analyses in Table 1 , the results of the study indicate that policies to promote the development of renewable energy in buildings fall into four main categories: policy regulation, economic incentives, market transformation, and building performance and quality assurance. Government documents are developed or revised to mandate minimum energy requirements for buildings, renewable energy development regimes, and, most commonly, feed-in tariff harmonization. Economic measures such as financial subsidies and tax breaks incentivize renewable energy applications and expand their reach, and this is because the financial viability of renewable energy projects in buildings is influenced by the incentives and feed-in tariff subsidy rate, which determines the attractiveness of the investment. The development and application of renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, and geothermal energy in buildings are now maturing, and actively exploring innovative developments in new renewable energy technologies and looking for market transitions is a strong guarantee that renewable energy can be sustainable in the long term. In addition, energy-efficient design, construction, and operation of buildings are legally encouraged through the creation of independent performance certificates for building materials, quality, structural elements, or technologies, and certified buildings typically consume less energy, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions and overall energy demand.

Economic incentives, mainly tax credits and financial subsidies provide substantial benefits to stakeholders such as real estate developers, for whom the government clears financing barriers and increases the economic attractiveness of clean energy investments to investors (Zhang et al. 2021 ). Through a series of renewable energy policies such as tax credits to subsidize photovoltaic projects and high government prices for surplus solar power, the US has invested $250 million in encouraging the development of solar rooftops since 2010, and photovoltaic applications have exploded, with a 20-fold increase in new installations alone in six years (Song et al. 2016 ). The knock-on effect of this policy has also led to the increasing integration of solar panels, wind turbines, and energy efficiency systems into building projects, thus increasing renewable energy capacity.

Based on the linear relationship between financial investment and renewable energy development, it can be seen that the implementation of financial incentives expands the competitiveness of the renewable energy market and drives the application of renewable energy in the building sector toward more efficient and cost-effective solutions, thus contributing to the economic growth of the renewable energy building sector (Shahbaz et al. 2021 ). Policies such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, which combines green building certification with renewable energy, provide a new direction for sustainable building practices and renewable energy integration, lowering the operating costs for owners and occupants and improving energy efficiency, thus stimulating renewable energy use (Abd Rahman et al. 2021 ).

In conclusion, policy frameworks and regulations have a direct impact on the adoption of renewable energy in the construction sector. The implementation of policies and regulations stimulates the development of renewable energy and leads to technological advances in the sustainable building-related chain. These strategic initiatives not only align with global sustainable development aspirations but also expedite the shift toward an environmentally friendly and sustainable architectural landscape.

Opportunities and obstacles to policy development

In the development of sustainable development policies, the circular economy has been favored by policymakers for its ability to promote economic growth while also reducing dependence on raw materials and energy (Knäble et al. 2022 ). Its principle is to advocate the reuse and recycling of materials, thus maximizing the use of waste recycling to promote sustainable practices from construction to deconstruction and to reduce resource consumption to achieve the goal of sustainable development, which is consistent with the concept of renewable energy (Hossain et al. 2020 ). Hoang et al. ( 2021a ) integrated renewable energy into a smart city energy system by integrating more than two renewable energy components into the building system, achieving good emission reduction benefits and laying the foundation for exploring more sustainable and cleaner energy production in future. Researchers have determined that 1112 million tons of standard coal were consumed in the building sector in 2018 (Guo et al. 2021 ). With the depletion of non-renewable energy resources globally, it is important to develop competing policy frameworks that are in line with circular economy practices in order to adapt to the rapidly changing trends of the energy revolution (Danish and Senjyu 2023b ).

The development of renewable energy policies based on the combination of circular economy principles and smart renewable energy systems has great potential for expanding the use of renewable energy in the construction sector. Nag et al. ( 2022 ) applied circular economy principles to develop a wind turbine-based renewable energy system, whereby the refurbishment and remanufacturing of wind turbines achieves an extension of the life of the wind turbine. This synergy is aligned with the broader Sustainable Development Goals to minimize energy demand through resource optimization and material reuse. Smart city energy, on the other hand, relies on smart technological resources to improve energy efficiency in a high-quality manner, mainly by intelligently managing heating, cooling, and lighting systems, among others, to facilitate energy sharing within the community (Wang et al. 2021b ). In essence, the harmonious combination of circular economy and smart renewable energy systems will provide for a more sustainable, efficient, and resilient adoption of renewable energy in the building sector. The organic combination of financial incentives, energy efficiency, and market transformation is achieved for policymakers, symbolizing the transition of renewable energy policy toward a greener, more resource-based future.

However, the process of promoting and developing renewable energy in the building sector is not without obstacles, and Fig.  5 shows the challenges and practical implications of implementing renewable energy policies in the building sector. Although many governments have provided financial support for the development of renewable energy, the cost of renewable energy development is much higher than conventional energy sources compared to the high initial cost of renewable energy technologies, and the amount of government subsidies does not solve the fundamental problem, which poses a significant barrier for building owners (Chen et al. 2021a ). Frequent policy changes and regulatory uncertainty also make building investors and developers hesitant, and research has found that policy stability determines the long-term planning of renewable energy projects (Alola and Saint Akadiri 2021 ). The intermittent nature of solar and wind energy poses a challenge to grid integration and stability, as renewable energy access to building community grids is subject to both national regulations and policy regulations. At the same time, complex permitting procedures and technical requirements for grid integration further add to the complexity of implementing renewable energy systems in buildings (Wainer et al. 2022 ). Besides, the extent to which policies on renewable energy in buildings are developed and implemented at the national and regional levels is an important indication of the effectiveness of ensuring policy regulation (Busch et al. 2021 ).

Barriers to and impacts of renewable energy policies in the building sector. The figure delineates the predominant obstacles hindering the extensive integration of renewable energy within the building sector. These encompass limited governmental financial support, ambiguity in policy direction, intricate regulatory systems, a dearth of expertise, and the efficacy of policy execution. Moreover, the figure also illustrates the actual impacts and consequences of these barriers, providing a comprehensive overview of the challenges faced by various stakeholders and emphasizing the multifaceted nature of these barriers and their potential impacts. Overcoming these challenges is pivotal for enhancing renewable energy assimilation, realizing sustainable development objectives, and cultivating a robustly built milieu

Lessons learned from the implementation of renewable energy policies emphasize the flexibility of policy formulation and the need to continuously adapt to regional differences and new technologies that are continuously evolving. A sound assessment of the underlying national circumstances to develop renewable energy policies that are appropriate to the changing environment and regular policy reviews determine the longevity of policy implementation (Agyekum et al. 2021 ). At the same time, the adoption of different stakeholders' opinions ensures the policy's relevance and breadth (Neij et al. 2021 ). A study by Scheller et al. ( 2021 ) suggested that stakeholders influence the entire process of solar photovoltaic residential decision-making, and the shift in the role of participants from passive engagement to active information searching averts potential risks and challenges for policy makers and ensures that policies take into account a wide range of interests and needs. In addition, renewable energy portfolio standards, energy efficiency standards for appliances and buildings, are tailored to the specific needs of the local building sector for renewable energy to maximize the effect and impact of policy development (Danish and Senjyu 2023a ).

In conclusion, while potential avenues exist for renewable energy policies, especially at the nexus of smart and circular economic synergies, challenges such as high upfront investments, grid instability, and policy inconsistencies persist. This section delves into the policy and regulatory landscapes that bolster renewable energy adoption in buildings. An in-depth analysis of the policies and regulations championed by nations to facilitate renewable energy integration is presented, considering economic, social, and institutional dimensions. The resultant effects on sustainability and energy efficiency are also dissected. For effective execution of these renewable energy strategies, it is crucial to harness potential opportunities like smart and circular economy synergies, while concurrently navigating impediments like hefty initial investments, scarcity of expertise, and policy ambiguity, all within a cohesive and sustainable framework.

Innovations in renewable energy for building sustainability

Recent technological advancements in building-based renewable energy.

In recent years, as the construction industry gradually gets rid of its dependence on fossil fuels and countries to reduce carbon emissions to achieve sustainable development requirements, the use of solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, and other renewable energy has received widespread attention. Renewable energy technologies can address issues such as the global energy crisis, food insecurity, and climate change by providing environmentally friendly clean energy and are expected to make a significant contribution to the sustainable development of the construction industry (Izam et al. 2022 ). At present, renewable energy is not only a resource but has become a viable alternative to major transformational technologies. To this end, countries around the world are trying to innovate and improve renewable energy technologies and methods to promote the application of mature renewable energy technologies in the field of construction to achieve the best use of renewable energy in the construction industry.

Solar energy is one of the most environmentally friendly and sustainable renewable energy sources available today (Dehghani Madvar et al. 2018 ; Kannan and Vakeesan 2016 ). Research has shown that solar energy is the most abundant source of renewable energy, easy to obtain and low-cost, and has shown great potential to meet world energy needs in future (Adenle 2020 ). Due to its reliability and efficient performance, solar energy has become one of the most popular energy sources and will play an important role in future of energy. At present, the application of solar technology in the construction field mainly includes solar photovoltaic power generation, concentrated solar power generation, solar hot water systems, and solar air conditioning refrigeration technology. The main contribution of the above technology in the building is to save energy for heating (namely space heating and water heating), refrigeration, ventilation, electricity, and lighting (Bosu et al. 2023 ).

At present, the global installed capacity of solar photovoltaic power generation continues to increase and has become a rapidly developing industry (Diwania et al. 2020 ). However, the low conversion efficiency, high price, and large impact of climatic conditions of photovoltaic cell energy storage are the main obstacles to the promotion and stable development of this technology in the construction industry (Durganjali et al. 2020 ). As Table 2 shows, improvements in solar systems and innovative applications for integration with other energy sources or materials have led to significant advances in many aspects, including power generation and heating efficiency. The application of information technology, such as the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, to solar photovoltaic systems has become one of the feasible solutions to the above problems. In addition, machine learning technologies such as artificial neural networks and support vector machines have great potential in predicting solar radiation intensity and power generation, and applying them to solar photovoltaic systems can also significantly improve the efficiency of photovoltaic power generation (Mellit and Kalogirou 2014 ; Sobri et al. 2018 ). In addition to improving solar technology, the integrated application of multiple energy sources or materials, as well as the development of various new materials of solar cells, have also contributed to the innovation and technological progress of solar power generation in the construction field. For the solar heat collection/refrigeration system using solar heat for building space heating, energy-saving technologies such as roof pool heat storage, phase change material heat storage, and new materials are directly or indirectly applied to the building design to maximize the use of solar energy provides an effective solution (Peng et al. 2020a ).

In addition to solar energy, other renewable energy technologies such as wind and geothermal energy, are also widely used in the construction sector. The most important part of any wind energy system is the wind turbine, which converts wind energy into mechanical energy that can be used for a variety of applications (Kumar et al. 2016 ). However, most of the early wind turbines installed in urban environments were restricted by limited land resources and distance from buildings. As a result, the design and performance of wind energy systems are increasingly advanced and innovative, especially in building-integrated wind energy systems (Rezaeiha et al. 2020 ; Stathopoulos et al. 2018 ), including Savonius-Darrieus hybrid rotors, piezoelectric generators, flag type triboelectric nano-generators, bladeless turbines, and more (Acarer et al. 2020 ; Bagheri et al. 2019 ).

As the demand for green and low-carbon technologies continues to rise, biomass applications in the building sector are poised to play an increasingly crucial role in promoting energy conservation, emission reduction, and sustainable development. For instance, Ebrahimi-Moghadam and Farzaneh-Gord ( 2023 ) devised an eco-friendly tri-generation system driven by an externally-fired gas turbine cycle, utilizing municipal solid waste biomass. This innovative system incorporates a double-effect absorption chiller/heater and undergoes a comprehensive evaluation based on energy, eco-exergy, and environmental analyses to gauge its reliability. The research employs a pioneering optimization strategy, combining Artificial Neural Networks and a multi-criteria Salp Swarm Algorithm to determine the optimal system size and operational parameters. Practical application is demonstrated through a case study, where the developed models are used to meet the electrical, heating, and cooling requirements of a selected building using real data and advanced energy architecture software. The findings underscore the significance of factors like municipal solid mass flow rate and compressor pressure ratio in shaping system performance. Additionally, eco-exergy analysis reveals that a substantial portion of the total cost is attributed to specific system components, particularly the gas turbine and gasifier (40% and 23%, respectively). At peak efficiency, the system can generate 541 kW of electricity, produce 2052 kW of heat, and provide 2650 kW of cooling. Remarkably, the levelized cost of electricity generation stands at $0.083/kWh, with an associated environmental factor of 1.3 kgCO 2 /kWh, showcasing the potential of biomass-fired gas turbine cycles to satisfy building energy demands efficiently.

Integrating wind energy and biomass integration represents another promising and sustainable energy option. In this context, Liu et al. ( 2023a ) aimed to create a near-zero-energy neighborhood in an industrial city to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They utilized biomass waste for energy production and incorporated a battery pack system for energy storage. The Fanger model was employed to assess occupants' thermal comfort, and hot water production was detailed. Using TRNSYS software, the building's transient performance was simulated for one year. Wind turbines were employed as electricity generators, with excess energy stored in batteries for use during low-wind conditions. Hot water was generated through a biomass waste system and stored in a tank, while a humidifier provided ventilation, and a heat pump addressed heating and cooling needs. The findings indicated that a 6-kW wind turbine could supply the building's power needs and charge the batteries, resulting in a zero-energy building. Biomass fuel was used to maintain hot water, with an average consumption of 200 g per hour.

In addition, geothermal energy, as a non-intermittent and potentially inexhaustible energy source, can be divided into shallow, medium, and deep geothermal energy technologies according to depth, which can meet the heating and cooling needs of building groups with different energy efficiency levels and has great potential in space regulation in buildings (Romanov and Leiss 2022a ). Recent technological innovations and advances in geothermal systems in the building factor have focused on the optimal design of shallow geothermal systems to improve their efficiency and the application of new materials and integration with other technologies. In pursuit of achieving clean heating in northern rural regions, a novel cooperative heating system, comprising a biomass boiler and a multi-source heat pump, has been introduced. This system is designed based on building heat load requirements and available resources, seamlessly integrating biomass energy, geothermal energy, and air energy sources. A dynamic simulation model, facilitated by TRNSYS software, has been developed to maintain energy balance, and an optimization model is proposed to minimize annual costs. The effectiveness of this model is demonstrated through its application in the Miaofuan rural community in Linzi Town, Linyi County, Dezhou City, Shandong Province, China. The optimized cooperative system exhibits significant cost reductions of 9.6%, 14.2%, and 11.7%, respectively, compared to the individual operation of geothermal heat pumps, air source heat pumps, and biomass boilers. Consequently, this cooperative heating system emerges as a highly suitable solution for rural areas seeking efficient and sustainable heating solutions (Hou et al. 2023 ). As shown in Table 3 , the main recent findings of various researchers on the technological advances and integrated innovative applications of wind and geothermal energy systems in buildings are summarized.

In summary, the latest technological advancements in the application of renewable energy in the construction field include the application of new materials, improvements, and new designs to the structure of renewable energy systems and integrated applications with other technologies or multiple energy sources. The continuous improvement and innovation of renewable energy technology have enabled it to overcome key technical shortcomings and fully leverage the advantages of renewable energy. It not only provides more environmentally friendly and sustainable choices for the construction industry but also provides greater creative space for architects and designers. With the continuous development and innovation of renewable energy technology in future, the construction industry is expected to bring more innovation, support the better integration of renewable energy systems into buildings, and create more opportunities for the construction industry to achieve significant decarburization and cost savings.

Impact of technological advancements on renewable energy adoption in buildings

As shown in Table 4 , technological progress has significantly influenced the application of renewable energy in the construction field. In recent years, the pursuit of higher efficiency has been the main driving force for innovation. Efficiency is also very important at the level of renewable energy systems, and various variables stimulate people's desire for more efficient technologies (Rathore and Panwar 2022 ). The floating photovoltaic technology is considered to have good development prospects due to its high power generation efficiency and no need to occupy land resources. The system is being developed based on new cell technologies, biodegradable materials, and advanced tracking mechanisms. However, the ecological impact, economic benefits, and optimization of size and system used are still challenges that need to be further addressed (Gorjian et al. 2021 ).

The modern technological development of wind power systems and their components, as well as reasonable architectural design optimization, have also made significant progress in generating power output and efficiency. Secondly, although nuclear energy has broad application prospects, natural disasters, and human hazards have always threatened this technology. Therefore, the development and application of nuclear energy are prudent, and the scale of utilization is still relatively low (Wei et al. 2023 ). Technological progress and innovation can not only improve the conversion and output efficiency of renewable energy systems but also reduce costs, thereby improving their performance and durability, making them more suitable for different regions and types of building applications. In future, the growth of the renewable energy industry mainly depends on reducing system costs and government policy support (Buonomano et al. 2023 ).

Energy storage technology can quickly and flexibly adjust the power of the power system, and the application of various energy storage devices to wind and solar power generation systems can provide an effective means to solve the problem of unstable renewable energy generation (Infield and Freris 2020 ). Giving full play to the advantages of various artificial intelligence technologies and cooperating with the energy storage system in the power system can improve the service life of the energy storage system and realize the optimal control of the multi-objective power system, which is the research direction of the integrated application of energy storage system and renewable energy in future (Abdalla et al. 2021 ). Chen et al. ( 2021b ) proposed an artificial intelligence-based useful evaluation model to predict the impact of renewable energy and energy efficiency on the economy. This model can help enhance energy efficiency to 97% and improve the utilization rate of renewable energy. Another study applied artificial neural networks and statistical analysis to create decision support systems and evaluated the solar energy potential of Mashhad City, Iran, using photovoltaic system simulation tools. The results show that the artificial neural network model can successfully predict electricity consumption in summer and winter, with an accuracy of 99% (Ghadami et al. 2021 ). Overall, machine learning technologies such as artificial neural networks and artificial intelligence have brought enormous potential for renewable energy applications in the construction industry, which can improve energy efficiency, reduce energy costs, reduce carbon emissions, and promote the development of the construction industry toward a more sustainable and environmentally friendly direction. The continuous development of these technologies will help create a smarter and greener building environment.

In conclusion, technological advancements offer promising prospects for integrating renewable energy into the construction sector. These advances encompass innovative design potential, superior system performance and resilience, heightened environmental benefits, augmented socio-economic returns, and data-driven innovations. Additionally, the strategic optimization of building layouts combined with the adoption of novel materials and technologies can further decrease the operational costs of renewable energy systems.

Emerging trends in renewable energy technology

The limitations of standalone renewable energy systems, like wind and solar power, characterized by unpredictability and uncertainty, lead to reduced utilization rates and increased construction expenses associated with these sources. In order to overcome these problems, hybrid renewable energy systems are receiving increasing attention from scholars and are widely used to address the challenges mentioned above (Farghali et al. 2023a ; Hajiaghasi et al. 2019 ). The use of machine learning and artificial intelligence technology for design optimization and cost control of hybrid renewable energy systems is an emerging trend, including support vector machines, genetic algorithms, and particle swarm optimization algorithms. Wen et al. ( 2019 ) proposed a deep recursive neural network model for aggregating power loads and predicting photovoltaic power generation and optimized the load scheduling of grid-connected community microgrids using particle swarm optimization. The results indicated that the community microgrid based on deep learning for solar power generation and load forecasting has achieved a reduction in total cost and an improvement in system reliability. Ramli et al. ( 2018 ) used a multi-objective adaptive differential evolution algorithm to optimize the design of a hybrid photovoltaic/wind/diesel microgrid system with battery storage. In addition, new algorithms such as the ant colony algorithm, bacterial foraging algorithm, and artificial bee colony algorithm are gradually being applied in the prediction and optimization research of hybrid renewable energy (Wei et al. 2023 ).

In recent years, there has been increasing research on the thermal storage performance and application prospects of phase change materials, among which the application of phase change materials in solar energy, architecture, and automobiles is prominent (Sikiru et al. 2022 ). The system combining solar collectors with suitable phase change materials has been proven through experiments to have better overall performance than traditional flat panel solar collectors (Palacio et al. 2020 ). As a commonly used thermal storage material, phase change materials have the disadvantage of low thermal conductivity. Therefore, Abuşka et al. ( 2019 ) developed a new type of solar air collector that combined phase change material Rubitherm RT54HC with aluminum honeycomb and studied the effect of using honeycomb cores on the thermal performance of phase change material thermal storage collectors under natural convection conditions. The results showed that the honeycomb core can effectively improve the thermal conductivity of phase change materials and is a promising thermal conductivity-enhancing material, especially during discharge. In addition, recent breakthroughs in nanomaterials, including quantum dots, nanoparticles, nanotubes, and nanowires, have significant implications for creating the next generation of efficient and low-cost solar cells. The safe and easy solution bonding of non-aggregated, monodisperse, passivated semiconductor nanoparticles with good photoelectric properties opens a new door for photovoltaic devices currently under study (Baviskar and Sankapal 2021 ).

In summary, technological advancements in renewable energy open new avenues for sustainable building and eco-friendly design. With science and technology's relentless evolution, the incorporation of renewable energy within the construction realm is poised to embrace intelligence, diversity, and digitization. At the same time, technological progress can also help solve the challenges of some renewable energy systems in practical applications, promoting their wider application in the building factor.

This section delves into the latest innovations concerning four prevalent renewable energy types used in buildings, scrutinizing the prospective influence of these breakthroughs in construction. Continuous refinement and inventive strategies in renewable energy systems, coupled with the amalgamation of diverse technologies, materials, and energy forms, bolster a building's environmental, energy, and economic advantages, thus championing a broader adoption of renewable methodologies in construction. Finally, the recent research hotspots and emerging development trends in the field of renewable energy are presented.

Perspective

With the increasing population and density in urban areas, having low-energy buildings with the least greenhouse gas emissions has become more important (Shirinbakhsh and Harvey 2023 ). In future, the vibrant prospects of renewable energy in the construction industry will be influenced by a series of complex and closely interrelated factors. This section will provide an in-depth outlook on the development of renewable energy in the construction industry from two main perspectives, namely prospects and potential challenges.

Energiewende

Energiewende is becoming a booster for the application of renewable energy in the construction industry. In the context of energiewende, renewable energy is widely regarded as the core element driving the development of building energy. In future, the construction industry will increasingly rely on the application of renewable energy, especially solar, wind, and geothermal energy. Besides, solar energy, as one of the most common and renewable energy sources, will play an important role in buildings. Photovoltaic power generation systems will be widely used on roofs, walls, and windows of buildings, turning them into distributed power producers. This distributed power generation model helps to reduce dependence on traditional energy and achieve a greener and more sustainable energy supply.

Additionally, wind energy is also an important part of the transformation of building energy. Wind power generation devices will not only be limited to traditional wind farms but will also be integrated into high-rise buildings, bridges, and other building structures. The widespread application of this type of wind energy will effectively utilize the wind energy resources in cities, provide clean electricity for buildings, and reduce environmental loads. In addition, geothermal energy, as a stable and reliable form of energy, will also be widely used in the construction field. Geothermal energy can be used in heating and cooling systems of buildings, reducing reliance on traditional energy and improving energy efficiency. Through underground heat exchange technology, buildings can achieve efficient energy conversion and reduce energy consumption in different seasons.

Biomass holds promising prospects for expanding renewable energy adoption in the building sector. As a versatile and sustainable energy source, biomass can be used for various applications, such as heating, cooling, and electricity generation, making it a valuable addition to the renewable energy mix. Additionally, biomass offers the advantage of energy storage through technologies like phase change materials, enhancing its suitability for meeting variable energy demands in buildings. Furthermore, the utilization of agricultural and forestry residues as biomass feedstock can contribute to waste reduction and resource optimization, aligning with sustainable building practices. As efforts to decarbonize the building sector intensify, biomass's potential to provide renewable, locally sourced energy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions positions it as a compelling option for advancing the adoption of renewable energy in buildings.

In summary, the introduction of renewable energy to the construction realm offers significant technological advancement. This shift also ensures a move toward greater sustainability. The synergy of architects, engineers, energy specialists, and other experts fosters the seamless integration and innovation of renewable energy solutions within architectural designs.

Energy self-sufficiency and microgrid technology

Energy self-sufficiency and microgrid technology are becoming leaders in the construction field. With the continuous innovation of technology, buildings are gradually moving toward the goal of energy self-sufficiency. By integrating solar power generation, energy storage systems, and intelligent energy management technologies, buildings are expected to achieve a certain degree of separation from traditional power networks and achieve the goal of self-power supply. This concept of energy self-sufficiency will further reduce reliance on traditional energy, enabling buildings to meet energy needs more independently.

The rise of microgrid technology will bring significant changes to building energy management. A microgrid is a small energy network composed of multiple energy components (such as solar cells, energy storage devices, and gas generators), which can achieve efficient utilization and sharing of local energy. Microgrid technology utilizes renewable resources to ensure the stability and sustainability of buildings or cities based on artificial intelligence, such as metaheuristics (Evolutionary, Swarm, Physically based, Human based, hybrid, and other standalone algorithms), and machine learning (Model-based Control, Reinforcement Learning, Fuzzy Logic), which helps better cope with energy fluctuations and intermittency (Tajjour and Singh Chandel 2023 ). The development of microgrid technology will also enhance the reliability of building energy. In traditional central power systems, once a fault or interruption occurs, the entire area may be affected. Additionally, microgrid technology allows the energy system inside the building to automatically switch to backup energy in the event of a power outage, ensuring the continuous operation of key equipment and improving the reliability and stability of energy supply.

Carbon neutrality and sustainable development

The United Nations General Assembly, with sustainable development as its core, has formulated the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, aimed at addressing environmental, economic, and social challenges in the process of human development. This agenda is an action plan for humanity, the Earth, and prosperity (Woon et al. 2023 ). Meanwhile, carbon neutrality and sustainable development have become important issues that cannot be ignored in the construction industry. With increasing global attention to climate change and environmental issues, the construction industry is actively responding to carbon neutrality goals and striving to reduce carbon emissions. In this context, renewable energy is seen as a crucial solution for achieving carbon neutrality goals.

Renewable energy, as a non-emission energy source, has obvious advantages. Renewable energy sources such as solar energy, wind energy, and hydropower not only do not produce harmful gases such as carbon dioxide in the energy production process, but their sustainability enables them to provide clean energy for buildings in the long term. This makes renewable energy one of the important means to achieve carbon neutrality goals.

In future, the construction industry will gradually reduce its dependence on high-carbon-emitting energy sources such as traditional coal and oil and turn its attention to renewable energy. Photovoltaic power generation systems will be more widely installed on roofs, walls, and even windows of buildings, and wind power plants may become a part of high-rise buildings. Geothermal energy technology will play a greater role in heating and cooling. Biomass systems, including biomass boilers and biogas generators, can be integrated into buildings to provide reliable and carbon–neutral energy. These changes will not only bring significant reductions in carbon emissions but also provide greater security and reliability in the energy supply. In addition to direct carbon emissions reduction, the promotion of renewable energy will also stimulate innovation and technological progress. While seeking higher energy efficiency and lower carbon emissions, the construction industry will face pressure from technological upgrading and innovation, which will promote the development of new materials, new equipment, and intelligent energy management technologies, thereby further promoting the application and development of renewable energy.

Intelligent building and energy internet

Intelligent buildings and the energy internet have been widely recognized as important directions for the future development of the construction industry. With the continuous progress of technology, buildings will gradually become intelligent and digitized, creating more intelligent conditions for efficient energy utilization. In future, intelligent building technology will play an important role in enabling buildings to achieve intelligent regulation and optimize energy use. Through the application of sensors, data analysis, and automatic control systems, buildings can collect environmental information such as energy consumption, temperature, humidity, brightness, and room occupancy, allowing for energy decomposition and equipment identification and generating timely and personalized recommendations to achieve efficient energy utilization (Alsalemi et al. 2022 ). For example, in cold winter, the system can automatically adjust the temperature and time of the heating system to ensure a comfortable indoor environment while minimizing energy waste.

The integration of architecture and energy internet will further enhance the effective utilization rate of energy. By connecting the building energy system to the energy internet, buildings can achieve precise matching with energy supply. The energy internet will allow buildings to flexibly adjust according to actual demand and energy supply, thereby maximizing energy utilization. For example, when there is sufficient energy supply, buildings can store excess energy, and when there is a shortage of energy supply, priority can be given to utilizing reserve energy to ensure the normal operation of the building.

This section delves into the envisioned future of the construction sector, with a spotlight on the transformative influence of renewable energy. It forecasts the industry's trajectory toward energy autonomy, underscores the advantages of adopting microgrid systems, and highlights the worldwide momentum toward carbon–neutral commitments. Furthermore, it explores the synergistic melding of smart buildings with the energy internet to enhance energy consumption efficiency.

Technological innovation and cost reduction

Technological innovation is the core driving force behind the application of renewable energy in the construction industry. With the continuous progress of technology, renewable energy technologies are also constantly innovating and evolving. However, despite significant progress, further efforts are still needed to reduce costs and improve efficiency to better meet the needs of the construction industry. In the field of renewable energy, cost has always been considered one of the key factors restricting its widespread application. To achieve the large-scale application of renewable energy technology in buildings, it is necessary to find ways to reduce the costs of production, installation, and maintenance. Especially for some emerging technologies, such as solar thin films and wind energy storage, their research and manufacturing costs are relatively high, requiring continuous investment and efforts to achieve cost reduction.

Energy storage technology

The role of energy storage technology in the field of renewable energy is becoming increasingly prominent, especially in the face of the intermittency and volatility of renewable energy. These characteristics make energy storage a key factor in achieving a stable supply of renewable energy. However, current energy storage technologies still face a series of challenges in terms of cost, efficiency, and reliability, requiring continuous improvement and innovation.

With the continuous growth of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy, the demand for energy storage technology is becoming increasingly urgent. Photovoltaic and wind power generation systems have fluctuating production capacity due to weather and other factors, while energy demand is all-weather. Therefore, efficient energy storage technology can store excess energy for release when needed, thereby ensuring the stability of the energy supply. However, there are still some limitations to current energy storage technologies. On the one hand, cost issues have limited the popularization of energy storage technology. Currently, some commonly used energy storage technologies, such as lithium-ion batteries, have superior performance but high manufacturing costs, especially for large-scale applications. On the other hand, the efficiency and reliability of some energy storage technologies also need to be improved. For example, some energy storage systems may experience certain losses during the energy conversion and storage process, which reduces the overall efficiency of the system.

In the future, the improvement and innovation of energy storage technology will be a hot topic in the field of renewable energy. Scientists and engineers are exploring new energy storage materials and technologies to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and extend the lifespan of systems. The research on new battery technologies and energy storage materials will provide new possibilities for addressing the challenges posed by the volatility of renewable energy.

Integrated design and multidisciplinary cooperation

In the context of the increasingly urgent global energy situation, achieving the maximum potential of renewable energy has become an urgent task in the construction field. In order to achieve this goal, the energy system, building structure, and function in architectural design need to achieve close integration, which can maximize the application effect of renewable energy. Therefore, interdisciplinary cooperation has become crucial, and cross-border cooperation in professional fields such as architects, engineers, and energy experts will help find the best technology integration solutions to create more efficient and reliable renewable energy applications.

Implementing integrated architectural design requires close cooperation from experts in various fields. Architects need to integrate the needs of energy systems into their architectural design, considering how to maximize the utilization of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy without affecting the appearance and functionality of the building. Engineers need to ensure the coordination between the building structure and the energy system, optimize the layout, and ensure the efficient operation of the energy system. Energy experts need to provide energy analysis and technical support for the entire system to ensure the rational application of renewable energy.

Based on interdisciplinary cooperation, innovative technology integration solutions will be born. This may include integrating photovoltaic power generation systems into the exterior walls of buildings, utilizing the exterior scenery of buildings to enhance wind power generation, or organically integrating ground-source heat pump systems with building structures. By integrating multidisciplinary expertise, the most suitable and innovative renewable energy solutions can be found for each construction project. This integrated design and multidisciplinary collaboration can help solve the problem of energy waste in traditional architectural design. Traditional buildings usually consider energy systems and building design separately, resulting in inefficient energy utilization. By implementing integrated design, buildings can respond more intelligently to energy needs and reduce unnecessary waste.

Policy support and market recognition

In the context of global energy issues gradually heating up, policy support and market recognition have become the two pillars to promote the application of renewable energy in the construction industry. The government's policy support not only provides important guarantees for the development of renewable energy but also stimulates the enthusiasm of building owners and developers to adopt these technologies at the policy level. The government can effectively promote the transformation and upgrading of the industry by focusing on investment in the field of new technology research and development, formulating incentive policies to promote technological progress and innovative technology pilot diffusion, increasing research and development investment, guiding social capital participation, and fully leveraging the lateral incentive effect of policies (Xie et al. 2023 ).

At the same time, market recognition is also crucial for the promotion and application of renewable energy. The realization of market recognition requires people to deeply recognize the enormous economic and environmental benefits that renewable energy can bring in long-term operations. This not only involves the return on initial investment but also relates to the savings in energy costs and the reduction of environmental burden in long-term operations. With the increasing awareness of environmental protection in society, people's demand for green performance in buildings is also increasing, which further strengthens the market's demand for renewable energy.

Policy support and market recognition have jointly built the foundation for the development of renewable energy in the construction industry. The guiding role of government policies enables renewable energy technologies to quickly enter the market, while market recognition ensures the stability and sustainability of these technologies in practical applications. This dual support not only promotes technological innovation in renewable energy but also provides a solid guarantee for the sustainable development of the construction industry.

Upgrade of energy infrastructure

To achieve the large-scale application of renewable energy in the construction industry, it is necessary to focus on upgrading energy infrastructure. Nowadays, the demand for energy in the construction industry is increasing, and traditional energy infrastructure often finds it difficult to meet the effective transmission and utilization needs of renewable energy. Therefore, by upgrading our existing energy infrastructure, we can create more favorable conditions for the integration and application of renewable energy. Upgrading energy infrastructure is not only about technological progress but also about optimizing and innovating existing systems. The introduction of intelligent technology is crucial in this process. By introducing technologies such as intelligent monitoring, data analysis, and remote control, energy infrastructure can more efficiently manage and control renewable energy. This will help address the challenges of intermittency and volatility in renewable energy, ensuring a stable supply of energy.

On the other hand, upgrading energy infrastructure also requires attention to equipment updates and renovations. The new generation of equipment and technologies, such as advanced transmission lines and efficient energy storage devices, will provide more reliable and efficient support for the transmission and utilization of renewable energy. By integrating these innovative devices with existing energy systems, we can achieve the upgrading and modernization of energy infrastructure. In addition, upgrading energy infrastructure also requires cooperation with multiple parties. Building owners, energy suppliers, technology providers, and other parties need to work closely together to promote the upgrading process of energy infrastructure. The government's support will also play a crucial role in promoting the smooth upgrading of energy infrastructure through policy guidance and financial support.

In summary, renewable energy in the construction industry will play an increasingly important role in achieving energiewende, reducing carbon emissions, and promoting sustainable development. Although facing multiple challenges such as technology, costs, and policies, these challenges will gradually be overcome with the continuous innovation of technology and the gradual recognition of the market. Cross-disciplinary cooperation, policy support, and market guidance will be key to achieving the development of renewable energy in the construction industry. Through continuous efforts, the construction industry is expected to achieve a green transformation of energy and create a more sustainable and environmentally friendly building environment for humanity.

This section expounds upon the prospects and obstacles of weaving renewable energy into the construction landscape. It accentuates the imperative of technological breakthroughs and cost-cutting measures and underscores energy storage's role in offsetting renewable energy's intermittency. The section also champions interdisciplinary teamwork for optimal design solutions and underscores how regulatory backing and market acknowledgment can bolster renewable energy adoption. Furthermore, overhauling the existing energy framework and embracing contemporary technologies and systems emerge as quintessential to meet the requisites of seamless renewable energy integration.

Renewable energy, known for its environmental benefits, is crucial in addressing growing energy demand and mitigating global warming. This review assesses its application in construction, covering technologies like solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal energy. While offering eco-friendliness, renewables enhance building energy efficiency and cut operational costs. In addition, this work also introduces successful application cases of renewable energy technology in the construction field, which can often achieve multifunctional sustainable development through the adoption of renewable energy technologies, and finally analyzes the difficulties and challenges faced in the application process. From a policy perspective, governments and international organizations play a crucial role in formulating and implementing renewable energy-related policy standards. However, problems such as high initial investment, unstable power grids, and inconsistent policies may be encountered when implementing policies. The implementation of the above policies and regulations will stimulate the sustainable development of renewable energy in the construction industry while promoting innovation and progress in related technological research. This paper presents the latest technological advances and innovative designs for various types of renewable energy systems. The results show that the application of advanced artificial intelligence technologies, such as machine learning, plays an important role in the optimization and improvement of various renewable energy systems. Secondly, the application of hybrid renewable energy systems and innovative building design and layout are also effective ways to enhance the advantages of renewable energy and achieve multi-purpose. In the future, the improvement and innovation of energy storage technology will be a research hotspot in the field of renewable energy, providing new possibilities for addressing the challenges brought by renewable energy fluctuations. Meanwhile, policy support and market guidance will be key to achieving the development of renewable energy in the construction industry.

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Acknowledgements

Dr. Ahmed I. Osman and Prof. David W. Rooney wish to acknowledge the support of the Bryden Centre project (project ID VA5048), which was awarded by The European Union’s INTERREG VA Program, managed by the Special EU Programs Body (SEUPB), with match funding provided by the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland and the Department of Business, Enterprise, and Innovation in the Republic of Ireland.

This work was supported by the SEUPB, Bryden Centre project (project ID VA5048).

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Chen, L., Hu, Y., Wang, R. et al. Green building practices to integrate renewable energy in the construction sector: a review. Environ Chem Lett 22 , 751–784 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-023-01675-2

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Policy and practice reviews article, clean energy technology pathways from research to commercialization: policy and practice case studies.

• 1 Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden Colorado, CO, United States
• 2 U S Department of Energy, Washington, DC, United States
• 3 Renewable Energy Consulting Services, Inc, Palo Alto, CA, United States

Clean energy research and development (R and D) leading to commercial technologies is vital to economic development, technology competitiveness, and reduced environmental impact. Over the past 30 years, such efforts have advanced technology performance and reduced cost by leveraging network effects and economies of scale. After demonstrating promise in applied R and D, successful clean energy and energy efficiency technologies are incorporated into an initial product sold by the private sector. Despite its importance, processes by which first commercialization occurs are difficult to generalize while capturing specific insights from practitioners in markets and technologies. This paper presents a policy-focused qualitative assessment of the first commercialization of four diverse energy technologies: thin film photovoltaics, wind turbine blades, dual-stage refrigeration evaporators, and fuel cells for material handling equipment. Each technology presents distinct value propositions, markets, and regulatory drivers. The case studies indicate three common characteristics of successful first commercialization for new energy technologies: 1) good fit between the technology, R&D infrastructure, and public-private partnership models; 2) high degree of alignment of government regulations and R&D priorities with market forces; and 3) compatibility between time scales required for R&D, product development, and opportunities. These findings may inform energy investment decision-making, maximize benefits from R&D, and advance the transition to a low-emission future.

Introduction

Innovations in energy technologies are needed to mitigate the worst effects of climate change, improve resilience ( DOE, 2020 ), and confer other benefits ( Fuss et al., 2014 ; Hao, 2022 ). In energy, similar to all business sectors, market forces drive innovation ( Perez, 2002 ; Holmqvist, 2004 ; Markman et al., 2009 ), with governments mitigating risk for initial investments and addressing problems that markets cannot address themselves ( Janeway, 2012 ). Private sector commercializing of innovations, i.e., achieving financial benefits by selling useful and new developments, often depends on success in niche segments before expanding ( Porter, 2002 ). This pattern is particularly true for technologies that improve sustainability, for which robust sociotechnical models and research exists ( Geels, 2010 ; Smith et al., 2010 ; Jørgensen, 2012 ; Geels, 2018 ; Geels, 2019 ; Geddes and Schmidt, 2020 ). However, there are limits to these general theories, and specific, practical case studies are important complements to assess such transitions ( Kanger, 2021 ).

The specific barriers to commercializing new renewable power, sustainable transportation, and energy efficiency technologies present unique challenges. Such technologies often compete with mature incumbents ( Bonvillian and Weiss, 2015 ), including hydrocarbon, nuclear, and earlier-generation clean technologies ( Sivaram, 2017 ) in fragmented, regulated markets ( Energy Gov, 2020a ). Moreover, clean and efficient energy technologies are at varying stages of development Wind and solar are fully mature and commercialized ( Balachandra et al., 2010 ) while carbon capture and utilization ( Sanchez and Kammen, 2016 ) is neither. Investment needs for technologies at different stages and shortfalls described as “valley(s) of death” are well described ( Clyde et al., 1996 ; Brown et al., 2007 ); yet, relative to many externally funded businesses, clean energy companies have considerable time ( Balachandra et al., 2010 ) and capital requirements, which limit their growth rates and/or profit margins ( Powell et al., 2015 ) and make for poor fits with most venture capital ( Gaddy et al., 2017 ).

To lower barriers to clean and efficient energy technology development and commercialization, governments have had roles in energy innovation as sponsors, partners, regulators, customers, or some combination ( Fuchs, 2010 ; Bonvillian, 2018 ; Kattel and Mazzucato, 2018 ). Governments have directly influenced technology commercialization ( Zahra and Nielsen, 2002 ) via policy, including regulations, tariffs, taxes, rebates ( Bronzini and Piselli, 2016 ); legal fines and court rulings; research funding ( Azoulay et al., 2018 ; Goldstein et al., 2020 ); and by being a critical first customer for a new technology. Studies spanning many countries have explored the impact of government on technology commercialization extensively ( de Almeida, 1998 ; Foxon et al., 2005 ; Yeh, 2007 ; Mazzucato, 2013 ; Tse and Oluwatola, 2015 ; Lewis et al., 2017 ) including comparative studies of impact ( Popp, 2016 ; Goldstein et al., 2020 ; Popp et al., 2020 ). The public sector has also stimulated commercialization indirectly by supporting an “innovation ecosystem,” or R&D infrastructure that promotes cooperation and open shared resources between public ( Anadon et al., 2016 ) and private ( Oh et al., 2016 ; Pinto, 2020 ) organizations. In some situations, researchers have argued the impact of government policy on technology development has been equal to or greater than prices and market forces ( Wiser, 2000 ; Jacobsson and Lauber, 2006 ).

The rate of technology development and diffusion also depends on business factors, including the stage of commercialization for investment ( Nevens et al., 1990 ; Murphy et al., 2003 ), corporate culture ( Nevens et al., 1990 ; Treacy and Wiersema, 2007 ), and management focus ( Buckley-Golder et al., 1984 ; Christensen, 2015 ). For clean and efficient energy technologies, increased attention to environmental and social impacts has helped attract capital, though such impacts have been insufficient to entirely realign investor priorities ( Balachandra et al., 2010 ) or customers’ tolerance for cost or technology risk ( Gompers and Lerner, 2001 ; Brown et al., 2007 ; Verbruggen et al., 2010 ; Gross et al., 2018 ). In practice, adoption of new technology occurs only if it presents value that is unavailable elsewhere ( von Hippel, 1988 ).

Considering the intense and diverse risks entailed by any business operation ( Hall and Woodward, 2010 ) and especially new ventures ( Linton and Walsh, 2003 ; Popp et al., 2020 ), the barrier to technology diffusion decreases once a successful product exists. This fact highlights the importance of the initial private sector commercialization of clean and efficient energy technologies, and the paths these technologies take to their respective first markets may therefore contain insights for clean tech commercialization.

The purpose of this policy and practice review paper is to evaluate the conditions and identify generalizable approaches for successful first commercialization of clean energy technologies, a rarely studied phase of research and demonstration and a technology sector of considerably less focus in the literature compared to consumer products. The paper seeks to inform research investment by government program managers and industry decision-makers for technology commercialization in order to advance the transition to a low-emission future. To that end, this work presents four case studies detailing public-private partnerships that resulted in clean energy and energy efficient technology commercialization. While case study papers typically focus on a single technology or technology type, this paper uses diverse case studies to identify key details of the technologies’ transition from lab to first market with emphasis on the enabling factors of the innovation and the market landscape that led to initial success.

The paper does not cover later developments of these technologies toward full market acceptance, nor does it address current early or pre-commercial technologies; instead, the case studies focus on the critical period between advanced research demonstrations and first commercial market success. Common features relevant to broader decision-making in R&D and commercialization processes were identified across the case studies, drawing on primary sources and interviews with government program managers and industry partners that were involved in the adoption of these technologies. The conclusions present specific approaches for key stakeholders involved in energy technology commercialization—government research program managers, technology developers, and business decision makers—to further energy technology development and commercialization initiatives.

Methodology

The data and arguments put forth in this analysis came from primary sources based on a case study approach. These sources include one-on-one and panel interviews from subject matter experts who hold or have held critical leadership roles and contributed to the development of their respective technologies, and four workshops (one on each technology) conducted with government research sponsors. Over 50 experts contributed input over 6 months in mid-2020, including key individuals from the companies involved, their research partners from national laboratories, and the government program managers for each technology (see list of names in the Acknowledgements). The government subject matter experts included the U.S.-based program managers responsible for establishing targets and overseeing technology research programs in these specific areas. Industry partners and research collaborators interviewed were involved in the technology development and the relevant public-private partnerships. All participants were from the United States with one exception from Europe.

The case studies selected originated from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE) portfolio of investments. The following criteria were used to select the cases for this paper:

Diversity of technology type within the broad category of clean energy and energy efficiency. Selected technologies covered renewable energy generation, energy efficiency, and transportation-related equipment that are implemented by power developers and manufacturers with the end users being power companies, industrial operators, and general consumers. This diversity enabled exploration of various drivers of first commercialization of dissimilar technologies and applications.

Diversity of commercialization approaches and strategies. Selected technologies were commercialized by both start-ups and established companies as completely new technologies to the market, major changes to an existing technology, and efficiency enhancements largely invisible to the consumer. This diversity enabled exploration of approaches to first commercialization by different types of organizations based on a variety of policy and market drivers.

Fully commercialized technology. Technologies that had achieved market success enabled identification of the pathways and elements around first commercialization, rather than selecting technologies that were still in development and had not completed their early commercial stage. This was a relatively small subset of technologies with a few caveats, as elaborated below.

Data for these case studies came from internal program metrics, contracts with industry, patent portfolios, published research papers, and government documents that recorded industry interviews and collaborations (and the terms and conditions that are associated with these interactions). Targeted interviews with questionnaires prepared for each technology were conducted with program managers, industry management, and researchers who were participants in the technology development at the time. Generalized energy technology development approaches were derived from these primary data collection sources through careful evaluation by case study participants and the authors. Specific source materials and interviews are referenced within each of the case studies presented in section 3.

Note that there are several areas of constraint within this study. First, the technologies selected for the case studies all reached some level of commercial success, although limited in some cases, since the focus is on first successful commercialization. As with any program directed toward high-risk innovation, many clean energy and energy efficiency technologies supported by government programs never move beyond the lab or demonstration stage or are partially commercialized before failure to fully reach the market ( Mufson, 2011 ; Kao, 2013 ). This paper focuses on success factors, whereas limits to success represent an area for future evaluation. Second, there is no counterfactual data on the development of these specific technologies without the involvement of DOE. So, the findings may be relevant to specific circumstances for U.S. government R&D programs and not universal strategies as every technology’s path to commercialization differs. Third, the study’s data and information were largely historically collected, not on-going real-time data collection during the development of a portfolio of technologies. This also represents a future area of study for new research and commercialization investments that is briefly discussed in the Conclusions.

Research and commercialization case studies

This section presents summaries and key findings pertinent to the development of four technologies—thin film photovoltaic solar panels, highly efficient wind turbine blades, dual-stage refrigeration evaporators, and fuel cells for material handling equipment—with generalized findings in section 4.

Thin film solar photovoltaics

Thin film cadmium telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic (PV) modules became a commercial product after nearly 30 years of R&D and collaboration among national labs, universities, and private companies ( Cheese et al., 2016 ). This case study focuses on the commercialization success of the company First Solar, which benefited from U.S. DOE solar research, directly received DOE funding in research partnerships in the 1980s–2000s, and subsequently led cost reductions for PV module commercialization ( Hegedus and Luque, 2005 ; Scheer and Schock, 2011 ; Cheese et al., 2016 ). This case study argues that addressing regulatory needs within this thin film PV technology’s first major market and establishing a proven product at a price and time for a market that was ready for it, led to its early success.

DOE collaboration generated an innovation ecosystem of thin film PV research that made key advances in CdTe PV technology by funding universities and industrial partnerships from the late 1980s to early 2000s, primarily through programs at the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). An early notable advance during this period was the demonstration of 15.8% cell efficiency (a record at the time) ( Britt and Ferekides, 1993 ) using a cadmium chloride (CdCl 2 ) heat treating process (US Patent 4873198). First Solar co-developed a high-rate vapor transport deposition manufacturing technique (US 5945163) to produce CdTe-based panels at a larger scale—an alternative to the slower, costlier close space sublimation manufacturing process. With suitable device efficiency and scalable manufacturing procedures in place, R&D focus shifted to testing and validation of product reliability. First Solar used testing standards, product quality certifications, and outdoor testing facilities funded by DOE and led by Arizona State University and NREL to prove by 2003 that its modules were ready to enter the solar market. Figure 1 shows a 0.6-kW CdTe test array at NREL’s outdoor testing facility, as well as the structure of a CdTe solar cell.

FIGURE 1 . A 0.6 kW First Solar CdTe PV test array installed June 1995 at NREL’s Outdoor Test Facility (A) and CdTe PV cell structure (B) .

First Solar entered Germany’s major solar market in the 2000s. To do this, First Solar’s modules needed to meet energy performance and regulatory requirements, which included electronic waste regulation and restrictions on the use of certain toxic substances like cadmium (Directive 2002/96/ EC, 2003 ). In 2004, the European Union (EU) Commission evaluated these policies through a workshop on life-cycle analysis and recycling and disseminated DOE-funded research on CdTe from the DOE’s PV Environmental Health and Safety Assessment and Assistance Center at Brookhaven National Laboratory. This effort helped resolve concerns about emissions and recyclability of CdTe PV modules with independent, peer-reviewed studies. Later in 2004, First Solar secured its first contract for its compound thin semiconductor modules in the German PV market—a commercial turning point for CdTe p V. In 2005, First Solar announced a module takeback and recycling program to respond to evolving EU policy directives. These efforts helped communicate First Solar’s responsiveness to regulatory issues, and they addressed public perception of risk sufficiently to access key markets.

CdTe modules are less efficient than silicon-based panels, but owing to their reduced manufacturing costs, they led the lowest price per watt from the mid-2000s until the mid-2010s ( Figure 2 ) ( First Solar Inc, 2020 ; Fraunhofer Institute of Solar Energy Systems, 2020 ; Mints, 2020 ). Significant demand for photovoltaics in the European market during this time coincided with insufficient residual wafers from integrated circuit silicon, as well as a temporary shortage in polysilicon, which were used to make silicon solar photovoltaics ( Photon Energy Group, 2020 ).

FIGURE 2 . First Solar’s production, capacity, and manufacturing cost enabled a decrease in module prices to levels lower than silicon module costs during an increase in polysilicon spot prices (which signaled underlying polysilicon market trends), producing a serendipitous window for CdTe module market entry. Cost per watt adjusted to be real values for 2019. Data sources: ( Bernreuter Research, 2020 ; First Solar Inc, 2020 ; Photon Energy Group, 2020 ).

Key Findings : The thin film solar PV case study identified the successful use of three key commercialization strategies: development of technology with many commercially relevant inputs through public/private partnerships, alignment of set technology cost goals and product development that achieved them, and timing compatibility of technology readiness and market opportunity. In this case, government funding over decades enabled foundational materials research and consistent testing standards, that could be taken up by industry as the technology neared commercial readiness. Chance also favored a prepared company with the right product at the right time: CdTe photovoltaics of proven reliability were a lower-cost replacement in a clean energy market with an open window of opportunity, allowing the early commercialization success of this solar technology.

Wind blade improvements

Between 1995 and 2008, a funded ecosystem of universities, national labs, and private companies pursued advances in wind turbine blade design agnostic to a specific approach or design solution. This initiative was conceived and managed by Sandia National Laboratories, in partnership with NREL, and culminated in innovations that substantially increased adoption of wind energy and decreased the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for wind ( Larwood et al., 2014 ). From 2009 through 2018, wind energy prices, as indicated by executed power purchase agreements, decreased by over 60% (R. Wiser et al., 2021 ), holding steady from 2018 to 2021. Although several factors contributed, wind subject matter experts identify improved blade designs as one of the largest innovation factors contributing to wind energy technology cost reductions during this period. This case considers blade design advances and the enabling R&D environment that ultimately led to LCOE improvements, and thus to early market success.

Historically, blade lengths have increased over time to capture more energy. With traditional blade designs, the corresponding increase in the blade mass incurred costs not justified by the associated increase in energy capture. The longer, heavier blades resulted in higher loads and increased cost throughout the turbine system. The exploration in the early 2000s of blade design advances for wind turbine system optimization led to the development of turbine blades with flat backs and bend-twist coupling geometries. These two separate innovations, developed in parallel, allowed for significantly longer blades and thus more energy delivered by each turbine without compromising reliability.

The bend-twist innovation is an inherent structural design for blades to twist as they experienced a wind gust, thus passively reducing the pitch of the blade and lowering the load ( Figure 3 ). This technology was much simpler in concept and operation than contemporary suggestions to change blade pitch with active aerodynamic control devices requiring multiple actuators and moving parts. The flat-back design creates a structurally enhanced portion of the blade closest to the connection to the hub by flattening the trailing edge while the outboard portion remains shaped like a traditional airfoil. Flat-back blades balance ease of manufacturing, aerodynamic performance, and structural strength while reducing weight and enabling a longer, more reliable blade ( Miller et al., 2018 ).

FIGURE 3 . Digital rendering of a modern bend-twist flat backed wind turbine blade. Cross sectional view of the flat back is seen in the upper left corner.

The combination of bend-twist and flat-back design enabled longer blades with less mass ( Paquette and Veers, 2009 ). Figure 4 illustrates industry trends in rotor mass and diameter before and after the bend-twist and flat-back innovations ( Thewindpower, 2020 ).

FIGURE 4 . Rotor mass in tons vs rotor diameter in meters for Siemens wind turbine products with trend lines fit before (blue triangles) and after (green circles) the adoption of bend-twist coupling and flatback airfoils (2008). Significant reduction in scaling trends enables larger rotors and lower levelized cost of energy. Data source: ( Thewindpower, 2020 ).

The genesis of these design concepts was in the aerospace industry, and academic papers and presentations in open fora documented their innovative extension to wind turbine blades. As the flat-back and bend-twist designs proved out in the R&D ecosystem, private companies adapted the innovations to their own proprietary blades and analysis tools. There were no patents protecting the fundamental applications to wind blades. There were, however, demanding engineering and manufacturing requirements, especially for bend-twist blades, which deterred smaller and less engineering-focused firms. The twin considerations of intellectual property and engineering complexities have shifted focus in the wind turbine industry away from patents toward trade secrets and the development of proprietary internal computational design and analysis tools. Ultimately, industry responsiveness to flat-back and bend-twist coupled blade designs led to innovations that were commercially successful in first markets and, combined with related supporting design tools, drove diversity in blades across the industry, serving as differentiators across companies.

Key Findings: Public-private partnerships that connect universities and private companies with national lab research infrastructure, along with a selectively open approach to intellectual property, spurred the development of advanced wind blade designs. In this case, government played a convening role for innovation in a nascent industry and funded shared research user facilities. In turn, the wind turbine industry successfully commercialized the resulting advanced engineering designs that overcome the tradeoff between rotor diameter and mass inherent to incumbent technologies. The resulting decrease in LCOE, which wind technologists estimate to be nearly 33%, enabled significant wind power expansion post-2008 and led to a worldwide market over $100 billion per year ( Global Wind Energy Council, 2019 ). Given that most major commercial turbines now use elements of flat-back and/or bend twist innovation in their turbine designs, these innovations had a substantial impact on wind deployment and the global economy.

Efficiency in refrigerators

Refrigerators and freezers account for ∼7% of the total electricity usage in U.S. homes, or 105 billion kilowatt-hours and 74 million metric tons of CO 2 annually ( EIA, 2020 ; Energy Star Portfolio Manager, 2020 ). Historically, the bulk of this electricity demand has driven vapor compression to achieve cooling with a single compressor, evaporator, and condenser. This design unavoidably mixes air between the fresh food and freezer compartments, causing fresh food to lose moisture that forms frost on the evaporator coil. Inadequate or over-cooling degrades food preservation quality and is difficult to prevent with a single evaporator, which cannot simultaneously accommodate the different cooling requirements for the two separate compartments. Two evaporators with a post-condenser valve system allows each evaporator and heat exchanger to receive the correct amount of flow for the cooling load, while increasing energy efficiency (see Figure 5 ). However, dual-evaporator systems driven by two compressors (i.e., two separate vapor compression systems) require extra components, driving up production costs.

FIGURE 5 . Dual evaporator flow and component diagram (Adapted from US Patent 9285161B2).

Higher costs may be unacceptable to manufacturers, who already have low margins from most refrigerator sales. Consumers are especially price sensitive when purchasing a refrigerator and may be unwilling to pay a premium for increased energy efficiency, opting instead to pay more for such design features as extra compartments or embedded touchscreens. These market forces incentivize manufacturers to invest enough into efficiency R&D to meet minimum efficiency standards, but little more. In this way, efficiency innovations may be driven more by minimum standards requirements than direct consumer demand. Figure 6 shows the annual energy use over time for units sold in a given year and highlights the step-like nature corresponding with new minimum efficiency standards.

FIGURE 6 . Average annual electricity use of new refrigerator-freezers and freezers. Data sources: ( Rosenfeld, 1999 ; Energy Conservation Standards for Residential Refrigerators, Refrigerator-Freezers, and Freezers, 2010 ; AHAM, 2018 ).

Whirlpool Corporation and DOE began work on a single-compressor, dual-evaporator system in 2014 as part of a DOE initiative to increase appliance efficiency. Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) provided R&D resources and staffing in collaboration with Whirlpool. A cooperative R&D agreement allowed Whirlpool access to ORNL modeling tools and advanced experimental facilities to assist in the design, validation, and prototyping of this new technology while retaining ownership of the intellectual property. The team was able to demonstrate an advanced refrigerator design with more than 50% energy reduction per unit volume (as compared to the 2001 federal minimum efficiency standard), with a cost increase of less than $100. The innovation led to a family of 14 patents for Whirlpool and enabled the company to meet new minimum efficiency standards ( Energy Gov, 2020b ).

Key Findings: The refrigerator efficiency case study typifies a successful commercialization pathway driven by alignment between regulatory constraints and R&D priorities. In this case, the government collaborated with an established company through cooperative research agreements utilizing government research models and facilities. The progress in refrigerator efficiency mandated by standards and achieved by Whirlpool’s dual-evaporator technology spurred other companies to develop similar systems to meet the minimum efficiency requirements, until more R&D could be done on other components such as compressors and insulation materials. As those components achieved cost-competitiveness with the dual-evaporator system, a diversity of solutions to comply with standards emerged. Dual evaporator systems are still present on modern day refrigerators, primarily on higher-end units where cost is already at a premium level; lower-end models are simply equipped with higher efficiency and less complex components with advanced adaptive compressors emerging as a technology for highly efficient temperature control. The dual-stage evaporator thus served to satisfy the needs of the first-market conditions set by regulatory policy, and in turn compelled additional R&D of components that met similar needs with reduced complexity and cost.

Fuel cells for material handling equipment

Fuel cells can provide electricity via redox chemistry for stationary, transportation, and portable power applications. DOE has invested in hydrogen fuel cell research since the early 1990s, when successful fuel cell applications (such as in spacecraft and satellites) were too costly for commercial products. Today, large-scale follow-on investment occurs worldwide ( Hydrogen Society of Australia, 2020 ). This case study focuses on fuel cells deployed in forklift and other material handling equipment (MHE) and consider the unique compatibility of this niche market for the technology.

The “captive” nature of MHE fleets made them a practical fit as a first-commercialization target for fuel cells in transportation applications. Integrators forgo the need for a large network of hydrogen refueling stations across the country, opting instead for one location within a warehouse facility. Historically, gasoline-, propane-, or diesel-fueled engines powered MHE for outdoor operations while lead acid batteries powered indoor applications where emissions must be controlled. Lead acid battery-powered MHE exhibit performance issues at low charge, requires long charging and cool down times that can disrupt warehouse throughput, and have limitations in cold environments like refrigerated warehouses. Fuel-cell-powered MHE resolves these issues, as fuel cells do not emit harmful air pollutants or carbon dioxide at the point of operation, and they work in cold environments without degradation of performance ( Figure 7 ). These attributes can lead to reduction of labor costs associated with changing and recharging batteries by as much as 80% while also eliminating the need for battery rooms, shrinking the infrastructure footprint by 75% ( Ramsden, 2013 ).

FIGURE 7 . Fuel-cell-powered forklifts in a Sysco warehouse in Houston, where they operated in part in a refrigerated environment.

As potential entrants to this niche market in the late 2000s, fuel cell MHEs made a strong case for displacing lead acid battery-powered MHEs. Other emerging power technologies such as lithium-ion batteries were not yet price competitive. At the time, hybrid electric vehicle lithium-ion batteries needed a 3–5x cost decrease to achieve wide commercialization ( FY, 2009 ; Annual Progress Report for Energy Storage R&D, 2009). In 2009, funding from ARRA enabled a large-scale fuel cell MHE demonstration. Through competitive awards with industry, DOE deployed hundreds of hydrogen fuel-cell-powered lift trucks along with supporting systems (fueling infrastructure, data collection and analysis, and operator training). The U.S. Department of Defense also deployed 100 fuel-cell-powered lift trucks at three centers and an army base. A detailed analysis conducted by NREL documented the techno-economics of fuel cell MHE, summarizing the conditions where the technology was cost competitive ( Ramsden, 2013 ).

Throughout the 2010s, guidance and education originating from ARRA deployment and follow-on work led to the integration of 40,000 MH E units within the industry ( John, 2021 ). At the same time, technology competitors surged and the cost of lithium-ion batteries decreased beyond projections (89% since 2010) ( BloombergNEF, 2021 ). Additionally, these batteries’ recharge speed increased, and they gained acceptance in a variety of markets. Comparisons continued to show fuel cells’ utility for refueling in high throughput applications compared to similar fast charging batteries such as lithium-ion ( Cano et al., 2018 ). In the last year, some MHE manufacturers that had announced production manufacturing of fuel cell forklifts have pivoted to advertising forklifts that work with lithium-ion battery technology for similar use cases. The opening of the MHE market to new innovations created by fuel cell forklifts helped spawn further electrification of MHEs and interest from industry in converting to cleaner technologies ( Nuvera, 2021 ).

Key Findings: The fuel cell MHE case study demonstrates all three approaches for commercialization success, including collaboration between private industry and publicly funded research testing opportunities (e.g., ARRA DoD demonstration), R&D advancing technology performance that could meet market requirements, and technology that had performance advantages in time for addressable opportunities. In this case, the government support for research continued through full-scale demonstration funding and direct procurement of early commercial technologies for private and government facilities. Ultimately, MHEs powered by fuel cell technology achieved an overlap of technology readiness and market opportunity, demonstrating energy density, fast refueling, and fuel storage capacities that exceeded performances by competitive contemporary alternative technologies.

Generalized commercialization approaches for energy decisionmakers

Although the four case studies have distinct technologies and stakeholders, they also have common approaches that influenced the technologies’ commercial successes, described below, and summarized in Figure 8 . These approaches are relevant for all stakeholders interested in future innovation related to energy. In particular, success depended on a combination of three approaches, and while these have been mentioned in the literature, their application to energy technology R&D has not been made explicit until now. Also noted are key distinctions between market contexts for the four technologies.

FIGURE 8 . Graphical summary of common approaches and key distinctions across four case studies of first commercialization.

First, technology development and commercialization depend on technology fit with research infrastructure and public-private partnership models. Each case study featured collaboration between the private sector and a research institution with critical shared infrastructure supported by an innovation ecosystem. Private sector technology developers leveraged government funding in research capabilities, including testing facilities, standards, and independent analysts. Large energy test facilities are beyond the resources of many companies, especially those in a nascent industry (e.g., PV and wind in the late 1990s). Likewise, field validation and consensus standards often emerge from efforts no company can pursue on its own. In these cases, government often has an important role as a steward of shared resources—physical and informational—that are required for progress. Our findings indicate that at this stage, open access to intellectual property may benefit a nascent industry most broadly. For pre-commercial energy technologies, the long time horizons and competitive challenges mean that it is often necessary to identify and develop shared-use facilities and standards to meet needs through many unexpected technology and market developments. Because public agencies can take risks that private entities cannot, the government is often the first investor in any innovative area; these investments both de-risk and leverage private capital aimed at commercialization. Industry leaders who successfully engage government often begin collaborating on pre-commercial technology, followed by independent innovation that differentiates their companies’ products. Such strategies require significant knowledge of government programs, flexibility in contracting, and strong relationships among individual researchers. For example, with wind blade improvements, technologists collaborated across multiple institutions and companies within an open innovation ecosystem to share or discard ideas, stimulating rapid iteration to overcome technical hurdles. In other cases, individual companies collaborated more independently with government resources, as with the development of dual-evaporator systems for refrigerators.

The second area of commonality among the case studies was a high degree of alignment between government regulations, R&D priorities, and market forces. With extensive stakeholder input, government leaders and program managers publish strategic objectives (e.g., increase energy efficiency) and technical targets aimed at specific priorities to incent innovation. Given higher tolerance for technology risk in government than the private sector, program managers can follow a correspondingly longer path for commercialization. These paths may have a commercialization endpoint identified (e.g., PV panel cost per watt target) or related technology performance targets (e.g., seeking materials with fuel cell properties before reduction to practice), and often require revision in response to technological and external developments. In areas where there is a national objective (e.g., efficiency of refrigerators) but insufficient consumer demand to drive change, government programs may support meeting regulations and standards and enabling industry innovation through access to research and testing capabilities. Each case study technology catered to a specific target market that was in turn responsive to policy, regulation, economics, environment, and manufacturer needs. Fit between product and market is a well-established success factor, and clean energy and energy efficient technologies are no exception. However, unlike most consumer products where the market fit is to consumer demand, clean and efficient energy technologies must also meet specific economic and regulatory requirements, often while contributing toward government or societal objectives noted above.

Finally, each case study found compatibility between time scales required for R&D, product development, and addressable opportunities, including a degree of serendipity. Building on years of fundamental research, funding for later-stage technologies focused on demonstration and commercialization based on market requirements for success. Early development decisions addressed constraints such as environmental health, manufacturability, customer price sensitivity, and demand for drop-in solutions. The case studies profiled various timing compatibilities based on the stage of technology acceptance and market readiness. Highly efficient turbine blades and thin film solar PV advanced fundamentally new technologies, timed with increasing demand for low-emission energy sources—a high-risk market approach rewarded with rapidly increasing sales of renewable energy technologies. While less conspicuous, fuel cells and dual evaporators had performance advantages versus incumbents (e.g., reduced fueling time for MHE and increased efficiency across multiple cooling loads for refrigeration). These advantages led to inclusion in established products that have been viable first markets, and, as with any technology, further growth depends on overcoming increasing competition.

The diverse cases revealed a key distinction between new power generation technologies versus those that create incremental efficiency or energy source changes. Electricity suppliers have widely adopted the core energy generation technologies (thin film photovoltaic cells and efficient wind turbine blades), and these technologies continue to find success in the market. The dual-stage refrigeration evaporators and fuel cells for MHEs achieved lower market penetration as individual technologies. Instead, their development instigated an opening of the market to a multitude of options for cleaner or more efficient energy within their target technology. There are multiple explanations for this difference. First, there are national incentives and sub-national mandates for adoption of renewable power generation that do not exist for other technologies. Moreover, first commercialization of end-use technologies often introduces consumer-focused features (such as better food preservation or reduced equipment downtime) with efficiency improvements receiving lower priority.

Conclusions and policy implications

Commercialization pathways of energy technologies are as diverse as research fields and markets themselves. Each case involved an appropriate set of research policy tools for the stage of the technology development and the partners. Thin-film solar developed through decades of research funding and was enabled through standardized testing protocols. Wind blades improved through a government-convened innovation network and shared research facilities. Advances in refrigeration efficiency emerged from collaboration between government researchers and a motivated established company. Fuel cell equipment launched through direct procurement support after years of government funded technology research. While the specific approaches varied, these diverse case studies did allow generalizable conclusions for both the private and government sector.

Successful private sector decision makers have a deep knowledge of the technology as well as the market and relevant policies, and their strategies account for all these arenas. Leaders at successful companies take advantage of available research infrastructure, including opportunities for cost share and access to shared knowledge or other assets. The timing of such opportunities lends an element of serendipity to commercialization that favors technologies and organizations that are well-prepared, for example through familiarity with resources and priorities of research agencies, government regulators, and other stakeholders.

Government research program managers and policy makers have an array of policy tools to support first commercialization of technologies, although they should be applied differently based on the technology and opportunity. Research funding, shared-use facilities, technology targets, open innovation, and deployment incentives can create the success factors for new energy generating technologies. Regulations, standards, testing, and demonstrations enable advancement in efficiency and powering existing technologies. Every case relied on mission-driven, personalized engagement between government and other stakeholders—in industry, academia, standards-development organizations, and others—that informed ambitious but realistic strategic targets and forged partnerships around them. Together, these elements were essential to creating the first commercialization at the right time. They also establish a self-reinforcing cycle, where successful projects lead both to technology and market impact, and also encourage further engagement between stakeholders and government. R&D agencies have encouraged such cycles for solid-state lighting ( National Academies of Sciences, 2017 ; National Research Council (2013) , geothermal energy ( Burr, 2000 ), and in other cases.

This policy and practice review paper and similar business case studies highlight the need for a new approach to understanding success factors for commercialization. Commercialization and related industrial policy case studies are largely historical, retrospectively collecting data and conducting interviews to extract findings. A future approach for government and industry research program managers would be a proactive longitudinal study that would start with defining a set of measurable inputs and success metrics to be applied during research on a diverse portfolio of energy technologies. These data would be collected periodically and interviews with researchers and various stakeholders would be recorded in real-time, indexed, and archived. Over a decade or more of the technologies’ development through either failure, stagnation, or first commercialization, a set of analyzable information would become available to quantitatively model and statistically assess for common definable conditions for success. Ideally, the information might also be used to identify the preparedness needed to take advantage of serendipity to make the leap from research to successful energy product.

The case studies presented here demonstrate that productive interactions between innovative businesses and government have led repeatedly to successful first commercialization of clean energy and energy efficiency technologies. Together, they reveal generalized approaches to new research and interaction with industries comprising the clean energy economy. Future longitudinal and structured cross-cutting studies of energy technology research programs could further enable successful investment and commercialization of advanced energy technologies.

Author contributions

All authors contributed to the initial writing. Additionally, JE, WM, MM, BM, and BW contributed to the conceptualization, methodology, and revisions. BW also supported with funding.

This work was authored in part by the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis (JISEA) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, operated by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308. Funding provided by U.S. DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Building Technologies Office. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE, the U.S. Government, or sponsors.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks for photos and graphic design to Dennis Schroeder ( Figure 1A ), Alfred Hicks ( Figure 1B ), Besiki Kazaishvili ( Figure 3 ), Jennifer Kurtz ( Figure 7 ), and Nicole Leon ( Figure 8 ). The authors would also like to thank the many experts we interviewed, who reviewed drafts, or otherwise contributed to this paper, including: Andenet Alemu, Jeff Alexander, Sam Baldwin, Garrett Barter, Erin Beaumont, Markus Beck, Jen Bristol, Steve Capanna, Tom Catania, Al Compaan, Fernando Corral, Tim Cortes, Andrea Crooms, Peter Devlin, David Feldman, David Eaglesham, Chris Ferekides, Steve Freilich, Christina Freyman, Vasilis Fthenakis, Nancy Garland, Sarah Garman, Jennifer Garson, Charlie Gay, Markus Gloeckler, Alberto Gomes, Marcos Gonzales-Harsha, Bill Hadley, Michael Heben, Mark Johnson, Stephanie Johnson, Becca Jones-Albertus, Richard King, Jennifer Kurtz, Jeff Logan, Sumanth Lokanath, Robert Margolis, Wyatt Metzger, Anne Miller, Steve Ringel, Doug Rose, Karma Sawyer, Jared S. Silvia, Jim Sites, Henrik Stiesdal, Martha Symko-Davies, Govindasamy Tamizhmani, Lenny Tinker, Christopher Tully, Paul Veers, Alan Ward, Johanna Wolfson, Jetta Wong, Leah Zibulsky and Ken Zweibel. We also thank our journal reviewers for their insightful comments.

Conflict of interest

Author ED is employed by Renewable Energy Consulting Services, Inc.

The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords: renewable energy, energy policy, technology commercialization, photovoltaics, wind turbines, refrigeration, fuel cells

Citation: Engel-Cox JA, Merrill WG, Mapes MK, McKenney BC, Bouza AM, DeMeo E, Hubbard M, Miller EL, Tusing R and Walker BJ (2022) Clean energy technology pathways from research to commercialization: Policy and practice case studies. Front. Energy Res. 10:1011990. doi: 10.3389/fenrg.2022.1011990

Received: 04 August 2022; Accepted: 25 October 2022; Published: 09 November 2022.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2022 Engel-Cox, Merrill, Mapes, McKenney, Bouza, DeMeo, Hubbard, Miller, Tusing and Walker. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Jill A. Engel-Cox, [email protected]

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Breaking barriers in deployment of renewable energy

Seetharaman.

a S P Jain School of Global Management, Singapore

Krishna Moorthy

b Faculty of Business and Finance, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kampar Campus, Perak, Malaysia

Nitin Patwa

c S P Jain School of Global Management, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

d Taylors University, Malaysia

Associated Data

Several economic, institutional, technical and socio-cultural barriers hinder countries from moving from the high to the low emission pathway. The objective of this research is to find out the impacts of social, economic, technological and regulatory barriers in the deployment of renewable energy. Data were collected through an online questionnaire responded to by 223 professionals working in the energy sector all over the globe. This research shows that social, technological and regulatory barriers have a strong influence on the deployment of renewable energy, while economic barriers significantly influence it indirectly. By breaking research and development-related barriers, organizations will be able to invest greatly in developing advanced technologies that can optimize usage of renewable energy and make renewable energy appear more lucrative. With less polluting and lower tariff energy solutions being made available to local people, and higher profits for manufacturers, this will create an atmosphere where all stakeholders are satisfied.

1. Introduction

The world's population is growing at an unprecedented rate and that has necessitated a dramatic increase in energy demand globally. Matching supply with this surging demand is a principal and critical challenge for countries around the world. Currently, this demand is being met through the increased use of fossil fuels. The majority of the world's power is generated from the use of coal, oil and gas. These so-called fossil fuels, when burned, release heat energy which is then converted into electricity releasing into the atmosphere a lot of carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas that contributes to the issue of global warming. A renewable energy supply offers a solution to both challenges. For economic growth and human advancement, energy has always been universally considered one of the most crucial measures ( Rawat and Sauni, 2015 ). There is a three-dimensional relationship alongside a bi-directional causal relationship between economy, the environment and energy ( Azad et al., 2014 ).

Globally, the population is growing at fast rate; however, the world's energy demand is likely to grow even more rapidly than the increase in the population. According to International Energy Outlook (2013), global energy demand will be increased by 56 per cent between 2010 and 2040 ( Azad et al., 2014 ). Currently, the majority of the world's energy consumption is satisfied by consuming energy created using fossil fuels. To satisfy the ever-increasing energy demand and to protect the climate, breakthrough advancements have been made in the past to design technologies that can control and harness power from alternative energy sources. As controlling carbon emissions is critical in dealing with climate change, renewable energy is an appropriate way to satisfy energy demand without degrading the ecosystem ( Jing, 2016 ). Apart from bringing environmental sustainability, renewable energy offers another advantage—the ability to provide power to even the most underprivileged people living in the remotest areas where traditional power is not yet available ( Rawat and Sauni, 2015 ).

Awareness of the need to encourage deployment of renewable energy has increased drastically in recent years. More countries, whether developed or developing, are promoting and changing policies to promote the deployment of renewable energy. In 2005, only 55 countries had taken steps to make renewable targets and create policies supporting renewable energy. This number had increased to 144 countries by 2013, with almost all the world understanding the need to reduce carbon emissions.

2. Background

Despite remarkable promotion and commitment from various nations, only a small percentage of energy is generated from renewable energy, especially in developing countries. This scenario is because of the numerous barriers that control the diffusion of renewable energy. These barriers prevent renewable energy from effectively competing with traditional energy and hamper achievement of the necessary large-scale deployment ( Nasirov et al., 2015 ). Penetration and scale-up of renewable require a strong political and regulatory framework which supports and promotes a continued focus on fossil fuels ( Karatayev et al., 2016 ).

A review of the literature shows that many studies have been conducted to identify barriers to the use of renewable energy. However, very few studies have grouped these barriers and discussed the impact of these barriers in the deployment of renewable energy. The variables which were identified from the literature review for use in future research were social barriers , economic barriers, technological barriers and regulatory barriers.

The objective of this research is to discover the impacts of breaking barriers in the deployment of renewable energy. This research tries to resolve the following questions to reach a solution which is in line with the objective of this research:

• a. What are the factors affecting the deployment of renewable energy and are they significant or not?
• b. What impact will breaking barriers have on the deployment of renewable energy?
• c. In the wake of breaking barriers, is Rogers' (2003) theory of diffusion (political and social) valid for renewable energy?

Theory of diffusion (technical, political & social) in the wake of breaking barriers.

Diffusion of innovation theory is one of the most important concepts in theorizing the changing format of energy provision, being concerned with the process of adoption of innovations by society ( Lacerda et al., 2014 ). Rogers (1983 : 11) defined diffusion as ‘the process by which innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among members of a social system’ and innovation as ‘an idea, practice or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption’ ( Sahin, 2006 ). Other types of diffusion include social diffusion and theories of change, going back to Lewin's description of the need to alter group standards to promote lasting individual change ( Lewin, 1951 ). The focus has since shifted towards external conditions that are likely to be more influential than group decisions ( Darnton, 2008 ). Political diffusion deals with the spread of policies and governance approaches across jurisdictional boundaries which come about because of external pressures and/or internal pressures relating to quests for legitimacy ( Weyland, 2005 ). More fundamentally, diffusion defines the often random movement of a characteristic. The theory of diffusion is used to understand the attitude and perception of people with regard to government policies.

4. Hypotheses

This literature review looks at the outcomes of penetration and deployment of renewable energy, which are affected by four major factors: social barriers, economic barriers, technological barriers and regulatory barriers.

4.1. Social barriers

The transition from conventional resources to renewable energy has encountered public resistance and opposition. This is due to a lack of awareness of the benefits of renewable energy, disruption of seascape, and acquisition of land which could have been used for agriculture, tourism, etc. ( Goldsmiths, 2015 ).

Public awareness and information barriers: Sustainable development stems from the satisfaction of human desires, through socially recognized technological systems and suitable policies and regulatory tools ( Paravantis et al., 2014 ). The main concerns with respect to public understanding are: 1) insufficient information regarding ecological and financial benefits; 2) inadequate awareness of renewable energy technologies (RET); and 3) uncertainties about the financial feasibility of RE installation projects ( Nasirov et al., 2015 ).

Not in my backyard’ (NIMBY) syndrome: According to NIMBY syndrome, people do support renewable energy generally, but not in their own neighbourhood. Renewable power project proposals often face opposition from individual citizens, political leaders, grassroots organizations, national interest groups and, in some cases, even environmental groups ( Jianjun and Chen, 2014 ). Public opposition occurs for a number of reasons, including landscape impact, environmental degradation and lack of consultation concerns among local communities ( Nasirov et al., 2015 ).

Loss of other/alternative income: A major issue with renewable plants (especially solar and wind farms) is the vast area of land required to produce an amount of energy equivalent to that which can be produced from a small coal fire power plant ( Chauhan and Saini, 2015 ).

To make a significant contribution to global energy consumption, there is a need to develop large scale renewable energy plants, but this requires vast areas of countryside. Enormous parts of the countryside, which includes farmland, need to be converted into buildings or roads or any other infrastructure to support a renewable energy power plant. In achieving this, often agriculture, tourism, fishing, etc. can be affected ( Nesamalar et al., 2017 ).

Lack of experienced professionals: Universal transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources requires the solid foundation of a skilled labour force. There is huge demand for skilled professionals to design, build, operate and maintain a renewable energy plant.

Incompetent technical professionals and lack of training institutes prevent renewable energy technologies from scaling new heights ( Ansari et al., 2016 ). There is a need to teach renewable energy courses and for proper training to be conducted to develop the skills required to install and operate renewable energy projects. The shortage of trained workforce to design, finance, build, operate and maintain renewable energy projects is considered a major obstacle to the wide penetration of renewable energy ( Karakaya and Sriwannawit, 2015 ).

Social barriers have a significant influence on the deployment of renewable energy.

Social barriers have a significant influence on economic barriers.

4.2. Economic barriers

Factors influencing economic and financial barriers are high initial capital, lack of financial institutes, lack of investors, competition from fossil fuels, and fewer subsidies compared to traditional fuel ( Raza et al., 2015 ). These factors have prevented renewable energy from becoming widespread.

Tough competition from fossil fuel: Fossil fuels will remain a dominant player in supplying energy in the future. A report by EIA's International Energy Outlook (2016) suggests that fossil fuels (oil, natural gas and coal) are expected to supply 78 per cent of the global energy used in 2040. Investment in fossil fuels (including supply and power generation) still accounts for 55 per cent of 2016 global energy investment, compared with 16 per cent for renewable energy. Coal is still a dominant fuel source in most counties because of its abundance, which makes it cheap and accessible ( Dulal et al., 2013 ). There have been huge changes in energy since summer 2014. Oil, as measured by the Brent crude contract, which was priced at $115.71/barrel in June 2014, fell to $27.10 on 20 January 2016, a huge drop of 76 per cent. Similarly, the ARA coal contract dropped from $84/tonne in April 2014 to $36.30 in February 2016. There was a huge decline in the price of natural gas, which slid from around $4.50/MMBtu in June 2014 to $1.91 in mid-February 2016. Due to falling prices and fossil fuel still emerging as a cheaper alternative to renewable energy, it is able to offer tough competition to renewable energy projects.

Government grants and subsidies: The amount of government subsidies provided to conventional energy is much higher than the subsidies awarded to renewable energy. This keeps renewable energy at a disadvantage. The subsidies provided by governments to generate electricity from fossil fuel sources is overshadowing the wide use of low emission technologies. For example, coal companies in Australia and Indonesia still receive government subsidies for mining and exploration ( Dulal et al., 2013 ).

Fewer financing institutions: Renewable energy developers and producers face severe difficulties in securing financing for projects at rates which are as low as are made available for fossil fuel energy projects ( Ansari et al., 2016 ). There are limited financial instruments and organizations for renewable project financing. This reflects that the investments are considered somewhat risky, thus demotivating investors ( Ohunakin et al., 2014 ).

High initial capital cost: Renewable energy projects require high initial capital cost and, because of the lower efficiency of renewable technology, the net pay back period is high, which in turn pushes investors on to the back foot ( Ansari et al., 2016 ). Both the users and the manufacturers may have very low capital and to install a plant they require capital financing. This problem is further highlighted by the strict lending measures that restrict access to financing even when funding is available for traditional energy projects ( Suzuki, 2013 ). High cost of capital, often lack of capital and most important with high payback period projects often becomes un-viable ( Painuly. J, 2001 ).

Intangible costs: Currently, in almost all countries, the total cost of fuel includes the cost of exploration, production, distribution and usage, but it does not include the cost of the damage it does to the environment and society. Despite severe effects on health and on the atmosphere, the unseen costs (externalities) which are connected with traditional fuels are not included in their price ( Arnold, 2015 ). Understanding these impacts is essential for evaluating the actual cost of utilizing fossil fuels for energy generation.

Economic barriers have a significant influence on the deployment of renewable energy.

4.3. Technological barriers

There are a number of legitimate technological barriers to the widespread deployment of renewable energy, including limited availability of infrastructure, inefficient knowledge of operations and maintenance, insufficient research and development initiatives, and technical complexities like energy storage and unavailability of standards ( Zhao et al., 2016 ).

Limited availability of infrastructure and facilities: There is limited availability of advanced technologies required for renewable energy, especially in developing countries, which acts as a factor preventing penetration of renewable energy. Even if this technology is available, the cost of procuring it is very high ( Dulal et al., 2013 ). Since renewable energy power plants are mostly placed in remote locations, they require additional transmission lines to connect to the main grid. Since most of the existing grids are not designed to integrate with renewable energy, these existing grids need to be upgraded or modified ( Izadbakhsh et al., 2015 ). Grid integration is amongst the biggest problems affecting the development of renewable energy projects.

Lack of operation and maintenance culture: Since renewable energy technology is comparatively new and not optimally developed, there is a lack of knowledge about operation and maintenance. Efficiency cannot be achieved if a plant is not optimally operated and if maintenance is not carried out regularly ( Sen and Bhattacharyya, 2014 ). Lack of availability of equipment, components and spare parts will require a substantial increase in the production costs, as these items need to be imported from other countries, therefore being procured at high prices and so increasing the overall cost ( Bhandari et al., 2015 ).

Lack of research and development (R&D) capabilities: Investment in research and development (R&D) is insufficient to make renewable energies commercially competitive with fossil fuel. Both governments and energy firms shy away from spending on R&D as renewable energy is in its development stage and risks related to this technology are high ( Cho et al., 2013 ).

Technology complexities: There are not enough standards, procedures and guidelines in renewable energy technologies in terms of durability, reliability, performance, etc. This prevents renewable energy from achieving large scale commercialization ( Nasirov et al., 2015 ). A major technical issue which renewable energy is facing today is the storage of energy. The supply of sun or wind is not continuous despite their infinite abundance and electricity grids cannot operate unless they are able to balance supply and demand. To resolve these issue, large batteries need to be developed which can compensate for the times when a renewable resource is not available ( Weitemeyer et al., 2014 ).

Technological barriers have a significant influence on the deployment of renewable energy.

Technological barriers have a significant influence on economic barriers.

4.4. Regulatory barriers

Factors like lack of national policies, bureaucratic and administrative hurdles, inadequate incentives, impractical government targets, and lack of standards and certifications have prevented renewable energy from expanding dramatically ( Stokes, 2013 ).

Ineffective policies by government: Strong regulatory policies within the energy industry are not only required for a nation's sustainable development, but also resolve the inconsistency between renewable and non-renewable energy. Lack of effective policies creates confusion among various departments over the implementation of the subsidies. Major issues such as unstable energy policy, insufficient confidence in RET, absence of policies to integrate RET with the global market and inadequately equipped governmental agencies act as barriers to the deployment of renewable energy projects ( Zhang et al., 2014 ).

Inadequate fiscal incentives: There have not been enough measures by governments to remove tax on imports of the equipment and parts required for renewable energy plants. Feed-in tariffs are the measures by which governments aim to subsidize renewable energy sources to make them cost-competitive with fossil fuel-based technologies, but the absence of these adequate financial incentives results in high costs that hinder the industry's development, operation and maintenance, and stagnate the future ( Sun and Nie, 2015 ).

Administrative and bureaucratic complexities: Obstacles arising in the deployment of renewable energy projects are manifold, including (and not limited to) administrative hurdles such as planning delays and restrictions. Lack of coordination between different authorities and long lead times in obtaining authorization unnecessarily increase the timeline for the development phase of the project. Higher costs are also associated with obtaining permission due to lobbying. All these factors prolong the project start-up period and reduce the motivation required to invest in renewable energy ( Ahlborg & Hammar, 2014 ).

Impractical government commitments: There is a gap between the policy targets set by governments and the actual results executed by implementation ( Goldsmiths, 2015 ). There is a lack of understanding of a realistic target and loopholes in the implementation process itself. The responsibility for overcoming these commitment issues lies with governments. Policies should be devised that can offer clear insight into important legislation and regulatory issues so that the industry can be promoted as stable and offering growth. Governments can fix this mismatch by becoming more responsive and reactive.

Lack of standards and certifications: Standards and certificates are required to ensure that the equipment and parts manufactured or procured from overseas are in alignment with the standards of the importing company. These certifications make sure that companies are operating the plant in compliance with local law. Absence of such standards creates confusion and energy producers have to face unnecessary difficulties ( Emodi et al., 2014 ).

Regulatory barriers have a significant influence on the deployment of renewable energy.

Regulatory barriers have a significant influence on economic barriers.

4.5. Breaking barriers in deployment of renewable energy

Deployment of renewable energy is crucial not only to meet energy demands but also to address concerns about climate change ( Byrnes et al., 2013 ). However, the barriers (social, economic, technological and regulatory) existing in this sector prevents the development and penetration of renewable energy globally.

User-friendly procedures: Bureaucratic procedures in the deployment of renewable energy are considered the biggest hindrance, and this demotivates investors and entrepreneurs from entering and investing in renewable energy. Government policies are not aligned at national and state level, thus failing to attract energy sector investment ( Nesamalar et al., 2017 ). Countries with excessively complicated administrative procedures have less penetration of renewable energy compared to countries with simple and straightforward procedures ( Huang et al., 2013 ).

Higher stakeholder satisfaction: Energy is the backbone of the socioeconomic development of any country ( Raza et al., 2015 ). By utilizing more renewable energy resources, nations can help fulfil energy deficiencies without damaging nature. The repercussions of this change would be the creation of more jobs in the designing, building, operation and maintenance of renewable energy project infrastructures. Higher levels of diffusion will help to achieve economies of scale, and that will bring down the costs and thus the price for the end user. This will improve investors' confidence and will trigger increased investments in renewable energy projects. Higher benefits can be reaped from the availability of green energy as there will not be severe environmental implications, and that can help in maintaining the earth's ecosystem.

Successful research and development (R&D) ventures: In a study conducted by Halabi et al. (2015) , it was pointed out that technological advancement to effectively generate, store and distribute renewable energy at lower costs is crucial. However, compared to conventional energy, insufficient R&D initiatives are undertaken. This is due to fact that organizations are unable to earn beneficial returns from R&D, and that makes the future of these initiatives look dull.

Cost savings: The biggest challenge that renewable energy faces is the competition from low cost fossil fuels ( El-katiri, 2014 ). Renewable energy projects require huge land areas to produce the amount of energy which a conventional plant can produce in a small area. Prohibitive costs are involved in establishing and running renewable energy projects, mainly due to the huge financial capital required to acquire a suitable piece of land, the costs associated with lobbying, and power losses due to inefficient energy storage capabilities.

5. Methodology

The research framework of this study is given in Fig. 1 below:

Research framework.

5.1. Data collection

The survey questionnaire (please see the questionnaire) was framed based on independent variables and their sub-variables. The questionnaire, a pretesting of the questionnaire was conducted to ensure that all the questions were relevant and understandable to respondents. Initially, the survey questionnaire was sent out to 33 energy industry experts and their feedbacks were collected. The insights generated from this pilot testing led to further refinement of the questionnaire and a final questionnaire was developed. The final survey form consisted of 26 main questions for both dependent and independent variables and another three questions to understand the demographics of the respondent. Each question consisted of five options (Likert scale) from which the respondent had to select the one which he/she thought suited the best, with ‘1’ as strongly disagree and ‘5’ as strongly agree.

5.2. Profile of respondents

The survey respondents were professionals in the energy industry (manufacturing of rigs, power generation, power distribution, oil and gas, mining and renewable energy). The participants were selected based on their familiarity with and knowledge of renewable energy sources and technology across America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and Australia. The survey questionnaire was sent out to 645 potential respondents, of which only 223 practical survey responses were received. The response rate is calculated to be 34.5 per cent. The demographics of the respondents are provided in Table 1 .

Demographics of the respondents (n = 223) with respect to job level, region and industry sector across energy sector.

5.3. Data analysis

The data collected from the survey questionnaire were analysed using ADANCO 2.0.1 software. ADANCO software is used for this purpose as it is specialised for variance based structural equation modelling. It implements several limited information estimators such as partial least squares path modelling or ordinary least squares regression based on sum scores for testing the hypothesis and analysing research models ( Henseler et al., 2014 ). To verify the correlation and confidence in the hypotheses, ADANCO software works well as it does not enforce normality on the data. Data analysis was conducted by first gauging the modelling of the structural model and then measuring the reliability and validity of the model by estimating model parameters.

5.4. Reliability

Cronbach's alpha value was considered to determine the reliability of the model fit. Alpha values above 0.7 show a satisfactory level of reliability. Jöreskog's Rho value also confirms that the model is consistent and uniform: i.e. composite reliability is within the appropriate range ( Marshall, 2014 ). The figures for each construct are listed in Table 3 .

Discriminant validity: Fornell-Larcker criteria.

5.5. Convergent validity

Convergent validity can be defined as the degree to which two measures of constructs that theoretically should be related are in fact related ( Campbell and Fiske, 1959 ). The value of average variance extracted is required to be above 0.5 in order to be accepted. The convergent validity is shown in Table 2 below. The minimum AVE value obtained is 0.5042, which proves that the validity of this model is acceptable.

Overall Reliability of the construct and Convergent validity.

5.6. Discriminant validity

Discriminant validity is used to test if the models or concepts that are not in relation are unrelated. According to Fornell and Larcker's theory ( Cable et al., 2014 ), if the root of the average variance extracted (AVE) of one path is less than the average variance extracted (AVE) of the other path, then it is considered accepted. In Table 3 below, Fornell and Larcker's theory is successfully matched; thus the discriminant validity of this model is satisfactory.

5.7. Structural equation model (SEM)

Structural modelling through bootstrapping is provided in Fig. 2 . Path analysis is a special case of structural equation modelling and employs a causal modelling approach to explore the correlations within a defined network. This correlation is equated by calculating the sum of the contributions of the paths that connect all the variables. To evaluate the strength of each path, products of the path coefficients along the path are calculated ( Schreiber et al., 2015 ). The R-squared value of our research model is 0.545, which supports the research model.

Structural modelling through bootstrapping.

5.8. Hypothesis testing

ADANCO 2.0.1 is used to conduct hypothesis testing because it uses variance to model structural equations. The bootstrapping option can be selected in the ADANCO software to model unknown population data ( Sarstedt et al., 2011 ). The level of significance is measured by establishing the t-statistic. The outcomes of the hypothesis testing is given in Table 4 below:

Outcomes of the hypothesis testing.

Note: SB = social barriers; EB = economic barriers; TB = technological barriers; RB = regulatory barriers; RE = deployment of renewable energy.

In total, seven hypotheses were identified. Out of the seven hypotheses, six hypotheses are accepted as their path coefficient is either positively or significantly related. A detailed explanation of each hypothesis is given below.

Hypotheses H1 highlights the influence of social barriers on the deployment of renewable energy. The effect of social barriers is moderately significant with (t- value = 1.8749) and (β=0.1063, p < 0.01) thus hypothesis H1 got accepted. This shows that social barriers have a moderate influence on the deployment of renewable energy. Earlier studies ( Paravantis et al., 2014 ) have advised that future studies be conducted to determine whether renewable energy is socially accepted. In our study, the positively related t-value testifies to a positive level of significance, implying that social barriers are still a hindrance to the deployment of renewable energy. Fig. 3 below shows the Social barriers with associated path coefficients.

Social barriers with associated path coefficients.

Hypothesis H2 highlights the impact of social barriers on economic barriers. The effect of social barriers is highly significant with (t- value = 4.505) and (β=0.317, p < 0.01) was accepted. This indicates that the parameters, such as opportunity cost and opposition by residents, strongly influence economic parameters. Earlier studies ( Jianjun and Chen, 2014 ) have supported that social barriers impact economic parameters. However, the earlier studies did not conduct research to understand the strength of the impact. Through our survey, we have determined that social barriers do have a strong correlation with the economic barriers associated with the implementation of renewable energy.

Hypothesis H3 tested the influence of economic barriers on the deployment of renewable energy. The statistical results with (t- value = 0.4968) and (p > 0.01) as not supported. This indicates that the parameters of economic barriers do not influence the deployment of renewable energy directly. Previous studies ( Boie et al., 2014 ) have pointed out that financial and economic parameters act as hurdles in the wide usage of renewable energy. However, this research contradicts the earlier findings. Fig. 4 below depicts the Economic barriers with associated path coefficients.

Economic barriers with associated path coefficients.

Hypothesis H4 tested the effect of technological barriers on the deployment of renewable energy. The effect of technological barriers is moderately related (t- value = 1.6491) and (β=0.1317, p < 0.01) thus H4 is accepted. This indicates that technological barriers are moderately significant in the deployment of renewable energy. Earlier research ( Gullberg et al., 2014 ) has pointed out that lack of technology advancement has created obstacles for implementing renewable energy. This research paper corroborates the findings of previous studies. Fig. 5 shows the Technological barriers with associated path coefficients.

Technological barriers with associated path coefficients.

Hypothesis H5 examined the impact of technological barriers on economic barriers. The effect of technological barriers on economic barriers is highly significant, with a (t- value = 3.0797) and (β=0.2367, p < 0.01) thus hypothesis H5 is accepted. This indicates that the technological barriers have a highly significant impact on economic barriers. Earlier research ( Zyadin et al., 2014 ) pointed out that lack of research and development has kept the costs of renewable energy higher compared to energy produced from fossil fuels. This study validates the findings of earlier studies.

Hypothesis H6 examined the effects of regulatory barriers on the deployment of renewable energy. Once again, the effect of regulatory barriers on the deployment of renewable energy is highly significant, as the (t- value = 7.7281) and (β=0.5705, p < 0.01). This indicates that regulatory barriers have a significant impact on the implementation of renewable energy. Earlier studies ( Jing, 2016 ) discuss how government policies and administration affect the usage of renewable energy. However, the earlier studies were specific to a country. This study fills the gap by conducting research globally and taking all major countries into consideration. Fig. 6 shows the Regulatory barriers with associated path coefficients.

Regulatory barriers with associated path coefficients.

Hypothesis H7 argued for the effects of regulatory barriers on economic barrier parameters. The effect of regulatory barriers on economic barriers is once more highly significant with (t- value = 5.0687 ) and (β= 0.3249 , p < 0.01) thus supported strongly. This indicates that regulatory barriers have a highly significant impact on economic barriers regarding the deployment of renewable energy. Conversely, the earlier literature ( Harrison, 2015 ) discusses how regulatory and government policies affect the implementation of renewable energy. This research fills the gap by establishing a strong association between regulatory and economic barriers.

7. Discussion & conclusion

Research was conducted to understand the barriers associated with the deployment of renewable energy and the benefits of overcoming these barriers. This research answers all the questions identified as part of the research objective.

Firstly, the factors affecting the deployment of renewable energy were identified and grouped into social, economic, technological and regulatory barriers. This research shows that social, technological and regulatory barriers have a strong influence on the deployment of renewable energy, while economic barriers, though not directly influencing it, and significantly influence it indirectly. Fig. 7 indicates the Deployment of renewable energy and its path coefficients.

Deployment of renewable energy and its path coefficients.

Secondly, in the structural equation model above, the path coefficient of user-friendly procedures is 0.808, that of stakeholder satisfaction is 0.81, successful R&D ventures is 0.86 and cost savings is 0.80. Since the path coefficient for the entire four constructs is equal or greater than 0.80, this implies that breaking barriers in the deployment of renewable energy has a strong impact on all four constructs (user-friendly procedures, stakeholder satisfaction, successful R&D ventures and cost savings).

Finally, the research confirms that political implications have a big impact on the deployment of renewable energy. Technological barriers are preventing renewable energy from being efficient and preventing it from being cost effective. Social awareness and opposition also have a positive impact on the deployment of energy. These results are in line with the theory of diffusion and answer the third question of the research objective.

7.1. Implications for renewable energy industry

In our research, we have studied the impact of various barriers on the deployment of renewable energy. By breaking research and development-related barriers, organizations will be able to invest greatly in developing advanced technologies that can optimize usage of renewable energy and make renewable energy appear more lucrative. With less polluting and lower tariff energy solutions being made available to local people, and higher profits for manufacturers, this will create an atmosphere where all stakeholders are satisfied. Breaking red tape in government procedures will lead to generating interest among investors in renewable energy projects and, by breaking the barriers to the deployment of renewable energy, a greater number of projects will start up. This will help to achieve economies of scale and will bring down operation and maintenance costs. By supporting further innovative technological advancements, more efficient plants will be developed which may require smaller portions of land. Modern technologies will also make offshore wind/solar farms economically feasible.

Though renewable energy would prevent degradation of the environment, however, a small fraction of the ecosystem will still be affected: for example, in the case of offshore wind farms, underwater marine life might be disturbed.

7.2. Limitations and future research

In this research, we have considered the presence of four barriers as factors preventing the successful deployment of renewable energy globally; however, it is reasonable to expect that not all the barriers will be present in each country and there could be some new barriers that have not yet been conceptualized. Though this research has been conducted to understand the global perception, the data collected constituted only 9.8 per cent from Europe, 6.3 per cent from America, 5.9 per cent from the Middle East and Africa, and five per cent from Australia. The research conducted was mainly based on data collected from the Asia Pacific region. Cultural characteristics of Asians can be considered to be different from those of other countries; hence it is advised to practise caution when generalizing the findings in the context of renewable energy.

Finally, regarding future research, further study is required to understand and compare the impact of barriers to renewable energy in developing and developed countries.

7.3. Conclusion

In the long run, due to increasing awareness of environmental damage, conventional power generation based on exhaustible fuels (oil, coal and gas) is generally considered unsustainable. Alternative energies that have minimal impact on the environment and are inexhaustible, such as renewable energy, can be a solution to the long-fought sustainability problem. However, despite on-going awareness of the manifold advantages of renewable energy, the diffusion of renewable energy is limited globally. This restriction has been attributed to social, economic, technological and regulatory barriers.

This research presents the impact of social, economic, technological and regulatory barriers on the deployment of renewable energy and how these barriers are interrelated. Focusing on factors influencing barriers and the deployment of renewable energy, a research model was developed and tested by analysing the data collected from 223 respondents. Respondents were experienced professionals from the energy industry. The findings show that social barriers have a positive impact while technological and regulatory barriers have a very significant impact on the deployment of renewable energy. However, this research shows that economic barriers do not directly impact the deployment of renewable energy, but are interrelated with social, technological and regulatory barriers, thus indirectly affecting the deployment of renewable energy. The simultaneous increase in energy demand and the negative impact of fossil fuels on the environment underscores the need for energy production from renewable energy sources. Renewable energy sources strike a perfect balance between economic, technical and environmental considerations, and contribute to a more sustainable development that will favour future generations.

Declarations

Author contribution statement.

Seetharaman Conceived and designed the experiments.

Krishna Moorthy: Performed the experiments, Analyzed and interpreted the data, Wrote the paper.

Nitin Patwa: Performed the experiments.

Saravanan: Analyzed and interpreted the data.

Yash Gupta: Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data.

Funding statement

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Competing interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

No additional information is available for this paper.

Appendix A. Supplementary data

The following is the supplementary data related to this article:

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Renewable Electricity: Insights for the Coming Decade

• Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis
• Strategic Energy Analysis Center

Research output : NREL › Technical Report

NREL Publication Number

• NREL/TP-6A50-63604
• China renewable energy
• RE generation
• renewable electricity
• renewable energy technology
• solar power

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• 10.2172/1176740
• https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy15osti/63604.pdf

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• Renewables Engineering 100%
• Carbon Chemical Engineering 100%
• Water Chemical Engineering 100%
• Natural Gas Engineering 50%
• Oil Engineering 28%
• Greenhouse Gas Engineering 21%
• Fossil Fuel Engineering 14%
• Electricity Sector Engineering 14%

T1 - Renewable Electricity: Insights for the Coming Decade

AU - Stark, Camila

AU - Logan, Jeffrey

AU - Zhou, Shengru

AU - Pless, Jacquelyn

N2 - A sophisticated set of renewable electricity (RE) generation technologies is now commercially available. Globally, RE captured approximately half of all capacity additions since 2011. The cost of RE is already competitive with fossil fuels in some areas around the world, and prices are anticipated to continue to decline over the next decade. RE options, led by wind and solar, are part of a suiteof technologies and business solutions that are transforming electricity sectors around the world. Renewable deployment is expected to continue due to: increasingly competitive economics; favorable environmental characteristics such as low water use, and minimal local air pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; complementary risk profiles when paired with natural gas generators; strongsupport from stakeholders. Despite this positive outlook for renewables, the collapse in global oil prices since mid-2014 and continued growth in natural gas supply in the United States--due to the development of low-cost shale gas--raise questions about the potential impacts of fossil fuel prices on RE. Today, oil plays a very minor role in the electricity sectors of most countries, so directimpacts on RE are likely to be minimal (except where natural gas prices are indexed on oil). Natural gas and RE generating options appear to be more serious competitors than oil and renewables. Low gas prices raise the hurdle for RE to be cost competitive. Additionally, although RE emits far less GHG than natural gas, both natural gas and RE offer the benefits of reducing carbon relative to coaland oil (see Section 4.1 for more detail on the GHG intensity of electricity technologies). However, many investors and decision makers are becoming aware of the complementary benefits of pairing natural gas and renewables to minimize risk of unstable fuel prices and maintain the reliability of electricity to the grid.

AB - A sophisticated set of renewable electricity (RE) generation technologies is now commercially available. Globally, RE captured approximately half of all capacity additions since 2011. The cost of RE is already competitive with fossil fuels in some areas around the world, and prices are anticipated to continue to decline over the next decade. RE options, led by wind and solar, are part of a suiteof technologies and business solutions that are transforming electricity sectors around the world. Renewable deployment is expected to continue due to: increasingly competitive economics; favorable environmental characteristics such as low water use, and minimal local air pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; complementary risk profiles when paired with natural gas generators; strongsupport from stakeholders. Despite this positive outlook for renewables, the collapse in global oil prices since mid-2014 and continued growth in natural gas supply in the United States--due to the development of low-cost shale gas--raise questions about the potential impacts of fossil fuel prices on RE. Today, oil plays a very minor role in the electricity sectors of most countries, so directimpacts on RE are likely to be minimal (except where natural gas prices are indexed on oil). Natural gas and RE generating options appear to be more serious competitors than oil and renewables. Low gas prices raise the hurdle for RE to be cost competitive. Additionally, although RE emits far less GHG than natural gas, both natural gas and RE offer the benefits of reducing carbon relative to coaland oil (see Section 4.1 for more detail on the GHG intensity of electricity technologies). However, many investors and decision makers are becoming aware of the complementary benefits of pairing natural gas and renewables to minimize risk of unstable fuel prices and maintain the reliability of electricity to the grid.

KW - China renewable energy

KW - futures

KW - RE generation

KW - renewable electricity

KW - renewable energy technology

KW - solar power

KW - wind power

U2 - 10.2172/1176740

DO - 10.2172/1176740

M3 - Technical Report

• Open access
• Published: 07 January 2020

Renewable energy for sustainable development in India: current status, future prospects, challenges, employment, and investment opportunities

• Charles Rajesh Kumar. J   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2354-6463 1 &
• M. A. Majid 1  

Energy, Sustainability and Society volume  10 , Article number:  2 ( 2020 ) Cite this article

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The primary objective for deploying renewable energy in India is to advance economic development, improve energy security, improve access to energy, and mitigate climate change. Sustainable development is possible by use of sustainable energy and by ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for citizens. Strong government support and the increasingly opportune economic situation have pushed India to be one of the top leaders in the world’s most attractive renewable energy markets. The government has designed policies, programs, and a liberal environment to attract foreign investments to ramp up the country in the renewable energy market at a rapid rate. It is anticipated that the renewable energy sector can create a large number of domestic jobs over the following years. This paper aims to present significant achievements, prospects, projections, generation of electricity, as well as challenges and investment and employment opportunities due to the development of renewable energy in India. In this review, we have identified the various obstacles faced by the renewable sector. The recommendations based on the review outcomes will provide useful information for policymakers, innovators, project developers, investors, industries, associated stakeholders and departments, researchers, and scientists.

Introduction

The sources of electricity production such as coal, oil, and natural gas have contributed to one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. It is essential to raise the standard of living by providing cleaner and more reliable electricity [ 1 ]. India has an increasing energy demand to fulfill the economic development plans that are being implemented. The provision of increasing quanta of energy is a vital pre-requisite for the economic growth of a country [ 2 ]. The National Electricity Plan [NEP] [ 3 ] framed by the Ministry of Power (MoP) has developed a 10-year detailed action plan with the objective to provide electricity across the country, and has prepared a further plan to ensure that power is supplied to the citizens efficiently and at a reasonable cost. According to the World Resource Institute Report 2017 [ 4 , 5 ], India is responsible for nearly 6.65% of total global carbon emissions, ranked fourth next to China (26.83%), the USA (14.36%), and the EU (9.66%). Climate change might also change the ecological balance in the world. Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) have been submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement. The latter has hoped to achieve the goal of limiting the rise in global temperature to well below 2 °C [ 6 , 7 ]. According to a World Energy Council [ 8 ] prediction, global electricity demand will peak in 2030. India is one of the largest coal consumers in the world and imports costly fossil fuel [ 8 ]. Close to 74% of the energy demand is supplied by coal and oil. According to a report from the Center for monitoring Indian economy, the country imported 171 million tons of coal in 2013–2014, 215 million tons in 2014–2015, 207 million tons in 2015–2016, 195 million tons in 2016–2017, and 213 million tons in 2017–2018 [ 9 ]. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find alternate sources for generating electricity.

In this way, the country will have a rapid and global transition to renewable energy technologies to achieve sustainable growth and avoid catastrophic climate change. Renewable energy sources play a vital role in securing sustainable energy with lower emissions [ 10 ]. It is already accepted that renewable energy technologies might significantly cover the electricity demand and reduce emissions. In recent years, the country has developed a sustainable path for its energy supply. Awareness of saving energy has been promoted among citizens to increase the use of solar, wind, biomass, waste, and hydropower energies. It is evident that clean energy is less harmful and often cheaper. India is aiming to attain 175 GW of renewable energy which would consist of 100 GW from solar energy, 10 GW from bio-power, 60 GW from wind power, and 5 GW from small hydropower plants by the year 2022 [ 11 ]. Investors have promised to achieve more than 270 GW, which is significantly above the ambitious targets. The promises are as follows: 58 GW by foreign companies, 191 GW by private companies, 18 GW by private sectors, and 5 GW by the Indian Railways [ 12 ]. Recent estimates show that in 2047, solar potential will be more than 750 GW and wind potential will be 410 GW [ 13 , 14 ]. To reach the ambitious targets of generating 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022, it is essential that the government creates 330,000 new jobs and livelihood opportunities [ 15 , 16 ].

A mixture of push policies and pull mechanisms, accompanied by particular strategies should promote the development of renewable energy technologies. Advancement in technology, proper regulatory policies [ 17 ], tax deduction, and attempts in efficiency enhancement due to research and development (R&D) [ 18 ] are some of the pathways to conservation of energy and environment that should guarantee that renewable resource bases are used in a cost-effective and quick manner. Hence, strategies to promote investment opportunities in the renewable energy sector along with jobs for the unskilled workers, technicians, and contractors are discussed. This article also manifests technological and financial initiatives [ 19 ], policy and regulatory framework, as well as training and educational initiatives [ 20 , 21 ] launched by the government for the growth and development of renewable energy sources. The development of renewable technology has encountered explicit obstacles, and thus, there is a need to discuss these barriers. Additionally, it is also vital to discover possible solutions to overcome these barriers, and hence, proper recommendations have been suggested for the steady growth of renewable power [ 22 , 23 , 24 ]. Given the enormous potential of renewables in the country, coherent policy measures and an investor-friendly administration might be the key drivers for India to become a global leader in clean and green energy.

Projection of global primary energy consumption

An energy source is a necessary element of socio-economic development. The increasing economic growth of developing nations in the last decades has caused an accelerated increase in energy consumption. This trend is anticipated to grow [ 25 ]. A prediction of future power consumption is essential for the investigation of adequate environmental and economic policies [ 26 ]. Likewise, an outlook to future power consumption helps to determine future investments in renewable energy. Energy supply and security have not only increased the essential issues for the development of human society but also for their global political and economic patterns [ 27 ]. Hence, international comparisons are helpful to identify past, present, and future power consumption.

Table 1 shows the primary energy consumption of the world, based on the BP Energy Outlook 2018 reports. In 2016, India’s overall energy consumption was 724 million tons of oil equivalent (Mtoe) and is expected to rise to 1921 Mtoe by 2040 with an average growth rate of 4.2% per annum. Energy consumption of various major countries comprises commercially traded fuels and modern renewables used to produce power. In 2016, India was the fourth largest energy consumer in the world after China, the USA, and the Organization for economic co-operation and development (OECD) in Europe [ 29 ].

The projected estimation of global energy consumption demonstrates that energy consumption in India is continuously increasing and retains its position even in 2035/2040 [ 28 ]. The increase in India’s energy consumption will push the country’s share of global energy demand to 11% by 2040 from 5% in 2016. Emerging economies such as China, India, or Brazil have experienced a process of rapid industrialization, have increased their share in the global economy, and are exporting enormous volumes of manufactured products to developed countries. This shift of economic activities among nations has also had consequences concerning the country’s energy use [ 30 ].

Projected primary energy consumption in India

The size and growth of a country’s population significantly affects the demand for energy. With 1.368 billion citizens, India is ranked second, of the most populous countries as of January 2019 [ 31 ]. The yearly growth rate is 1.18% and represents almost 17.74% of the world’s population. The country is expected to have more than 1.383 billion, 1.512 billion, 1.605 billion, 1.658 billion people by the end of 2020, 2030, 2040, and 2050, respectively. Each year, India adds a higher number of people to the world than any other nation and the specific population of some of the states in India is equal to the population of many countries.

The growth of India’s energy consumption will be the fastest among all significant economies by 2040, with coal meeting most of this demand followed by renewable energy. Renewables became the second most significant source of domestic power production, overtaking gas and then oil, by 2020. The demand for renewables in India will have a tremendous growth of 256 Mtoe in 2040 from 17 Mtoe in 2016, with an annual increase of 12%, as shown in Table 2 .

Table 3 shows the primary energy consumption of renewables for the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) from 2016 to 2040. India consumed around 17 Mtoe of renewable energy in 2016, and this will be 256 Mtoe in 2040. It is probable that India’s energy consumption will grow fastest among all major economies by 2040, with coal contributing most in meeting this demand followed by renewables. The percentage share of renewable consumption in 2016 was 2% and is predicted to increase by 13% by 2040.

How renewable energy sources contribute to the energy demand in India

Even though India has achieved a fast and remarkable economic growth, energy is still scarce. Strong economic growth in India is escalating the demand for energy, and more energy sources are required to cover this demand. At the same time, due to the increasing population and environmental deterioration, the country faces the challenge of sustainable development. The gap between demand and supply of power is expected to rise in the future [ 32 ]. Table 4 presents the power supply status of the country from 2009–2010 to 2018–2019 (until October 2018). In 2018, the energy demand was 1,212,134 GWh, and the availability was 1,203,567 GWh, i.e., a deficit of − 0.7% [ 33 ].

According to the Load generation and Balance Report (2016–2017) of the Central Electricity Authority of India (CEA), the electrical energy demand for 2021–2022 is anticipated to be at least 1915 terawatt hours (TWh), with a peak electric demand of 298 GW [ 34 ]. Increasing urbanization and rising income levels are responsible for an increased demand for electrical appliances, i.e., an increased demand for electricity in the residential sector. The increased demand in materials for buildings, transportation, capital goods, and infrastructure is driving the industrial demand for electricity. An increased mechanization and the shift to groundwater irrigation across the country is pushing the pumping and tractor demand in the agriculture sector, and hence the large diesel and electricity demand. The penetration of electric vehicles and the fuel switch to electric and induction cook stoves will drive the electricity demand in the other sectors shown in Table 5 .

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), a quarter of India’s energy demand can be met with renewable energy. The country could potentially increase its share of renewable power generation to over one-third by 2030 [ 35 ].

Table 6 presents the estimated contribution of renewable energy sources to the total energy demand. MoP along with CEA in its draft national electricity plan for 2016 anticipated that with 175 GW of installed capacity of renewable power by 2022, the expected electricity generation would be 327 billion units (BUs), which would contribute to 1611 BU energy requirements. This indicates that 20.3% of the energy requirements would be fulfilled by renewable energy by 2022 and 24.2% by 2027 [ 36 ]. Figure 1 shows the ambitious new target for the share of renewable energy in India’s electricity consumption set by MoP. As per the order of revised RPO (Renewable Purchase Obligations, legal act of June 2018), the country has a target of a 21% share of renewable energy in its total electricity consumption by March 2022. In 2014, the same goal was at 15% and increased to 21% by 2018. It is India’s goal to reach 40% renewable sources by 2030.

Target share of renewable energy in India’s power consumption

Estimated renewable energy potential in India

The estimated potential of wind power in the country during 1995 [ 37 ] was found to be 20,000 MW (20 GW), solar energy was 5 × 10 15 kWh/pa, bioenergy was 17,000 MW, bagasse cogeneration was 8000 MW, and small hydropower was 10,000 MW. For 2006, the renewable potential was estimated as 85,000 MW with wind 4500 MW, solar 35 MW, biomass/bioenergy 25,000 MW, and small hydropower of 15,000 MW [ 38 ]. According to the annual report of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) for 2017–2018, the estimated potential of wind power was 302.251 GW (at 100-m mast height), of small hydropower 19.749 GW, biomass power 17.536 GW, bagasse cogeneration 5 GW, waste to energy (WTE) 2.554 GW, and solar 748.990 GW. The estimated total renewable potential amounted to 1096.080 GW [ 39 ] assuming 3% wasteland, which is shown in Table 7 . India is a tropical country and receives significant radiation, and hence the solar potential is very high [ 40 , 41 , 42 ].

Gross installed capacity of renewable energy in India

As of June 2018 reports, the country intends to reach 225 GW of renewable power capacity by 2022 exceeding the target of 175 GW pledged during the Paris Agreement. The sector is the fourth most attractive renewable energy market in the world. As in October 2018, India ranked fifth in installed renewable energy capacity [ 43 ].

Gross installed capacity of renewable energy—according to region

Table 8 lists the cumulative installed capacity of both conventional and renewable energy sources. The cumulative installed capacity of renewable sources as on the 31 st of December 2018 was 74081.66 MW. Renewable energy (small hydropower, wind, biomass, WTE, solar) accounted for an approximate 21% share of the cumulative installed power capacity, and the remaining 78.791% originated from other conventional sources (coal, gas diesel, nuclear, and large hydropower) [ 44 ]. The best regions for renewable energy are the southern states that have the highest solar irradiance and wind in the country. When renewable energy alone is considered for analysis, the Southern region covers 49.121% of the cumulative installed renewable capacity, followed by the Western region (29.742%), the Northern region (18.890%), the Eastern region (1.836%), the North-Easter region 0.394%, and the Islands (0.017%). As far as conventional energy is concerned, the Western region with 33.452% ranks first and is followed by the Northern region with 28.484%, the Southern region (24.967%), the Eastern region (11.716%), the Northern-Eastern (1.366%), and the Islands (0.015%).

Gross installed capacity of renewable energy—according to ownership

State government, central government, and private players drive the Indian energy sector. The private sector leads the way in renewable energy investment. Table 9 shows the installed gross renewable energy and conventional energy capacity (percentage)—ownership wise. It is evident from Fig. 2 that 95% of the installed renewable capacity derives from private companies, 2% from the central government, and 3% from the state government. The top private companies in the field of non-conventional energy generation are Tata Power Solar, Suzlon, and ReNew Power. Tata Power Solar System Limited are the most significant integrated solar power players in the country, Suzlon realizes wind energy projects, and ReNew Power Ventures operate with solar and wind power.

Gross renewable energy installed capacity (percentage)—Ownership wise as per the 31.12.2018 [ 43 ]

Gross installed capacity of renewable energy—state wise

Table 10 shows the installed capacity of cumulative renewable energy (state wise), out of the total installed capacity of 74,081.66 MW, where Karnataka ranks first with 12,953.24 MW (17.485%), Tamilnadu second with 11,934.38 MW (16%), Maharashtra third with 9283.78 MW (12.532%), Gujarat fourth with 10.641 MW (10.641%), and Rajasthan fifth with 7573.86 MW (10.224%). These five states cover almost 66.991% of the installed capacity of total renewable. Other prominent states are Andhra Pradesh (9.829%), Madhya Pradesh (5.819%), Telangana (5.137%), and Uttar Pradesh (3.879%). These nine states cover almost 91.655%.

Gross installed capacity of renewable energy—according to source

Under union budget of India 2018–2019, INR 3762 crore (USD 581.09 million), was allotted for grid-interactive renewable power schemes and projects. As per the 31.12.2018, the installed capacity of total renewable power (excluding large hydropower) in the country amounted to 74.08166 GW. Around 9.363 GW of solar energy, 1.766 GW of wind, 0.105 GW of small hydropower (SHP), and biomass power of 8.7 GW capacity were added in 2017–2018. Table 11 shows the installed capacity of renewable energy over the last 10 years until the 31.12.2018. Wind energy continues to dominate the countries renewable energy industry, accounting for over 47% of cumulative installed renewable capacity (35,138.15 MW), followed by solar power of 34% (25,212.26 MW), biomass power/cogeneration of 12% (9075.5 MW), and small hydropower of 6% (4517.45 MW). In the renewable energy country attractiveness index (RECAI) of 2018, India ranked in fourth position. The installed renewable energy production capacity has grown at an accelerated pace over the preceding few years, posting a CAGR of 19.78% between 2014 and 2018 [ 45 ] .

Estimation of the installed capacity of renewable energy

Table 12 gives the share of installed cumulative renewable energy capacity, in comparison with the installed conventional energy capacity. In 2022 and 2032, the installed renewable energy capacity will account for 32% and 35%, respectively [ 46 , 47 ]. The most significant renewable capacity expansion program in the world is being taken up by India. The government is preparing to boost the percentage of clean energy through a tremendous push in renewables, as discussed in the subsequent sections.

Gross electricity generation from renewable energy in India

The overall generation (including the generation from grid-connected renewable sources) in the country has grown exponentially. Between 2014–2015 and 2015–2016, it achieved 1110.458 BU and 1173.603 BU, respectively. The same was recorded with 1241.689 BU and 1306.614 BU during 2015–2016 and 1306.614 BU from 2016–2017 and 2017–2018, respectively. Figure 3 indicates that the annual renewable power production increased faster than the conventional power production. The rise accounted for 6.47% in 2015–2016 and 24.88% in 2017–2018, respectively. Table 13 compares the energy generation from traditional sources with that from renewable sources. Remarkably, the energy generation from conventional sources reached 811.143 BU and from renewable sources 9.860 BU in 2010 compared to 1.206.306 BU and 88.945 BU in 2017, respectively [ 48 ]. It is observed that the price of electricity production using renewable technologies is higher than that for conventional generation technologies, but is likely to fall with increasing experience in the techniques involved [ 49 ].

The annual growth in power generation as per the 30th of November 2018

Gross electricity generation from renewable energy—according to regions

Table 14 shows the gross electricity generation from renewable energy-region wise. It is noted that the highest renewable energy generation derives from the southern region, followed by the western part. As of November 2018, 50.33% of energy generation was obtained from the southern area and 29.37%, 18.05%, 2%, and 0.24% from Western, Northern, North-Eastern Areas, and the Island, respectively.

Gross electricity generation from renewable energy—according to states

Table 15 shows the gross electricity generation from renewable energy—region-wise. It is observed that the highest renewable energy generation was achieved from Karnataka (16.57%), Tamilnadu (15.82%), Andhra Pradesh (11.92%), and Gujarat (10.87%) as per November 2018. While adding four years from 2015–2016 to 2018–2019 Tamilnadu [ 50 ] remains in the first position followed by Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

Gross electricity generation from renewable energy—according to sources

Table 16 shows the gross electricity generation from renewable energy—source-wise. It can be concluded from the table that the wind-based energy generation as per 2017–2018 is most prominent with 51.71%, followed by solar energy (25.40%), Bagasse (11.63%), small hydropower (7.55%), biomass (3.34%), and WTE (0.35%). There has been a constant increase in the generation of all renewable sources from 2014–2015 to date. Wind energy, as always, was the highest contributor to the total renewable power production. The percentage of solar energy produced in the overall renewable power production comes next to wind and is typically reduced during the monsoon months. The definite improvement in wind energy production can be associated with a “good” monsoon. Cyclonic action during these months also facilitates high-speed winds. Monsoon winds play a significant part in the uptick in wind power production, especially in the southern states of the country.

Estimation of gross electricity generation from renewable energy

Table 17 shows an estimation of gross electricity generation from renewable energy based on the 2015 report of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) [ 51 ]. It is predicted that the share of renewable power will be 10.2% by 2022, but renewable power technologies contributed a record of 13.4% to the cumulative power production in India as of the 31st of August 2018. The power ministry report shows that India generated 122.10 TWh and out of the total electricity produced, renewables generated 16.30 TWh as on the 31st of August 2018. According to the India Brand Equity Foundation report, it is anticipated that by the year 2040, around 49% of total electricity will be produced using renewable energy.

Current achievements in renewable energy 2017–2018

India cares for the planet and has taken a groundbreaking journey in renewable energy through the last 4 years [ 52 , 53 ]. A dedicated ministry along with financial and technical institutions have helped India in the promotion of renewable energy and diversification of its energy mix. The country is engaged in expanding the use of clean energy sources and has already undertaken several large-scale sustainable energy projects to ensure a massive growth of green energy.

1. India doubled its renewable power capacity in the last 4 years. The cumulative renewable power capacity in 2013–2014 reached 35,500 MW and rose to 70,000 MW in 2017–2018.

2. India stands in the fourth and sixth position regarding the cumulative installed capacity in the wind and solar sector, respectively. Furthermore, its cumulative installed renewable capacity stands in fifth position globally as of the 31st of December 2018.

3. As said above, the cumulative renewable energy capacity target for 2022 is given as 175 GW. For 2017–2018, the cumulative installed capacity amounted to 70 GW, the capacity under implementation is 15 GW and the tendered capacity was 25 GW. The target, the installed capacity, the capacity under implementation, and the tendered capacity are shown in Fig. 4 .

4. There is tremendous growth in solar power. The cumulative installed solar capacity increased by more than eight times in the last 4 years from 2.630 GW (2013–2014) to 22 GW (2017–2018). As of the 31st of December 2018, the installed capacity amounted to 25.2122 GW.

5. The renewable electricity generated in 2017–2018 was 101839 BUs.

6. The country published competitive bidding guidelines for the production of renewable power. It also discovered the lowest tariff and transparent bidding method and resulted in a notable decrease in per unit cost of renewable energy.

7. In 21 states, there are 41 solar parks with a cumulative capacity of more than 26,144 MW that have already been approved by the MNRE. The Kurnool solar park was set up with 1000 MW; and with 2000 MW the largest solar park of Pavagada (Karnataka) is currently under installation.

8. The target for solar power (ground mounted) for 2018–2019 is given as 10 GW, and solar power (Rooftop) as 1 GW.

9. MNRE doubled the target for solar parks (projects of 500 MW or more) from 20 to 40 GW.

10. The cumulative installed capacity of wind power increased by 1.6 times in the last 4 years. In 2013–2014, it amounted to 21 GW, from 2017 to 2018 it amounted to 34 GW, and as of 31st of December 2018, it reached 35.138 GW. This shows that achievements were completed in wind power use.

11. An offshore wind policy was announced. Thirty-four companies (most significant global and domestic wind power players) competed in the “expression of interest” (EoI) floated on the plan to set up India’s first mega offshore wind farm with a capacity of 1 GW.

12. 682 MW small hydropower projects were installed during the last 4 years along with 600 watermills (mechanical applications) and 132 projects still under development.

13. MNRE is implementing green energy corridors to expand the transmission system. 9400 km of green energy corridors are completed or under implementation. The cost spent on it was INR 10141 crore (101,410 Million INR = 1425.01 USD). Furthermore, the total capacity of 19,000 MVA substations is now planned to be complete by March 2020.

14. MNRE is setting up solar pumps (off-grid application), where 90% of pumps have been set up as of today and between 2014–2015 and 2017–2018. Solar street lights were more than doubled. Solar home lighting systems have been improved by around 1.5 times. More than 2,575,000 solar lamps have been distributed to students. The details are illustrated in Fig. 5 .

15. From 2014–2015 to 2017–2018, more than 2.5 lakh (0.25 million) biogas plants were set up for cooking in rural homes to enable families by providing them access to clean fuel.

16. New policy initiatives revised the tariff policy mandating purchase and generation obligations (RPO and RGO). Four wind and solar inter-state transmission were waived; charges were planned, the RPO trajectory for 2022 and renewable energy policy was finalized.

17. Expressions of interest (EoI) were invited for installing solar photovoltaic manufacturing capacities associated with the guaranteed off-take of 20 GW. EoI indicated 10 GW floating solar energy plants.

18. Policy for the solar-wind hybrid was announced. Tender for setting up 2 GW solar-wind hybrid systems in existing projects was invited.

19. To facilitate R&D in renewable power technology, a National lab policy on testing, standardization, and certification was announced by the MNRE.

20. The Surya Mitra program was conducted to train college graduates in the installation, commissioning, operations, and management of solar panels. The International Solar Alliance (ISA) headquarters in India (Gurgaon) will be a new commencement for solar energy improvement in India.

21. The renewable sector has become considerably more attractive for foreign and domestic investors, and the country expects to attract up to USD 80 billion in the next 4 years from 2018–2019 to 2021–2022.

22. The solar power capacity expanded by more than eight times from 2.63 GW in 2013–2014 to 22 GW in 2017–2018.

23. A bidding for 115 GW renewable energy projects up to March 2020 was announced.

24. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) acting for system/components of solar PV was established.

25. To recognize and encourage innovative ideas in renewable energy sectors, the Government provides prizes and awards. Creative ideas/concepts should lead to prototype development. The Name of the award is “Abhinav Soch-Nayi Sambhawanaye,” which means Innovative ideas—New possibilities.

Renewable energy target, installed capacity, under implementation and tendered [ 52 ]

Off-grid solar applications [ 52 ]

Solar energy

Under the National Solar Mission, the MNRE has updated the objective of grid-connected solar power projects from 20 GW by the year 2021–2022 to 100 GW by the year 2021–2022. In 2008–2009, it reached just 6 MW. The “Made in India” initiative to promote domestic manufacturing supported this great height in solar installation capacity. Currently, India has the fifth highest solar installed capacity worldwide. By the 31st of December 2018, solar energy had achieved 25,212.26 MW against the target of 2022, and a further 22.8 GW of capacity has been tendered out or is under current implementation. MNRE is preparing to bid out the remaining solar energy capacity every year for the periods 2018–2019 and 2019–2020 so that bidding may contribute with 100 GW capacity additions by March 2020. In this way, 2 years for the completion of projects would remain. Tariffs will be determined through the competitive bidding process (reverse e-auction) to bring down tariffs significantly. The lowest solar tariff was identified to be INR 2.44 per kWh in July 2018. In 2010, solar tariffs amounted to INR 18 per kWh. Over 100,000 lakh (10,000 million) acres of land had been classified for several planned solar parks, out of which over 75,000 acres had been obtained. As of November 2018, 47 solar parks of a total capacity of 26,694 MW were established. The aggregate capacity of 4195 MW of solar projects has been commissioned inside various solar parks (floating solar power). Table 18 shows the capacity addition compared to the target. It indicates that capacity addition increased exponentially.

Wind energy

As of the 31st of December 2018, the total installed capacity of India amounted to 35,138.15 MW compared to a target of 60 GW by 2022. India is currently in fourth position in the world for installed capacity of wind power. Moreover, around 9.4 GW capacity has been tendered out or is under current implementation. The MNRE is preparing to bid out for A 10 GW wind energy capacity every year for 2018–2019 and 2019–2020, so that bidding will allow for 60 GW capacity additions by March 2020, giving the remaining two years for the accomplishment of the projects. The gross wind energy potential of the country now reaches 302 GW at a 100 m above-ground level. The tariff administration has been changed from feed-in-tariff (FiT) to the bidding method for capacity addition. On the 8th of December 2017, the ministry published guidelines for a tariff-based competitive bidding rule for the acquisition of energy from grid-connected wind energy projects. The developed transparent process of bidding lowered the tariff for wind power to its lowest level ever. The development of the wind industry has risen in a robust ecosystem ensuring project execution abilities and a manufacturing base. State-of-the-art technologies are now available for the production of wind turbines. All the major global players in wind power have their presence in India. More than 12 different companies manufacture more than 24 various models of wind turbines in India. India exports wind turbines and components to the USA, Europe, Australia, Brazil, and other Asian countries. Around 70–80% of the domestic production has been accomplished with strong domestic manufacturing companies. Table 19 lists the capacity addition compared to the target for the capacity addition. Furthermore, electricity generation from the wind-based capacity has improved, even though there was a slowdown of new capacity in the first half of 2018–2019 and 2017–2018.

The national energy storage mission—2018

The country is working toward a National Energy Storage Mission. A draft of the National Energy Storage Mission was proposed in February 2018 and initiated to develop a comprehensive policy and regulatory framework. During the last 4 years, projects included in R&D worth INR 115.8 million (USD 1.66 million) in the domain of energy storage have been launched, and a corpus of INR 48.2 million (USD 0.7 million) has been issued. India’s energy storage mission will provide an opportunity for globally competitive battery manufacturing. By increasing the battery manufacturing expertise and scaling up its national production capacity, the country can make a substantial economic contribution in this crucial sector. The mission aims to identify the cumulative battery requirements, total market size, imports, and domestic manufacturing. Table 20 presents the economic opportunity from battery manufacturing given by the National Institution for Transforming India, also called NITI Aayog, which provides relevant technical advice to central and state governments while designing strategic and long-term policies and programs for the Indian government.

Small hydropower—3-year action agenda—2017

Hydro projects are classified as large hydro, small hydro (2 to 25 MW), micro-hydro (up to 100 kW), and mini-hydropower (100 kW to 2 MW) projects. Whereas the estimated potential of SHP is 20 GW, the 2022 target for India in SHP is 5 GW. As of the 31st of December 2018, the country has achieved 4.5 GW and this production is constantly increasing. The objective, which was planned to be accomplished through infrastructure project grants and tariff support, was included in the NITI Aayog’s 3-year action agenda (2017–2018 to 2019–2020), which was published on the 1st of August 2017. MNRE is providing central financial assistance (CFA) to set up small/micro hydro projects both in the public and private sector. For the identification of new potential locations, surveys and comprehensive project reports are elaborated, and financial support for the renovation and modernization of old projects is provided. The Ministry has established a dedicated completely automatic supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA)—based on a hydraulic turbine R&D laboratory at the Alternate Hydro Energy Center (AHEC) at IIT Roorkee. The establishment cost for the lab was INR 40 crore (400 million INR, 95.62 Million USD), and the laboratory will serve as a design and validation facility. It investigates hydro turbines and other hydro-mechanical devices adhering to national and international standards [ 54 , 55 ]. Table 21 shows the target and achievements from 2007–2008 to 2018–2019.

National policy regarding biofuels—2018

Modernization has generated an opportunity for a stable change in the use of bioenergy in India. MNRE amended the current policy for biomass in May 2018. The policy presents CFA for projects using biomass such as agriculture-based industrial residues, wood produced through energy plantations, bagasse, crop residues, wood waste generated from industrial operations, and weeds. Under the policy, CFA will be provided to the projects at the rate of INR 2.5 million (USD 35,477.7) per MW for bagasse cogeneration and INR 5 million (USD 70,955.5) per MW for non-bagasse cogeneration. The MNRE also announced a memorandum in November 2018 considering the continuation of the concessional customs duty certificate (CCDC) to set up projects for the production of energy using non-conventional materials such as bio-waste, agricultural, forestry, poultry litter, agro-industrial, industrial, municipal, and urban wastes. The government recently established the National policy on biofuels in August 2018. The MNRE invited an expression of interest (EOI) to estimate the potential of biomass energy and bagasse cogeneration in the country. A program to encourage the promotion of biomass-based cogeneration in sugar mills and other industries was also launched in May 2018. Table 22 shows how the biomass power target and achievements are expected to reach 10 GW of the target of 2022 before the end of 2019.

The new national biogas and organic manure program (NNBOMP)—2018

The National biogas and manure management programme (NBMMP) was launched in 2012–2013. The primary objective was to provide clean gaseous fuel for cooking, where the remaining slurry was organic bio-manure which is rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Further, 47.5 lakh (4.75 million) cumulative biogas plants were completed in 2014, and increased to 49.8 lakh (4.98 million). During 2017–2018, the target was to establish 1.10 lakh biogas plants (1.10 million), but resulted in 0.15 lakh (0.015 million). In this way, the cost of refilling the gas cylinders with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was greatly reduced. Likewise, tons of wood/trees were protected from being axed, as wood is traditionally used as a fuel in rural and semi-urban households. Biogas is a viable alternative to traditional cooking fuels. The scheme generated employment for almost 300 skilled laborers for setting up the biogas plants. By 30th of May 2018, the Ministry had issued guidelines for the implementation of the NNBOMP during the period 2017–2018 to 2019–2020 [ 56 ].

The off-grid and decentralized solar photovoltaic application program—2018

The program deals with the energy demand through the deployment of solar lanterns, solar streetlights, solar home lights, and solar pumps. The plan intended to reach 118 MWp of off-grid PV capacity by 2020. The sanctioning target proposed outlay was 50 MWp by 2017–2018 and 68 MWp by 2019–2020. The total estimated cost amounted to INR 1895 crore (18950 Million INR, 265.547 million USD), and the ministry wanted to support 637 crores (6370 million INR, 89.263 million USD) by its central finance assistance. Solar power plants with a 25 KWp size were promoted in those areas where grid power does not reach households or is not reliable. Public service institutions, schools, panchayats, hostels, as well as police stations will benefit from this scheme. Solar study lamps were also included as a component in the program. Thirty percent of financial assistance was provided to solar power plants. Every student should bear 15% of the lamp cost, and the ministry wanted to support the remaining 85%. As of October 2018, lantern and lamps of more than 40 Lakhs (4 million), home lights of 16.72 lakhs (1.672 million) number, street lights of 6.40 lakhs (0.64 million), solar pumps of 1.96 lakhs (0.196 million), and 187.99 MWp stand-alone devices had been installed [ 57 , 58 ].

Major government initiatives for renewable energy

Technological initiatives.

The Technology Development and Innovation Policy (TDIP) released on the 6th of October 2017 was endeavored to promote research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) in the renewable energy sector [ 59 ]. RD&D intended to evaluate resources, progress in technology, commercialization, and the presentation of renewable energy technologies across the country. It aimed to produce renewable power devices and systems domestically. The evaluation of standards and resources, processes, materials, components, products, services, and sub-systems was carried out through RD&D. A development of the market, efficiency improvements, cost reductions, and a promotion of commercialization (scalability and bankability) were achieved through RD&D. Likewise, the percentage of renewable energy in the total electricity mix made it self-sustainable, industrially competitive, and profitable through RD&D. RD&D also supported technology development and demonstration in wind, solar, wind-solar hybrid, biofuel, biogas, hydrogen fuel cells, and geothermal energies. RD&D supported the R&D units of educational institutions, industries, and non-government organizations (NGOs). Sharing expertise, information, as well as institutional mechanisms for collaboration was realized by use of the technology development program (TDP). The various people involved in this program were policymakers, industrial innovators, associated stakeholders and departments, researchers, and scientists. Renowned R&D centers in India are the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), Gurgaon, the National Institute of Bio-Energy (NIBE), Kapurthala, and the National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), Chennai. The TDP strategy encouraged the exploration of innovative approaches and possibilities to obtain long-term targets. Likewise, it efficiently supported the transformation of knowledge into technology through a well-established monitoring system for the development of renewable technology that meets the electricity needs of India. The research center of excellence approved the TDI projects, which were funded to strengthen R&D. Funds were provided for conducting training and workshops. The MNRE is now preparing a database of R&D accomplishments in the renewable energy sector.

The Impacting Research Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT) program seeks to develop engineering and technology (prototype/process development) on a national scale. IMPRINT is steered by the Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs) and Indian Institute of science (IISCs). The expansion covers all areas of engineering and technology including renewable technology. The ministry of human resource development (MHRD) finances up to 50% of the total cost of the project. The remaining costs of the project are financed by the ministry (MNRE) via the RD&D program for renewable projects. Currently (2018–2019), five projects are under implementation in the area of solar thermal systems, storage for SPV, biofuel, and hydrogen and fuel cells which are funded by the MNRE (36.9 million INR, 0.518426 Million USD) and IMPRINT. Development of domestic technology and quality control are promoted through lab policies that were published on the 7th of December 2017. Lab policies were implemented to test, standardize, and certify renewable energy products and projects. They supported the improvement of the reliability and quality of the projects. Furthermore, Indian test labs are strengthened in line with international standards and practices through well-established lab policies. From 2015, the MNRE has provided “The New and Renewable Energy Young Scientist’s Award” to researchers/scientists who demonstrate exceptional accomplishments in renewable R&D.

Financial initiatives

One hundred percent financial assistance is granted by the MNRE to the government and NGOs and 50% financial support to the industry. The policy framework was developed to guide the identification of the project, the formulation, monitoring appraisal, approval, and financing. Between 2012 and 2017, a 4467.8 million INR, 62.52 Million USD) support was granted by the MNRE. The MNRE wanted to double the budget for technology development efforts in renewable energy for the current three-year plan period. Table 23 shows that the government is spending more and more for the development of the renewable energy sector. Financial support was provided to R&D projects. Exceptional consideration was given to projects that worked under extreme and hazardous conditions. Furthermore, financial support was applied to organizing awareness programs, demonstrations, training, workshops, surveys, assessment studies, etc. Innovative approaches will be rewarded with cash prizes. The winners will be presented with a support mechanism for transforming their ideas and prototypes into marketable commodities such as start-ups for entrepreneur development. Innovative projects will be financed via start-up support mechanisms, which will include an investment contract with investors. The MNRE provides funds to proposals for investigating policies and performance analyses related to renewable energy.

Technology validation and demonstration projects and other innovative projects with regard to renewables received a financial assistance of 50% of the project cost. The CFA applied to partnerships with industry and private institutions including engineering colleges. Private academic institutions, accredited by a government accreditation body, were also eligible to receive a 50% support. The concerned industries and institutions should meet the remaining 50% expenditure. The MNRE allocated an INR 3762.50 crore (INR 37625 million, 528.634 million USD) for the grid interactive renewable sources and an INR 1036.50 crore (INR 10365 million, 145.629 million USD) for off-grid/distributed and decentralized renewable power for the year 2018–2019 [ 60 ]. The MNRE asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), attempting to build renewable power projects under “priority sector lending” (priority lending should be done for renewable energy projects and without any limit) and to eliminate the obstacles in the financing of renewable energy projects. In July 2018, the Ministry of Finance announced that it would impose a 25% safeguard duty on solar panels and modules imported from China and Malaysia for 1 year. The quantum of tax might be reduced to 20% for the next 6 months, and 15% for the following 6 months.

Policy and regulatory framework initiatives

The regulatory interventions for the development of renewable energy sources are (a) tariff determination, (b) defining RPO, (c) promoting grid connectivity, and (d) promoting the expansion of the market.

Tariff policy amendments—2018

On the 30th of May 2018, the MoP released draft amendments to the tariff policy. The objective of these policies was to promote electricity generation from renewables. MoP in consultation with MNRE announced the long-term trajectory for RPO, which is represented in Table 24 . The State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) achieved a favorable and neutral/off-putting effect in the growth of the renewable power sector through their RPO regulations in consultation with the MNRE. On the 25th of May 2018, the MNRE created an RPO compliance cell to reach India’s solar and wind power goals. Due to the absence of implementation of RPO regulations, several states in India did not meet their specified RPO objectives. The cell will operate along with the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and SERCs to obtain monthly statements on RPO compliance. It will also take up non-compliance associated concerns with the relevant officials.

Repowering policy—2016

On the 09th of August 2016, India announced a “repowering policy” for wind energy projects. An about 27 GW turnaround was possible according to the policy. This policy supports the replacing of aging wind turbines with more modern and powerful units (fewer, larger, taller) to raise the level of electricity generation. This policy seeks to create a simplified framework and to promote an optimized use of wind power resources. It is mandatory because the up to the year 2000 installed wind turbines were below 500 kW in sites where high wind potential might be achieved. It will be possible to obtain 3000 MW from the same location once replacements are in place. The policy was initially applied for the one MW installed capacity of wind turbines, and the MNRE will extend the repowering policy to other projects in the future based on experience. Repowering projects were implemented by the respective state nodal agencies/organizations that were involved in wind energy promotion in their states. The policy provided an exception from the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for wind farms/turbines undergoing repowering because they could not fulfill the requirements according to the PPA during repowering. The repowering projects may avail accelerated depreciation (AD) benefit or generation-based incentive (GBI) due to the conditions appropriate to new wind energy projects [ 61 ].

The wind-solar hybrid policy—2018

On the 14th of May 2018, the MNRE announced a national wind-solar hybrid policy. This policy supported new projects (large grid-connected wind-solar photovoltaic hybrid systems) and the hybridization of the already available projects. These projects tried to achieve an optimal and efficient use of transmission infrastructure and land. Better grid stability was achieved and the variability in renewable power generation was reduced. The best part of the policy intervention was that which supported the hybridization of existing plants. The tariff-based transparent bidding process was included in the policy. Regulatory authorities should formulate the necessary standards and regulations for hybrid systems. The policy also highlighted a battery storage in hybrid projects for output optimization and variability reduction [ 62 ].

The national offshore wind energy policy—2015

The National Offshore Wind Policy was released in October 2015. On the 19th of June 2018, the MNRE announced a medium-term target of 5 GW by 2022 and a long-term target of 30 GW by 2030. The MNRE called expressions of Interest (EoI) for the first 1 GW of offshore wind (the last date was 08.06.2018). The EoI site is located in Pipavav port at the Gulf of Khambhat at a distance of 23 km facilitating offshore wind (FOWIND) where the consortium deployed light detection and ranging (LiDAR) in November 2017). Pipavav port is situated off the coast of Gujarat. The MNRE had planned to install more such equipment in the states of Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. On the 14 th of December 2018, the MNRE, through the National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), called tender for offshore environmental impact assessment studies at intended LIDAR points at the Gulf of Mannar, off the coast of Tamil Nadu for offshore wind measurement. The timeline for initiatives was to firstly add 500 MW by 2022, 2 to 2.5 GW by 2027, and eventually reaching 5 GW between 2028 and 2032. Even though the installation of large wind power turbines in open seas is a challenging task, the government has endeavored to promote this offshore sector. Offshore wind energy would add its contribution to the already existing renewable energy mix for India [ 63 ] .

The feed-in tariff policy—2018

On the 28th of January 2016, the revised tariff policy was notified following the Electricity Act. On the 30th May 2018, the amendment in tariff policy was released. The intentions of this tariff policy are (a) an inexpensive and competitive electricity rate for the consumers; (b) to attract investment and financial viability; (c) to ensure that the perceptions of regulatory risks decrease through predictability, consistency, and transparency of policy measures; (d) development in quality of supply, increased operational efficiency, and improved competition; (e) increase the production of electricity from wind, solar, biomass, and small hydro; (f) peaking reserves that are acceptable in quantity or consistently good in quality or performance of grid operation where variable renewable energy source integration is provided through the promotion of hydroelectric power generation, including pumped storage projects (PSP); (g) to achieve better consumer services through efficient and reliable electricity infrastructure; (h) to supply sufficient and uninterrupted electricity to every level of consumers; and (i) to create adequate capacity, reserves in the production, transmission, and distribution that is sufficient for the reliability of supply of power to customers [ 64 ].

Training and educational initiatives

The MHRD has developed strong renewable energy education and training systems. The National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) develops course modules, and a Modular Employable Skilling program (MES) in its regular 2-year syllabus to include SPV lighting systems, solar thermal systems, SHP, and provides the certificate for seven trades after the completion of a 2-year course. The seven trades are plumber, fitter, carpenter, welder, machinist, and electrician. The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) worked out a national skill development policy in 2015. They provide regular training programs to create various job roles in renewable energy along with the MNRE support through a skill council for green jobs (SCGJ), the National Occupational Standards (NOS), and the Qualification Pack (QP). The SCGJ is promoted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the MNRE. The industry partner for the SCGJ is ReNew Power [ 65 , 66 ].

The global status of India in renewable energy

Table 25 shows the RECAI (Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index) report of 40 countries. This report is based on the attractiveness of renewable energy investment and deployment opportunities. RECAI is based on macro vitals such as economic stability, investment climate, energy imperatives such as security and supply, clean energy gap, and affordability. It also includes policy enablement such as political stability and support for renewables. Its emphasis lies on project delivery parameters such as energy market access, infrastructure, and distributed generation, finance, cost and availability, and transaction liquidity. Technology potentials such as natural resources, power take-off attractiveness, potential support, technology maturity, and forecast growth are taken into consideration for ranking. India has moved to the fourth position of the RECAI-2018. Indian solar installations (new large-scale and rooftop solar capacities) in the calendar year 2017 increased exponentially with the addition of 9629 MW, whereas in 2016 it was 4313 MW. The warning of solar import tariffs and conflicts between developers and distribution firms are growing investor concerns [ 67 ]. Figure 6 shows the details of the installed capacity of global renewable energy in 2016 and 2017. Globally, 2017 GW renewable energy was installed in 2016, and in 2017, it increased to 2195 GW. Table 26 shows the total capacity addition of top countries until 2017. The country ranked fifth in renewable power capacity (including hydro energy), renewable power capacity (not including hydro energy) in fourth position, concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) and wind power were also in fourth position [ 68 ].

Globally installed capacity of renewable energy in 2017—Global 2018 status report with regard to renewables [ 68 ]

The investment opportunities in renewable energy in India

The investments into renewable energy in India increased by 22% in the first half of 2018 compared to 2017, while the investments in China dropped by 15% during the same period, according to a statement by the Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), which is shown in Table 27 [ 69 , 70 ]. At this rate, India is expected to overtake China and become the most significant growth market for renewable energy by the end of 2020. The country is eyeing pole position for transformation in renewable energy by reaching 175 GW by 2020. To achieve this target, it is quickly ramping up investments in this sector. The country added more renewable capacity than conventional capacity in 2018 when compared to 2017. India hosted the ISA first official summit on the 11.03.2018 for 121 countries. This will provide a standard platform to work toward the ambitious targets for renewable energy. The summit will emphasize India’s dedication to meet global engagements in a time-bound method. The country is also constructing many sizeable solar power parks comparable to, but larger than, those in China. Half of the earth’s ten biggest solar parks under development are in India.

In 2014, the world largest solar park was the Topaz solar farm in California with a 550 MW facility. In 2015, another operator in California, Solar Star, edged its capacity up to 579 MW. By 2016, India’s Kamuthi Solar Power Project in Tamil Nadu was on top with 648 MW of capacity (set up by the Adani Green Energy, part of the Adani Group, in Tamil Nadu). As of February 2017, the Longyangxia Dam Solar Park in China was the new leader, with 850 MW of capacity [ 71 ]. Currently, there are 600 MW operating units and 1400 MW units under construction. The Shakti Sthala solar park was inaugurated on 01.03.2018 in Pavagada (Karnataka, India) which is expected to become the globe’s most significant solar park when it accomplishes its full potential of 2 GW. Another large solar park with 1.5 GW is scheduled to be built in the Kadappa region [ 72 ]. The progress in solar power is remarkable and demonstrates real clean energy development on the ground.

The Kurnool ultra-mega solar park generated 800 million units (MU) of energy in October 2018 and saved over 700,000 tons of CO 2 . Rainwater was harvested using a reservoir that helps in cleaning solar panels and supplying water. The country is making remarkable progress in solar energy. The Kamuthi solar farm is cleaned each day by a robotic system. As the Indian economy expands, electricity consumption is forecasted to reach 15,280 TWh in 2040. With the government’s intent, green energy objectives, i.e., the renewable sector, grow considerably in an attractive manner with both foreign and domestic investors. It is anticipated to attract investments of up to USD 80 billion in the subsequent 4 years. The government of India has raised its 175 GW target to 225 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022. The competitive benefit is that the country has sun exposure possible throughout the year and has an enormous hydropower potential. India was also listed fourth in the EY renewable energy country attractive index 2018. Sixty solar cities will be built in India as a section of MNRE’s “Solar cities” program.

In a regular auction, reduction in tariffs cost of the projects are the competitive benefits in the country. India accounts for about 4% of the total global electricity generation capacity and has the fourth highest installed capacity of wind energy and the third highest installed capacity of CSP. The solar installation in India erected during 2015–2016, 2016–2017, 2017–2018, and 2018–2019 was 3.01 GW, 5.52 GW, 9.36 GW, and 6.53 GW, respectively. The country aims to add 8.5 GW during 2019–2020. Due to its advantageous location in the solar belt (400 South to 400 North), the country is one of the largest beneficiaries of solar energy with relatively ample availability. An increase in the installed capacity of solar power is anticipated to exceed the installed capacity of wind energy, approaching 100 GW by 2022 from its current levels of 25.21226 GW as of December 2018. Fast falling prices have made Solar PV the biggest market for new investments. Under the Union Budget 2018–2019, a zero import tax on parts used in manufacturing solar panels was launched to provide an advantage to domestic solar panel companies [ 73 ].

Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in the renewable energy sector of India between April 2000 and June 2018 amounted to USD 6.84 billion according to the report of the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP). The DIPP was renamed (gazette notification 27.01.2019) the Department for the Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). It is responsible for the development of domestic trade, retail trade, trader’s welfare including their employees as well as concerns associated with activities in facilitating and supporting business and startups. Since 2014, more than 42 billion USD have been invested in India’s renewable power sector. India reached US$ 7.4 billion in investments in the first half of 2018. Between April 2015 and June 2018, the country received USD 3.2 billion FDI in the renewable sector. The year-wise inflows expanded from USD 776 million in 2015–2016 to USD 783 million in 2016–2017 and USD 1204 million in 2017–2018. Between January to March of 2018, the INR 452 crore (4520 Million INR, 63.3389 million USD) of the FDI had already come in. The country is contributing with financial and promotional incentives that include a capital subsidy, accelerated depreciation (AD), waiver of inter-state transmission charges and losses, viability gap funding (VGF), and FDI up to 100% under the automated track.

The DIPP/DPIIT compiles and manages the data of the FDI equity inflow received in India [ 74 ]. The FDI equity inflow between April 2015 and June 2018 in the renewable sector is illustrated in Fig. 7 . It shows that the 2018–2019 3 months’ FDI equity inflow is half of that of the entire one of 2017–2018. It is evident from the figure that India has well-established FDI equity inflows. The significant FDI investments in the renewable energy sectors are shown in Table 28 . The collaboration between the Asian development bank and Renew Power Ventures private limited with 44.69 million USD ranked first followed by AIRRO Singapore with Diligent power with FDI equity inflow of 44.69 USD million.

The FDI equity inflow received between April 2015 and June 2018 in the renewable energy sector [ 73 ]

Strategies to promote investments

Strategies to promote investments (including FDI) by investors in the renewable sector:

Decrease constraints on FDI; provide open, transparent, and dependable conditions for foreign and domestic firms; and include ease of doing business, access to imports, comparatively flexible labor markets, and safeguard of intellectual property rights.

Establish an investment promotion agency (IPA) that targets suitable foreign investors and connects them as a catalyst with the domestic economy. Assist the IPA to present top-notch infrastructure and immediate access to skilled workers, technicians, engineers, and managers that might be needed to attract such investors. Furthermore, it should involve an after-investment care, recognizing the demonstration effects from satisfied investors, the potential for reinvestments, and the potential for cluster-development due to follow-up investments.

It is essential to consider the targeted sector (wind, solar, SPH or biomass, respectively) for which investments are required.

Establish the infrastructure needed for a quality investor, including adequate close-by transport facilities (airport, ports), a sufficient and steady supply of energy, a provision of a sufficiently skilled workforce, the facilities for the vocational training of specialized operators, ideally designed in collaboration with the investor.

Policy and other support mechanisms such as Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) play an influential role in underpinning returns and restricting uncertainties for project developers, indirectly supporting the availability of investment. Investors in renewable energy projects have historically relied on government policies to give them confidence about the costs necessary for electricity produced—and therefore for project revenues. Reassurance of future power costs for project developers is secured by signing a PPA with either a utility or an essential corporate buyer of electricity.

FiT have been the most conventional approach around the globe over the last decade to stimulate investments in renewable power projects. Set by the government concerned, they lay down an electricity tariff that developers of qualifying new projects might anticipate to receive for the resulting electricity over a long interval (15–20 years). These present investors in the tax equity of renewable power projects with a credit that they can manage to offset the tax burden outside in their businesses.

Table 29 presents the 2018 renewable energy investment report, source-wise, by the significant players in renewables according to the report of the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Report 2018. As per this report, global investment in renewable energy was USD of 279.8 billion in 2017. The top ten in the total global investments are China (126.1 $BN), the USA (40.5 $BN), Japan (13.4 $BN), India (10.9 $BN), Germany (10.4 $BN), Australia (8.5 $BN), UK (7.6 $BN), Brazil (6.0 $BN), Mexico (6.0 $BN), and Sweden (3.7 $BN) [ 75 ]. This achievement was possible since those countries have well-established strategies for promoting investments [ 76 , 77 ].

The appropriate objectives for renewable power expansion and investments are closely related to the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) objectives, the implementation of the NDC, on the road to achieving Paris promises, policy competence, policy reliability, market absorption capacity, and nationwide investment circumstances that are the real purposes for renewable power expansion, which is a significant factor for the investment strategies, as is shown in Table 30 .

The demand for investments for building a Paris-compatible and climate-resilient energy support remains high, particularly in emerging nations. Future investments in energy grids and energy flexibility are of particular significance. The strategies and the comparison chart between China, India, and the USA are presented in Table 31 .

Table 32 shows France in the first place due to overall favorable conditions for renewables, heading the G20 in investment attractiveness of renewables. Germany drops back one spot due to a decline in the quality of the global policy environment for renewables and some insufficiencies in the policy design, as does the UK. Overall, with four European countries on top of the list, Europe, however, directs the way in providing attractive conditions for investing in renewables. Despite high scores for various nations, no single government is yet close to growing a role model. All countries still have significant room for increasing investment demands to deploy renewables at the scale required to reach the Paris objectives. The table shown is based on the Paris compatible long-term vision, the policy environment for renewable energy, the conditions for system integration, the market absorption capacity, and general investment conditions. India moved from the 11th position to the 9th position in overall investments between 2017 and 2018.

A Paris compatible long-term vision includes a de-carbonization plan for the power system, the renewable power ambition, the coal and oil decrease, and the reliability of renewables policies. Direct support policies include medium-term certainty of policy signals, streamlined administrative procedures, ensuring project realization, facilitating the use of produced electricity. Conditions for system integration include system integration-grid codes, system integration-storage promotion, and demand-side management policies. A market absorption capacity includes a prior experience with renewable technologies, a current activity with renewable installations, and a presence of major renewable energy companies. General investment conditions include non-financial determinants, depth of the financial sector as well, as an inflation forecast.

Employment opportunities for citizens in renewable energy in India

Global employment scenario.

According to the 2018 Annual review of the IRENA [ 78 ], global renewable energy employment touched 10.3 million jobs in 2017, an improvement of 5.3% compared with the quantity published in 2016. Many socio-economic advantages derive from renewable power, but employment continues to be exceptionally centralized in a handful of countries, with China, Brazil, the USA, India, Germany, and Japan in the lead. In solar PV employment (3.4 million jobs), China is the leader (65% of PV Jobs) which is followed by Japan, USA, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Germany, Philippines, and Turkey. In biofuels employment (1.9 million jobs), Brazil is the leader (41% of PV Jobs) followed by the USA, Colombia, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, China, and India. In wind employment (1.1 million jobs), China is the leader (44% of PV Jobs) followed by Germany, USA, India, UK, Brazil, Denmark, Netherlands, France, and Spain.

Table 33 shows global renewable energy employment in the corresponding technology branches. As in past years, China maintained the most notable number of people employed (3880 million jobs) estimating for 43% of the globe’s total which is shown in Fig. 8 . In India, new solar installations touched a record of 9.6 GW in 2017, efficiently increasing the total installed capacity. The employment in solar PV improved by 36% and reached 164,400 jobs, of which 92,400 represented on-grid use. IRENA determines that the building and installation covered 46% of these jobs, with operations and maintenance (O&M) representing 35% and 19%, individually. India does not produce solar PV because it could be imported from China, which is inexpensive. The market share of domestic companies (Indian supplier to renewable projects) declined from 13% in 2014–2015 to 7% in 2017–2018. If India starts the manufacturing base, more citizens will get jobs in the manufacturing field. India had the world’s fifth most significant additions of 4.1 GW to wind capacity in 2017 and the fourth largest cumulative capacity in 2018. IRENA predicts that jobs in the wind sector stood at 60,500.

Renewable energy employment in selected countries [ 79 ]

The jobs in renewables are categorized into technological development, installation/de-installation, operation, and maintenance. Tables 34 , 35 , 36 , and 37 show the wind industry, solar energy, biomass, and small hydro-related jobs in project development, component manufacturing, construction, operations, and education, training, and research. As technology quickly evolves, workers in all areas need to update their skills through continuing training/education or job training, and in several cases could benefit from professional certification. The advantages of moving to renewable energy are evident, and for this reason, the governments are responding positively toward the transformation to clean energy. Renewable energy can be described as the country’s next employment boom. Renewable energy job opportunities can transform rural economy [ 79 , 80 ]. The renewable energy sector might help to reduce poverty by creating better employment. For example, wind power is looking for specialists in manufacturing, project development, and construction and turbine installation as well as financial services, transportation and logistics, and maintenance and operations.

The government is building more renewable energy power plants that will require a workforce. The increasing investments in the renewable energy sector have the potential to provide more jobs than any other fossil fuel industry. Local businesses and renewable sectors will benefit from this change, as income will increase significantly. Many jobs in this sector will contribute to fixed salaries, healthcare benefits, and skill-building opportunities for unskilled and semi-skilled workers. A range of skilled and unskilled jobs are included in all renewable energy technologies, even though most of the positions in the renewable energy industry demand a skilled workforce. The renewable sector employs semi-skilled and unskilled labor in the construction, operations, and maintenance after proper training. Unskilled labor is employed as truck drivers, guards, cleaning, and maintenance. Semi-skilled labor is used to take regular readings from displays. A lack of consistent data on the potential employment impact of renewables expansion makes it particularly hard to assess the quantity of skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled personnel that might be needed.

Key findings in renewable energy employment

The findings comprise (a) that the majority of employment in the renewable sector is contract based, and that employees do not benefit from permanent jobs or security. (b) Continuous work in the industry has the potential to decrease poverty. (c) Most poor citizens encounter obstacles to entry-level training and the employment market due to lack of awareness about the jobs and the requirements. (d) Few renewable programs incorporate developing ownership opportunities for the citizens and the incorporation of women in the sector. (e) The inadequacy of data makes it challenging to build relationships between employment in renewable energy and poverty mitigation.

Recommendations for renewable energy employment

When building the capacity, focus on poor people and individuals to empower them with training in operation and maintenance.

Develop and offer training programs for citizens with minimal education and training, who do not fit current programs, which restrict them from working in renewable areas.

Include women in the renewable workforce by providing localized training.

Establish connections between training institutes and renewable power companies to guarantee that (a) trained workers are placed in appropriate positions during and after the completion of the training program and (b) training programs match the requirements of the renewable sector.

Poverty impact assessments might be embedded in program design to know how programs motivate poverty reduction, whether and how they influence the community.

Allow people to have a sense of ownership in renewable projects because this could contribute to the growth of the sector.

The details of the job being offered (part time, full time, contract-based), the levels of required skills for the job (skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled), the socio-economic status of the employee data need to be collected for further analysis.

Conduct investigations, assisted by field surveys, to learn about the influence of renewable energy jobs on poverty mitigation and differences in the standard of living.

Challenges faced by renewable energy in India

The MNRE has been taking dedicated measures for improving the renewable sector, and its efforts have been satisfactory in recognizing various obstacles.

Policy and regulatory obstacles

A comprehensive policy statement (regulatory framework) is not available in the renewable sector. When there is a requirement to promote the growth of particular renewable energy technologies, policies might be declared that do not match with the plans for the development of renewable energy.

The regulatory framework and procedures are different for every state because they define the respective RPOs (Renewable Purchase Obligations) and this creates a higher risk of investments in this sector. Additionally, the policies are applicable for just 5 years, and the generated risk for investments in this sector is apparent. The biomass sector does not have an established framework.

Incentive accelerated depreciation (AD) is provided to wind developers and is evident in developing India’s wind-producing capacity. Wind projects installed more than 10 years ago show that they are not optimally maintained. Many owners of the asset have built with little motivation for tax benefits only. The policy framework does not require the maintenance of the wind projects after the tax advantages have been claimed. There is no control over the equipment suppliers because they undertake all wind power plant development activities such as commissioning, operation, and maintenance. Suppliers make the buyers pay a premium and increase the equipment cost, which brings burden to the buyer.

Furthermore, ready-made projects are sold to buyers. The buyers are susceptible to this trap to save income tax. Foreign investors hesitate to invest because they are exempted from the income tax.

Every state has different regulatory policy and framework definitions of an RPO. The RPO percentage specified in the regulatory framework for various renewable sources is not precise.

RPO allows the SERCs and certain private firms to procure only a part of their power demands from renewable sources.

RPO is not imposed on open access (OA) and captive consumers in all states except three.

RPO targets and obligations are not clear, and the RPO compliance cell has just started on 22.05.2018 to collect the monthly reports on compliance and deal with non-compliance issues with appropriate authorities.

Penalty mechanisms are not specified and only two states in India (Maharashtra and Rajasthan) have some form of penalty mechanisms.

The parameter to determine the tariff is not transparent in the regulatory framework and many SRECs have established a tariff for limited periods. The FiT is valid for only 5 years, and this affects the bankability of the project.

Many SERCs have not decided on adopting the CERC tariff that is mentioned in CERCs regulations that deal with terms and conditions for tariff determinations. The SERCs have considered the plant load factor (PLF) because it varies across regions and locations as well as particular technology. The current framework does not fit to these issues.

Third party sale (TPS) is not allowed because renewable generators are not allowed to sell power to commercial consumers. They have to sell only to industrial consumers. The industrial consumers have a low tariff and commercial consumers have a high tariff, and SRCS do not allow OA. This stops the profit for the developers and investors.

Institutional obstacles

Institutes, agencies stakeholders who work under the conditions of the MNRE show poor inter-institutional coordination. The progress in renewable energy development is limited by this lack of cooperation, coordination, and delays. The delay in implementing policies due to poor coordination, decrease the interest of investors to invest in this sector.

The single window project approval and clearance system is not very useful and not stable because it delays the receiving of clearances for the projects ends in the levy of a penalty on the project developer.

Pre-feasibility reports prepared by concerned states have some deficiency, and this may affect the small developers, i.e., the local developers, who are willing to execute renewable projects.

The workforce in institutes, agencies, and ministries is not sufficient in numbers.

Proper or well-established research centers are not available for the development of renewable infrastructure.

Customer care centers to guide developers regarding renewable projects are not available.

Standards and quality control orders have been issued recently in 2018 and 2019 only, and there are insufficient institutions and laboratories to give standards/certification and validate the quality and suitability of using renewable technology.

Financial and fiscal obstacles

There are a few budgetary constraints such as fund allocation, and budgets that are not released on time to fulfill the requirement of developing the renewable sector.

The initial unit capital costs of renewable projects are very high compared to fossil fuels, and this leads to financing challenges and initial burden.

There are uncertainties related to the assessment of resources, lack of technology awareness, and high-risk perceptions which lead to financial barriers for the developers.

The subsidies and incentives are not transparent, and the ministry might reconsider subsidies for renewable energy because there was a sharp fall in tariffs in 2018.

Power purchase agreements (PPA) signed between the power purchaser and power generators on pre-determined fixed tariffs are higher than the current bids (Economic survey 2017–2018 and union budget on the 01.02.2019). For example, solar power tariff dropped to 2.44 INR (0. 04 USD) per unit in May 2017, wind power INR 3.46 per unit in February 2017, and 2.64 INR per unit in October 2017.

Investors feel that there is a risk in the renewable sector as this sector has lower gross returns even though these returns are relatively high within the market standards.

There are not many developers who are interested in renewable projects. While newly established developers (small and local developers) do not have much of an institutional track record or financial input, which are needed to develop the project (high capital cost). Even moneylenders consider it risky and are not ready to provide funding. Moneylenders look exclusively for contractors who have much experience in construction, well-established suppliers with proven equipment and operators who have more experience.

If the performance of renewable projects, which show low-performance, faces financial obstacles, they risks the lack of funding of renewable projects.

Financial institutions such as government banks or private banks do not have much understanding or expertise in renewable energy projects, and this imposes financial barriers to the projects.

Delay in payment by the SERCs to the developers imposes debt burden on the small and local developers because moneylenders always work with credit enhancement mechanisms or guarantee bonds signed between moneylenders and the developers.

Market obstacles

Subsidies are adequately provided to conventional fossil fuels, sending the wrong impression that power from conventional fuels is of a higher priority than that from renewables (unfair structure of subsidies)

There are four renewable markets in India, the government market (providing budgetary support to projects and purchase the output of the project), the government-driven market (provide budgetary support or fiscal incentives to promote renewable energy), the loan market (taking loan to finance renewable based applications), and the cash market (buying renewable-based applications to meet personal energy needs by individuals). There is an inadequacy in promoting the loan market and cash market in India.

The biomass market is facing a demand-supply gap which results in a continuous and dramatic increase in biomass prices because the biomass supply is unreliable (and, as there is no organized market for fuel), and the price fluctuations are very high. The type of biomass is not the same in all the states of India, and therefore demand and price elasticity is high for biomass.

Renewable power was calculated based on cost-plus methods (adding direct material cost, direct labor cost, and product overhead cost). This does not include environmental cost and shields the ecological benefits of clean and green energy.

There is an inadequate evacuation infrastructure and insufficient integration of the grid, which affects the renewable projects. SERCs are not able to use all generated power to meet the needs because of the non-availability of a proper evacuation infrastructure. This has an impact on the project, and the SERCs are forced to buy expensive power from neighbor states to fulfill needs.

Extending transmission lines is not possible/not economical for small size projects, and the seasonality of generation from such projects affect the market.

There are few limitations in overall transmission plans, distribution CapEx plans, and distribution licenses for renewable power. Power evacuation infrastructure for renewable energy is not included in the plans.

Even though there is an increase in capacity for the commercially deployed renewable energy technology, there is no decline in capital cost. This cost of power also remains high. The capital cost quoted by the developers and providers of equipment is too high due to exports of machinery, inadequate built up capacity, and cartelization of equipment suppliers (suppliers join together to control prices and limit competition).

There is no adequate supply of land, for wind, solar, and solar thermal power plants, which lead to poor capacity addition in many states.

Technological obstacles

Every installation of a renewable project contributes to complex risk challenges from environmental uncertainties, natural disasters, planning, equipment failure, and profit loss.

MNRE issued the standardization of renewable energy projects policy on the 11th of December 2017 (testing, standardization, and certification). They are still at an elementary level as compared to international practices. Quality assurance processes are still under starting conditions. Each success in renewable energy is based on concrete action plans for standards, testing and certification of performance.

The quality and reliability of manufactured components, imported equipment, and subsystems is essential, and hence quality infrastructure should be established. There is no clear document related to testing laboratories, referral institutes, review mechanism, inspection, and monitoring.

There are not many R&D centers for renewables. Methods to reduce the subsidies and invest in R&D lagging; manufacturing facilities are just replicating the already available technologies. The country is dependent on international suppliers for equipment and technology. Spare parts are not manufactured locally and hence they are scarce.

Awareness, education, and training obstacles

There is an unavailability of appropriately skilled human resources in the renewable energy sector. Furthermore, it faces an acute workforce shortage.

After installation of renewable project/applications by the suppliers, there is no proper follow-up or assistance for the workers in the project to perform maintenance. Likewise, there are not enough trained and skilled persons for demonstrating, training, operation, and maintenance of the plant.

There is inadequate knowledge in renewables, and no awareness programs are available to the general public. The lack of awareness about the technologies is a significant obstacle in acquiring vast land for constructing the renewable plant. Moreover, people using agriculture lands are not prepared to give their land to construct power plants because most Indians cultivate plants.

The renewable sector depends on the climate, and this varying climate also imposes less popularity of renewables among the people.

The per capita income is low, and the people consider that the cost of renewables might be high and they might not be able to use renewables.

The storage system increases the cost of renewables, and people believe it too costly and are not ready to use them.

The environmental benefits of renewable technologies are not clearly understood by the people and negative perceptions are making renewable technologies less prevalent among them.

Environmental obstacles

A single wind turbine does not occupy much space, but many turbines are placed five to ten rotor diameters from each other, and this occupies more area, which include roads and transmission lines.

In the field of offshore wind, the turbines and blades are bigger than onshore wind turbines, and they require a substantial amount of space. Offshore installations affect ocean activities (fishing, sand extraction, gravel extraction, oil extraction, gas extraction, aquaculture, and navigation). Furthermore, they affect fish and other marine wildlife.

Wind turbines influence wildlife (birds and bats) because of the collisions with them and due to air pressure changes caused by wind turbines and habitat disruption. Making wind turbines motionless during times of low wind can protect birds and bats but is not practiced.

Sound (aerodynamic, mechanical) and visual impacts are associated with wind turbines. There is poor practice by the wind turbine developers regarding public concerns. Furthermore, there are imperfections in surfaces and sound—absorbent material which decrease the noise from turbines. The shadow flicker effect is not taken as severe environmental impact by the developers.

Sometimes wind turbine material production, transportation of materials, on-site construction, assembling, operation, maintenance, dismantlement, and decommissioning may be associated with global warming, and there is a lag in this consideration.

Large utility-scale solar plants require vast lands that increase the risk of land degradation and loss of habitat.

The PV cell manufacturing process includes hazardous chemicals such as 1-1-1 Trichloroethene, HCL, H 2 SO 4 , N 2 , NF, and acetone. Workers face risks resulting from inhaling silicon dust. The manufacturing wastes are not disposed of properly. Proper precautions during usage of thin-film PV cells, which contain cadmium—telluride, gallium arsenide, and copper-indium-gallium-diselenide are missing. These materials create severe public health threats and environmental threats.

Hydroelectric power turbine blades kill aquatic ecosystems (fish and other organisms). Moreover, algae and other aquatic weeds are not controlled through manual harvesting or by introducing fish that can eat these plants.

Discussion and recommendations based on the research

Policy and regulation advancements.

The MNRE should provide a comprehensive action plan or policy for the promotion of the renewable sector in its regulatory framework for renewables energy. The action plan can be prepared in consultation with SERCs of the country within a fixed timeframe and execution of the policy/action plan.

The central and state government should include a “Must run status” in their policy and follow it strictly to make use of renewable power.

A national merit order list for renewable electricity generation will reduce power cost for the consumers. Such a merit order list will help in ranking sources of renewable energy in an ascending order of price and will provide power at a lower cost to each distribution company (DISCOM). The MNRE should include that principle in its framework and ensure that SERCs includes it in their regulatory framework as well.

SERCs might be allowed to remove policies and regulatory uncertainty surrounding renewable energy. SERCs might be allowed to identify the thrust areas of their renewable energy development.

There should be strong initiatives from municipality (local level) approvals for renewable energy-based projects.

Higher market penetration is conceivable only if their suitable codes and standards are adopted and implemented. MNRE should guide minimum performance standards, which incorporate reliability, durability, and performance.

A well-established renewable energy certificates (REC) policy might contribute to an efficient funding mechanism for renewable energy projects. It is necessary for the government to look at developing the REC ecosystem.

The regulatory administration around the RPO needs to be upgraded with a more efficient “carrot and stick” mechanism for obligated entities. A regulatory mechanism that both remunerations compliance and penalizes for non-compliance may likely produce better results.

RECs in India should only be traded on exchange. Over-the-counter (OTC) or off-exchange trading will potentially allow greater participation in the market. A REC forward curve will provide further price determination to the market participants.

The policymakers should look at developing and building the REC market.

Most states have defined RPO targets. Still, due to the absence of implemented RPO regulations and the inadequacy of penalties when obligations are not satisfied, several of the state DISCOMs are not complying completely with their RPO targets. It is necessary that all states adhere to the RPO targets set by respective SERCs.

The government should address the issues such as DISCOM financials, must-run status, problems of transmission and evacuation, on-time payments and payment guarantees, and deemed generation benefits.

Proper incentives should be devised to support utilities to obtain power over and above the RPO mandated by the SERC.

The tariff orders/FiTs must be consistent and not restricted for a few years.

Transmission requirements

The developers are worried that transmission facilities are not keeping pace with the power generation. Bays at the nearest substations are occupied, and transmission lines are already carrying their full capacity. This is due to the lack of coordination between MNRE and the Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) and CEA. Solar Corporation of India (SECI) is holding auctions for both wind and solar projects without making sure that enough evacuation facilities are available. There is an urgent need to make evacuation plans.

The solution is to develop numerous substations and transmission lines, but the process will take considerably longer time than the currently under-construction projects take to get finished.

In 2017–2018, transmission lines were installed under the green energy corridor project by the PGCIL, with 1900 circuit km targeted in 2018–2019. The implementation of the green energy corridor project explicitly meant to connect renewable energy plants to the national grid. The budget allocation of INR 6 billion for 2018–2019 should be increased to higher values.

The mismatch between MNRE and PGCIL, which are responsible for inter-state transmission, should be rectified.

State transmission units (STUs) are responsible for the transmission inside the states, and their fund requirements to cover the evacuation and transmission infrastructure for renewable energy should be fulfilled. Moreover, STUs should be penalized if they fail to fulfill their responsibilities.

The coordination and consultation between the developers (the nodal agency responsible for the development of renewable energy) and STUs should be healthy.

Financing the renewable sector

The government should provide enough budget for the clean energy sector. China’s annual budget for renewables is 128 times higher than India’s. In 2017, China spent USD 126.6 billion (INR 9 lakh crore) compared to India’s USD 10.9 billion (INR 75500 crore). In 2018, budget allocations for grid interactive wind and solar have increased but it is not sufficient to meet the renewable target.

The government should concentrate on R&D and provide a surplus fund for R&D. In 2017, the budget allotted was an INR 445 crore, which was reduced to an INR 272.85 crore in 2016. In 2017–2018, the initial allocation was an INR 144 crore that was reduced to an INR 81 crore during the revised estimates. Even the reduced amounts could not be fully used, there is an urgent demand for regular monitoring of R&D and the budget allocation.

The Goods and Service Tax (GST) that was introduced in 2017 worsened the industry performance and has led to an increase in costs and poses a threat to the viability of the ongoing projects, ultimately hampering the target achievement. These GST issues need to be addressed.

Including the renewable sector as a priority sector would increase the availability of credit and lead to a more substantial participation by commercial banks.

Mandating the provident funds and insurance companies to invest the fixed percentage of their portfolio into the renewable energy sector.

Banks should allow an interest rebate on housing loans if the owner is installing renewable applications such as solar lights, solar water heaters, and PV panels in his house. This will encourage people to use renewable energy. Furthermore, income tax rebates also can be given to individuals if they are implementing renewable energy applications.

Improvement in manufacturing/technology

The country should move to domestic manufacturing. It imports 90% of its solar cell and module requirements from Malaysia, China, and Taiwan, so it is essential to build a robust domestic manufacturing basis.

India will provide “safeguard duty” for merely 2 years, and this is not adequate to build a strong manufacturing basis that can compete with the global market. Moreover, safeguard duty would work only if India had a larger existing domestic manufacturing base.

The government should reconsider the safeguard duty. Many foreign companies desiring to set up joint ventures in India provide only a lukewarm response because the given order in its current form presents inadequate safeguards.

There are incremental developments in technology at regular periods, which need capital, and the country should discover a way to handle these factors.

To make use of the vast estimated renewable potential in India, the R&D capability should be upgraded to solve critical problems in the clean energy sector.

A comprehensive policy for manufacturing should be established. This would support capital cost reduction and be marketed on a global scale.

The country should initiate an industry-academia partnership, which might promote innovative R&D and support leading-edge clean power solutions to protect the globe for future generations.

Encourage the transfer of ideas between industry, academia, and policymakers from around the world to develop accelerated adoption of renewable power.

Awareness about renewables

Social recognition of renewable energy is still not very promising in urban India. Awareness is the crucial factor for the uniform and broad use of renewable energy. Information about renewable technology and their environmental benefits should reach society.

The government should regularly organize awareness programs throughout the country, especially in villages and remote locations such as the islands.

The government should open more educational/research organizations, which will help in spreading knowledge of renewable technology in society.

People should regularly be trained with regard to new techniques that would be beneficial for the community.

Sufficient agencies should be available to sell renewable products and serve for technical support during installation and maintenance.

Development of the capabilities of unskilled and semiskilled workers and policy interventions are required related to employment opportunities.

An increase in the number of qualified/trained personnel might immediately support the process of installations of renewables.

Renewable energy employers prefer to train employees they recruit because they understand that education institutes fail to give the needed and appropriate skills. The training institutes should rectify this issue. Severe trained human resources shortages should be eliminated.

Upgrading the ability of the existing workforce and training of new professionals is essential to achieve the renewable goal.

Hybrid utilization of renewables

The country should focus on hybrid power projects for an effective use of transmission infrastructure and land.

India should consider battery storage in hybrid projects, which support optimizing the production and the power at competitive prices as well as a decrease of variability.

Formulate mandatory standards and regulations for hybrid systems, which are lagging in the newly announced policies (wind-solar hybrid policy on 14.05.2018).

The hybridization of two or more renewable systems along with the conventional power source battery storage can increase the performance of renewable technologies.

Issues related to sizing and storage capacity should be considered because they are key to the economic viability of the system.

Fiscal and financial incentives available for hybrid projects should be increased.

The renewable sector suffers notable obstacles. Some of them are inherent in every renewable technology; others are the outcome of a skewed regulative structure and marketplace. The absence of comprehensive policies and regulation frameworks prevent the adoption of renewable technologies. The renewable energy market requires explicit policies and legal procedures to enhance the attention of investors. There is a delay in the authorization of private sector projects because of a lack of clear policies. The country should take measures to attract private investors. Inadequate technology and the absence of infrastructure required to establish renewable technologies should be overcome by R&D. The government should allow more funds to support research and innovation activities in this sector. There are insufficiently competent personnel to train, demonstrate, maintain, and operate renewable energy structures and therefore, the institutions should be proactive in preparing the workforce. Imported equipment is costly compared to that of locally manufactured; therefore, generation of renewable energy becomes expensive and even unaffordable. Hence, to decrease the cost of renewable products, the country should become involve in the manufacturing of renewable products. Another significant infrastructural obstacle to the development of renewable energy technologies is unreliable connectivity to the grid. As a consequence, many investors lose their faith in renewable energy technologies and are not ready to invest in them for fear of failing. India should work on transmission and evacuation plans.

Inadequate servicing and maintenance of facilities and low reliability in technology decreases customer trust in some renewable energy technologies and hence prevent their selection. Adequate skills to repair/service the spare parts/equipment are required to avoid equipment failures that halt the supply of energy. Awareness of renewable energy among communities should be fostered, and a significant focus on their socio-cultural practices should be considered. Governments should support investments in the expansion of renewable energy to speed up the commercialization of such technologies. The Indian government should declare a well-established fiscal assistance plan, such as the provision of credit, deduction on loans, and tariffs. The government should improve regulations making obligations under power purchase agreements (PPAs) statutorily binding to guarantee that all power DISCOMs have PPAs to cover a hundred percent of their RPO obligation. To accomplish a reliable system, it is strongly suggested that renewables must be used in a hybrid configuration of two or more resources along with conventional source and storage devices. Regulatory authorities should formulate the necessary standards and regulations for hybrid systems. Making investments economically possible with effective policies and tax incentives will result in social benefits above and beyond the economic advantages.

Availability of data and materials

Not applicable.

Abbreviations

Accelerated depreciation

Billion units

Central Electricity Authority of India

Central electricity regulatory commission

Central financial assistance

Expression of interest

Foreign direct investment

Feed-in-tariff

Ministry of new and renewable energy

Research and development

Renewable purchase obligations

State electricity regulatory

Small hydropower

Terawatt hours

Waste to energy

Chr.Von Zabeltitz (1994) Effective use of renewable energies for greenhouse heating. Renewable Energy 5:479-485.

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The authors gratefully acknowledge the support provided by the Research Consultancy Institute (RCI) and the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of Effat University, Saudi Arabia.

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Kumar. J, C.R., Majid, M.A. Renewable energy for sustainable development in India: current status, future prospects, challenges, employment, and investment opportunities. Energ Sustain Soc 10 , 2 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13705-019-0232-1

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• Published: 22 October 2021

Geophysical constraints on the reliability of solar and wind power worldwide

• Dan Tong   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3787-0707 1 , 2 , 3 ,
• David J. Farnham   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6690-4251 3 ,
• Lei Duan   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6540-1847 3 ,
• Qiang Zhang   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8376-131X 1 ,
• Nathan S. Lewis 3 , 4 ,
• Ken Caldeira   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4591-643X 3 , 5 &
• Steven J. Davis   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9338-0844 2 , 3 , 6  

Nature Communications volume  12 , Article number:  6146 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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• Climate change
• Climate-change mitigation
• Renewable energy

If future net-zero emissions energy systems rely heavily on solar and wind resources, spatial and temporal mismatches between resource availability and electricity demand may challenge system reliability. Using 39 years of hourly reanalysis data (1980–2018), we analyze the ability of solar and wind resources to meet electricity demand in 42 countries, varying the hypothetical scale and mix of renewable generation as well as energy storage capacity. Assuming perfect transmission and annual generation equal to annual demand, but no energy storage, we find the most reliable renewable electricity systems are wind-heavy and satisfy countries’ electricity demand in 72–91% of hours (83–94% by adding 12 h of storage). Yet even in systems which meet >90% of demand, hundreds of hours of unmet demand may occur annually. Our analysis helps quantify the power, energy, and utilization rates of additional energy storage, demand management, or curtailment, as well as the benefits of regional aggregation.

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Introduction

Stabilizing mean global temperatures requires a global transition to energy systems with near-zero (or net-negative) carbon dioxide equivalent emissions 1 , 2 , 3 . In cost-optimized scenarios that accomplish this transition, solar and wind resources often supply a large share (e.g., >60%) of electricity 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 . Designing and operating a highly reliable electricity system that is dependent on such large shares of wind and solar generation can be a challenge, however, due to the variable and uncertain nature of solar and wind resources 11 , 12 . The efficacy of meeting electricity demands with generation from solar and wind resources depends on factors such as location and weather; the area over which generating assets are distributed; the mix and magnitude of solar and wind generation capacities; the availability of energy storage; and firm generation capacity 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 . Meanwhile, reliability standards in industrialized countries are typically very high (e.g., targeting <2–3 h of unplanned outages per year, or ~99.97% 17 ). Resource adequacy planning standards for “1-in-10” are also high: in North America (BAL-502-RF-03) 18 , generating resources must be adequate to provide no more than 1 day of unmet electricity demand—or in some cases 1 loss of load event—in 10 years (i.e., 99.97% or 99.99%, respectively) 19 .

Here, we present a systematic analysis of the ability of specified amounts of solar and wind generation to meet electricity demands in 42 major countries across a range of assumptions associated with transmission, energy storage, and generation amounts. In particular, we assess spatial and temporal gaps between electricity demand and the availability of solar and wind resources, which represent gaps that must be filled by other non-emitting generation technologies or operating strategies in reliable electricity systems based on zero-carbon sources. The complementarity of renewable energy sources for this study is defined as a hybridization of solar-wind resources over a given area (here, countries), which we estimate by the Kendall correlation coefficient of these resources across 39-years of resource data 20 . Our goal is to identify the opportunities, complementarity, and challenges of variable renewable resources in greater detail than can be done by integrated assessment models that have multi-year time steps. Our results do not account for realistic power system specifications. Rather, we examine fundamental geophysical constraints on wind- and solar-dominated power systems independent of cost estimates. Note that we do not mean to suggest that the temporal variability of such resources would ever make it physically impossible to meet a given electricity demand (with enough capacity the solar and wind resources would be able to meet demand), but rather the extent to which such variability may determine the economic or socio-political feasibility of reliable systems. Our results will thus continue to be informative even as technological and socio-political feasibility evolves.

Details of our analytical approach are in the “Methods” section. In summary, we use 39 years (1980–2018) of gridded (0.5° × 0.625°) and hourly reanalysis data 21 , 22 and actual/projected hourly electricity demand from a single recent year to evaluate the adequacy of solar and wind resources to meet electricity demand in each of 42 major countries (data sources and countries are listed in Supplementary Data  1 ). First, hourly, area-weighted capacity factors for both solar and wind resources are calculated over each country (or region), assuming perfect transmission within the country or region. Then we exogenously specify (1) the mix of solar and wind generation, (2) the overall level of annual generation from these sources, and (3) the capacity of energy storage, and analyze the ability of the specified technologies to meet hourly demand. We analyze systems ranging from 100% solar (no wind) to 100% wind (no solar), in which total annual generation ranges from equal to annual demand (“1x generation”) to up to three times annual demand (“3x generation”), and in which available energy storage ranges from none (“0 h”) to 12 h of mean demand (“12 h”). In addition, we simulate the impacts of different demands (i.e., demand load profiles) and technologies (i.e., single-axis and dual-axis solar tracking systems) on electricity system reliabilities as sensitivity tests. The number of countries, years of reanalysis data, and different system configurations we analyze require computation and analysis of ~300,000 year-long simulations.

Resources and demand variability

Figure  1 shows the seasonal and daily variability of solar and wind resources and electricity demand in the six countries with the greatest electricity demand on every continents except Antarctica (results from six other major countries and continent-level aggregated regions are shown in Supplementary Figs.  1 and 2 , respectively). Solar and wind consistently peak in summer and winter, respectively, in countries of the Northern Hemisphere (seasons are reversed in countries of the Southern Hemisphere; Fig.  1a–f ). The seasonal cycles of solar and wind thus suggest potential complementarity in many countries (e.g., China, Fig.  1a ; and Germany, Fig.  1b ). However, during the 39-year period, interannual variability of wind is consistently much greater than that of solar in most countries (Fig.  1a–f ), though the magnitude of these resources’ variability differs substantially between two particular countries. For example, Germany’s small area (0.36 million km 2 ) and high latitude (centroid 51.2 °N) result in large interannual variations in both solar (measured by the robust coefficient of variation 23 ; RCoV = 58.8%) and wind resources (RCoV = 47.2%, Fig.  1b ), whereas solar resource variability is very low (RCoV = 6.6%) in the larger and tropical country of Brazil (8.52 million km 2 and centroid 14.2 °S; Fig.  1e ). Wind resources are also more variable than solar resources on the time scale of days to weeks in each country, which acts to limit and undermine the resources’ seasonal complementarity. Electricity demand profiles for each country are determined by factors such as economic conditions, prevailing weather conditions and consumer usage patterns 24 . Therefore, electricity demand for two countries can have unique seasonal shapes and a range of variabilities even if they have similar wind and solar resources. For example, seasonal variability of demand in France (RCoV = 14.4%; Supplementary Fig.  1e ) is greater than that in Germany (RCoV = 7.4%; Fig.  1b ), despite the countries’ similar wind and solar resource profiles.

Climatological variability of the area-weighted median power from solar (orange) and wind (blue) resources for the selected country from six continents during the 39-year period 1980–2018. The countries (from the top row to the bottom row) are China ( a , g , m ), Germany ( b , h , n ), contiguous U.S. ( c , i , o ), South Africa ( d , j , p ), Brazil ( e , k , q ), and Australia ( f , l , r ). The left column ( a – f ) depicts the daily and seasonal variability, the middle column ( g – l ) depicts hourly summer (June, July, and August) variability, and the right column ( m – r ) depicts hourly winter (December, January, and February) variability. The lines represent the median, the dark shading represents the inner 50% of observations (25th to 75th percentile) and the light shading represents the outer 50% of observations (0th to 100th percentile) of the daily averaged value for that same day in each of the 39 years of record. Red curves in each panel represent electricity demand for a single, most recent, available year for each country. The time of day shown is the local time of each country and its relation to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is shown. Note that the middle of local time zones has been selected for the countries with multiple time zones. The solar, wind, and demand data are each normalized by dividing by their respective 39-year mean value.

Daily cycles of solar and wind resources in each country are also somewhat complementary. Wind power usually peaks at night and rarely falls to zero when resources are aggregated over an entire country. This daily cycle is not substantially different during the summer and winter months (comparing Fig.  1g–l with Fig.  1m–r ). Thirty-four (of the 42) countries have higher average wind power availability during the nighttime than during the daytime. Solar power peaks in the middle of the day and drops off sharply to zero at dusk. The amplitude and duration of the daily cycles for solar power availability is consistently different during the summer and winter months across countries (Fig.  1g–l versus Fig.  1m–r ). The daily cycle of solar resources is a barrier to realizing reliable solar-dominated electricity systems without energy storage and/or complementary wind generation to meet demand during the hours when the solar resource is not available. In addition, given our assumption of single-axis solar tracking, available solar power tends to be flat for several hours around its daytime peak during the daily cycles (Fig.  1g–r ), though in some countries (e.g., Germany, South Africa, Australia) there is a consistent dip near noon, perhaps related to our adjustments of the direct radiation (details in Supplementary Note  1 ). Kendall’s correlation coefficients of solar and wind resources in the 42 main countries range from −0.91 to −0.83 (see Supplementary Data  2 ), another indication of good complementarity (where −1 is the best possible complementarity) 20 .

The most reliable generation systems

The colors in Fig.  2 show the reliability of electricity systems (i.e., the average percentage of electricity demand that is met each year from 1980 to 2018) based only on solar and wind resources for 18 major countries (4 from each of Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas, and 2 from Oceania; horizontal axes of each panel), according to: the mix of solar and wind generation (vertical axes), the level of annual generation relative to annual demand (1x in left panels and 1.5x in right panels), and the capacity of energy storage relative to mean electricity demand (0, 3, and 12 h in the first, second, and third rows of panels, respectively). Results for 24 other countries are shown in Supplementary Fig.  3 and Supplementary Data  3 . Figure  2a shows that without any excess annual generation or energy storage (assuming perfect national transmission), the most reliable mixes (white circles) of solar and wind generation could potentially meet 72–91% (average 83%) of electricity demand in these countries. Under these generation and storage assumptions, the most reliable solar-wind generation mixes range from 65 to 85% wind power (73% on average), with countries with substantial desert (like Algeria, Egypt, South Africa) favoring slightly more solar and less wind (65–70% wind) and with higher-latitude countries like Russia and Canada favoring more wind (85% wind; Fig.  2a ).

Shading in each panel represents the 39-year average estimated reliability (% of total annual electricity demand met) by a mix of solar and wind resources ranging from 100% solar to 100% wind (every 5% change for solar-wind generation mix). 18 main countries are chosen to show their ability to meet total annual electricity demand, including 16 main countries from four continents (Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas) and 2 main countries from Oceania. The white circles represent the highest reliability within each country under 21 sets of solar and wind generation mix (called the most reliable mix). Storage and generation quantities are varied in each panel: a 1x generation without storage; b 1x generation with 3 h of storage; c 1x generation with 12 h of storage; d 1.5x generation without storage; e 1.5x generation with 3 h of storage; and f 1.5x generation with 12 h of storage.

Adding 3 h of energy storage, but still without excess annual generation, increases the reliability so that the most reliable mixes (white circles) meet 78–93% (average 87%) of electricity demand. The share of solar generation in these most reliable mixes increases to 15–50% (36% on average; Fig.  2b ). However, the share of solar generation increases less, or even decreases, in higher-latitude countries like Russia, Canada, and Germany (Fig.  2b ). These trends continue as more storage is added, so that with 12 h of energy storage and no excess annual generation, 83–94% (average 90%) of electricity demand is met with mixes of 10–70% solar power (49% on average; Fig.  2c ).

If generating capacities are instead increased so that annual generation exceeds annual demand in each country by 50% (i.e., 1.5x generation), but without energy storage, the most reliable mixes meet 83–99% (average 94%) of electricity demand. The 1.5x generation most reliable mixes are substantially more reliable than in the 1x generation systems but include more wind power: 70–90% wind power (78% on average; Fig.  2d ). These “overbuilt” systems are more reliable in all of these 18 countries than the systems with 12 h of energy storage but no excess generation (Fig.  2c ). Adding energy storage to systems whose generation is 1.5x annual demand again increases both the system reliability (89–100%, average 98%) and the share of solar generation (most reliable mixes have 10–60% solar power, 36% on average; Fig.  2e, f ).

The unmet demand

The scatter plots in Fig.  3 show the relationships among reliability, energy storage, excess annual generation, and countries’ land area for the most reliable solar-wind mixes of all 42 countries analyzed (see relationships with a log y-axis in Supplementary Fig.  4 ). The linear fits in each panel show that solar-wind systems are generally less reliable in countries with smaller land areas (e.g., Fig.  3a ). Specifically, our results across countries indicate that the reliability of solar-wind systems that lack energy storage increases by 7.2% for every factor of 10 increase in land area; this relationship further suggests the improvement in system reliability that might be expected by expanding transmission systems within large countries. However, excess annual generation tends to alleviate the disadvantage of small country area more than energy storage (this can be seen by comparing the slopes of the linear fits in panels of Fig.  3c and d ). In addition, within each country, to compare the gains in reliability from excess annual generation and energy storage, a nonlinear function was fit to the reliability given the land area, the level of annual generation, and the capacity of energy storage (see Supplementary  Information ). Our results indicate that a 10% increase in excess annual generation is equivalent to 3.9 h of storage (Supplementary Note  2 ).

Shading of bubbles represents the annual average hours of long-duration (>24 h) power supply gaps. Storage and generation quantities are varied in each panel: a 1x generation without storage; b 1x generation with 3 h of storage; c 1x generation with 12 h of storage; d 1.5x generation without storage; e 1.5x generation with 3 h of storage; and f 1.5x generation with 12 h of storage.

Figure  3 also points to the nature of systems’ unreliability: the color of bubbles indicates the average number of events in which there would be unmet demand in each of at least 24 contiguous hours (i.e., “long-duration gaps”). In systems that meet >95% of a countrie’s demand, dozens of such long-duration gaps often remain each year (yellow and green circles). In some countries, excess annual generation reduces the number of such long-duration gaps more than adding 12 h of energy storage (e.g., compare Sweden, Australia, Canada, and Russia in Fig.  3c and d ).

Figure  4 further characterizes the magnitude and duration of unmet demand in 16 major countries (removing two African countries from the 18 countries shown in Fig.  1 for figure symmetry; in descending order of their land area), with curves showing gaps of different system configurations sorted by their magnitude and according to the number of hours each year that such a gap occurred (power supply gap represents the fraction of unmet demand to the total demand in that hour averaging over 1980–2018; see relationships with a log y-axis in Supplementary Fig.  5 ). For example, the pale purple curves show that systems with no excess annual generation and 12 h of energy storage consistently have gaps in which >50% of demand is unmet for >1000 h per year (Fig.  4 ). Pale green curves show that systems with 50% excess annual generation and 12 h of energy storage may have much smaller and shorter gaps in some countries (e.g., <10% of demand unmet in fewer than 100 h per year in Russia, China, and Australia), but the gaps may still be >20% of demand for tens of hours or more in countries with relatively large land areas (e.g., Canada, Brazil, India, and Mexico) and >60% of demand for several hundred hours per year in countries with smaller areas (e.g., France, Japan, Germany, New Zealand, the U.K., and South Korea; Fig.  4 ). Indeed, in smaller countries, substantial gaps (>30% of demand for >20 h per year; pale orange curves in Fig.  4 ) remain in systems even with 12 h of energy storage and annual generation that is 3x annual demand.

Areas under each curve show the share and hours of unmet electricity demand of the most reliable solar-wind systems in selected countries assuming specified storage and generation quantities: a Russia; b Canada; c contiguous U.S.; d China; e Brazil; f Australia; g India; h Algeria; i Mexico; j South Africa; k France; l Japan; m Germany; n New Zealand; o United Kingdom; p South Korea (see data in Supplementary Data  6 ). Color of lines represents different generation quantities: 1x generation in purple, 1.5x generation in green, and 3x generation in orange. Shading of lines represents different storage quantities: darkest shading represents without storage, medium shading represents 3 h of storage, and lightest shading represents 12 h of storage. Note that the y-axis of power supply gap represents the fraction of unmet demand to the total demand in that hour.

Benefits from sharing resources of multiple nations

We also evaluate the reliability benefits of regional electricity interconnections whereby the solar and wind resources of multiple nations are pooled and shared, again assuming perfect transmission within these regions. The maps in Fig.  5 present the effects of such spatial aggregation, showing the highest reliability of solar-wind generation with no excess annual generation or energy storage at the national level (Supplementary Data  7 ; Fig.  5a ), as well as when a system is aggregated into 19 separate, contiguous multinational regions (Fig.  5b ; categorization in Supplementary Data  4 ) and 6 continents (Supplementary Data 7 ; Fig.  5c ). Each step produces substantial improvements in reliability, with >89.8% of hourly demand met everywhere when resources are aggregated at the continental level (Fig.  5c ). Figure  5c also indicates the additional reliability gains in these systems that would be achieved as a consequence of specific intercontinental connections. Supplementary Fig.  6 shows that the supply gaps in continental-scale solar-wind systems might be entirely eliminated in Africa, Asia, and South America, and limited to <2% of demand and 49, 26, and 13 h in Europe, Oceania, and North America, respectively, given excess annual generation of 50% and 12 h of storage. Substantial supply gaps remain for continental-scale systems when excess annual generation and energy storage are not available (Supplementary Fig.  7 ).

Maps show the reliability (i.e., hourly averaged resource adequacy) at country/region scale ( a ; Supplementary Data  4 ), the subcontinent scale ( b ; 19 multinational regions, and listed in the SI), and at continental scale ( c ; 6 continents: Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, South America, and Oceania). We also evaluated the reliability of the power supply system assuming several intercontinental connections (shown as the arrows: Asia–Oceania, Europe–Asia, Europe–Africa, North America–Europe, and North America–South America). The added reliabilities for each continental power system under various connections are labeled.

Our results suggest that, neglecting transmission constraints, with systems sized to meet time-integrated annual electricity demand, major countries’ solar and wind resources could meet at least 72% of instantaneous electricity demand without excess annual generation or energy storage. For instance, in the contiguous U.S., a solar and wind power system could provide ~85% of total electricity demand, which is consistent with the prior studies and reports 12 , 25 . Solar and wind resources can achieve greater levels of reliability by adding energy storage, increasing deployed capacities (i.e., generating electricity in excess of annual demand), or pooling resources of contiguous, multinational regions 26 . However, the marginal improvements in reliability related to these options differ considerably across countries and regions, according to their land area, location, and geophysical resources (Supplementary Figs.  8 and 9 ).

In small, high-latitude countries, the highest reliability systems are usually wind-heavy (e.g., as high as 95% wind power), with particularly large reliability gains achievable by regional aggregation. In contrast, the most reliable systems in temperate/tropical countries tend to include more solar. Meanwhile, the most reliable systems are not always the same systems that would minimize the frequency of long-duration (≥24 h) power supply gaps (Supplementary Fig.  9 ). In general, more solar in the wind-solar mix reduces the frequency of long-duration gaps. Although reasonably high levels of reliability can be reached by solar-wind resources alone, the defining challenge of such systems are the longer-duration gaps, often associated with extreme weather episodes. For instance, historical solar and wind resources data in Germany reveal that there were nearly 2 weeks in which dispatchable generation had to cover practically all of the demand because of a period with very low solar and wind power availability (called “dark doldrums”) 27 . Although with vast enough wind and solar capacity it might still be possible to meet demand in all hours, the required capacity increases exponentially after a point that depends on the renewable resources of that country, and it is this geophysically-dependent point that will largely determine the cost-effectiveness of highly-reliable, renewables-based electricity systems. Although dispatchable fossil fuel generators with 100% effective carbon capture storage (CCS) could provide system reliability without emissions 2 , such underutilized and capital-intensive backup electricity would require higher investments and variable costs. In contrast, combustion turbines or combined cycle plants burning carbon-neutral biogas, syngas, or hydrogen might have comparatively low capital costs, but would require additional and large capital investments to produce such fuels (e.g., biodigestion, direct air capture, Fischer-Tropsch, and/or electrolysis). Sector-coupling or right-sizing of these net-zero emissions fuel-production facilities could nonetheless make infrequent operation of generators feasible 28 . More firm generation would mean less solar and wind capacity in a given system, which might or might not be cost-effective depending on technology costs. But many jurisdictions and advocates are interested in “maxing out” solar and wind. Our results are especially relevant in that context, highlighting the implications of country-level differences in the variability of solar and wind resources, including how much storage and firm generation might be required to ensure resource adequacy. Although our methods are simple and transparent, our goals and findings are remarkably consistent with much more complex approaches. For example, the recently published Net-Zero America report includes a cost-optimized “all-renewables” scenario which decarbonizes U.S. electricity without nuclear or CCS: by 2050, ~81.6% of primary energy in the E + RE + scenario is from solar and wind 29 .

Our analysis has important limitations and uncertainties. To improve the generality of our results, our analysis focuses exclusively on geophysical constraints and does not consider economic feasibility. As noted throughout, our reliability estimates are a best case given the assumption that electricity can be transmitted losslessly throughout a region of interest. Also, we use area-weighted averages for solar and wind generation potential without regard to existing protections or uses. This use of area-weighted averages affects our estimates in two important ways. First, our estimates may include areas where currently generation cannot be sited. Second, our derivation of solar and wind capacity factors implies uniform distribution of wind and solar generation technology (i.e., a horizontal single-axis tracking system applied in this work), which does not allow us to select locations with particularly high capacity factors or to strategically select a set of locations whose generating potential is mutually negatively correlated. This second point has the effect of making our estimates for the efficacy of solar and wind resources to meet electricity demand more conservative by using the horizontal single-axis tracking system compared to the dual-axis solar tracking systems. For this case, dual-axis solar tracking systems are added to test the impacts on the system reliabilities (see Supplementary Note  3 ), we find that different solar tracking systems have very small impacts on the electricity system reliabilities and the reliability change ratios are within ±5% under the 1x generation system and less sensitive under 3x generation system (Supplementary Fig.  10 ). However, either method to calculate capacity factors of national and regional area-weighted averages may also reduce the resource variability and thereby increase estimates of reliability. Third, hourly variations of solar and wind capacity factors in the reanalysis data MERRA-2 we used may be biased. A new analysis based on a different and independent reanalysis product, ERA5 30 , 31 , has been added and compared to the original results (see Supplementary Note 3 and Supplementary Figs.  11 - 12 ). Our estimates of the system reliabilities by using ERA5 data in the 42 major countries are in good agreement with results of MERRA-2: under 1x generation and the most reliable mixes without storage, reliability under the different loads varies on average from −9.4 to 1.3% (see Supplementary Fig.  9a ). The differences are similar in systems with excess generation (Figs. S11b-c). We also compared the magnitude and duration of unmet demand in 16 major countries like Fig.  4 (see Supplementary Fig.  12 ). The data products of MERRA-2 and ERA5 both can essentially capture the number of hours each year that such a gap occurred. By contrast, the MERRA-2 data has a better performance of meeting hourly demand in larger countries (i.e., Russia and Canada) but a similar performance in small countries (i.e., United Kingdom). The somewhat different patterns of resource variability in the two datasets do not alter our main conclusions.

Our estimates show that the marginal reliability benefit of increased capacity of storage or increased overbuild of wind/solar declines steadily. Under a given capacity of energy storage (e.g., 3 h), our results of 1x, 1.5x, and 3x generation show that the first 10% excess generation increase is larger than the next 10% excess generation increase (i.e., the marginal benefit for system reliability decreases as excess generation increases). As might be expected, the diminishing marginal benefits between excess generation and increased storage apply in both directions. Our fitting model performs well across different nations, overbuild levels, and storage levels. The differences in reliability between the estimates and the model predicted values are between −5.5 and 5.8% and ~80% of the differences are within ±2%, with no systematic bias related to region or the magnitude of overbuild or storage. Nonetheless, our model and conclusions are limited by our experimental design and the discrete levels of excess generation (1x, 1.5x, and 3x) and storage (0, 3, and 12 h) we evaluated.

We compare the reliability improvements obtainable by energy storage, excess capacity, and regional aggregation but not the relative costs of the different options. For example, the energy storage capacities we consider are in some cases quite large: energy storage equal to 12 h of mean electricity demand in the contiguous U.S., Germany, and Japan represents 5.6, 0.7, and 1.4 TWh, respectively (Supplementary Data  5 ). These combined storage capacities represent ~35 times the capacity of Li-ion batteries produced globally to date 32 , and more than 200 times the pumped hydro storage capacities that now exist in those countries 33 . The feasibility of 12 or more hours of energy storage may depend on continued innovation and learning related to the associated materials and technologies 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 . Similarly, the feasibility of pooling solar and wind resources over national or multinational regions may depend on both technological advances that reduce the costs, losses, and risks of power transmission 38 , 39 , 40 as well as shifts in the socio-political support for such infrastructure 41 , 42 . In addition, setting up purely solar and wind supplied electricity systems requires a large number of solar panels and wind turbines to be installed, and we do not incorporate the impacts or interactions (e.g., wakes) from these hypothetical build-outs. Last, in this work, only 1-year of demand data is employed to assess the geophysical constraints of 39-year solar and wind resources. On one hand, we understand that the hourly patterns of countries electricity demand will of course change over time with changes in population, economic activities, power generation structure, and technology. For example, stronger positive correlation between solar/wind availability and demand may be observed as renewable energy gradually dominates the power system. However, our analysis compares resources and demand in different years and at the country-level, which should preclude any bias related to specific subnational weather events. On the other hand, electricity demand profile may also dramatically change with future high electrification. We therefore perform additional analysis using the demand pattern from the future high electrification scenario (i.e., combining the high electrification scenario and rapid technology advancement) 43 and use the results to discuss the sensitivity of our results to such different load profiles (see Supplementary Fig.  13 ), and the results of this test for the U.S. show that reliability is not especially sensitive to the high electrification demand profile: under 1x generation without storage, reliability under the different renewable mixes varies on average from −1 to 2.5%. The differences are even smaller in solar-heavy systems with excess generation. In addition, we test the sensitivity of our results to such changes in demand by simulating the reliability of U.S. resources in meeting current loads from each other region (see Supplementary Note  4 ). These tests show that reliability is not especially sensitive to demand profiles: under 1x generation and the most reliable mixes without storage, reliability under the different loads varies on average from −9 to 2% (see Supplementary Fig.  14a ). The differences become even smaller in systems with excess generation (Supplementary Fig.  14 ).

Despite these simplifying assumptions, our results offer insights from those provided by multi-year time step integrated assessment modes (IAMs) or hourly, cost-optimized energy system models. Specifically, hourly resolution over several decades allows us to evaluate the adequacy of regional solar and wind resources independent of costs. For example, cost-optimizing models which either require renewables sources to meet a very high share of demand or else assume extremely cheap renewable costs generally find substantial increases in system costs related to, e.g., energy storage. Our geophysically-focused results help to explain such results irrespective of cost assumptions. Indeed, we compare the estimates of reliability and capacities in this study with several techno-economic studies that have used independent approaches to model regional solar- and wind-dominated electricity systems in detail 29 , 44 , 45 . In each case, focusing on the U.S., these studies find that the share of non-emitting (or carbon neutral) electricity contributed by solar and wind in cost-optimized systems is typically ~80%, with the residual demand for non-emitting generation met by firmer renewables such as biomass, hydroelectricity, and geothermal 29 , 44 , 45 .

Variable solar and wind energy are projected by many to be the dominant sources of electricity in net-zero emissions energy systems of the future. With solar and wind capacities sized such that total annual generation meets total annual demand, seasonal and daily complementarities of these resources make them capable of meeting three-quarters of hourly electricity demand in larger countries. Increasing the share of demand that can be met by solar and wind generation will require either “overbuilding” (i.e., excess annual generation), the introduction of large-scale energy storage, and/or aggregating resources across multinational regions (Supplementary Data  6 ). We highlight the geophysical considerations related to these options, but economics and geopolitics will also strongly influence which strategies are ultimately adopted and are therefore important topics for further research. Our analysis for the 39-year record of solar and wind resources is in part to obtain a statistically significant analysis of interannual variability and rare events (such as prolonged storms). Establishing estimates for interannual variability and the frequency of rare events that impact solar and wind generation potential is important when considering the lifetime of the capital asset stock in an electricity grid and requires the use of many years of data. Our normalized analysis of the reliability for purely solar and wind supplied electricity system would apply as well to a system with other slowly time-varying generation (e.g., coal, hydro, geothermal, or nuclear) because the variability of solar and wind generation and related long-duration gaps in electricity supply will have to be managed either by ramping backup technologies up and down or by curtailing excess solar and wind generation. Our results reveal national and regional differences in solar and wind resources that may be useful to decision makers and researchers prioritizing their investments in pursuit of reliable and cost-effective electricity systems based predominantly on solar and wind energy.

Hourly solar and wind capacity factors

The capacity factor describes the actual energy output as compared to the systems’ rated energy output (power capacity multiplied by 1 h) 12 . To calculate the wind and solar capacity factors for this study, we first obtained the hourly climatology data from the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Application, Version-2 (MERRA-2) reanalysis product, which spans 39 years (1980–2018) and has a horizontal resolution of 0.5° by latitude [−90–90°] and 0.625° by longitude [−180–179.375°] with 361 × 576 grid cells worldwide 21 , 22 . Here we used the surface incoming shortwave flux [W m −2 ] (variable name: SWGDN), top-of-atmosphere incoming shortwave flux [W m −2 ] (variable name: SWTDN), and surface air temperature [K] (variable name: T) for deriving solar capacity factors; and wind speed at 100 m [m s −1 ], estimated based on wind speed at 10 m and 50 m (variable names: U10M, V10M, U50M, and V50M) and a power-law relationship, to derive wind capacity factors. Wind and solar capacity factors were calculated for each grid cell and each hour. Each raw data point (an hourly energy density (solar) or wind speed (wind) value at a specific location and time) was then converted into the corresponding capacity factor based on the following procedures.

For solar capacity factor, we first calculated the solar zenith angle and the solar incidence angle for each grid based on the latitude/longitude location and local time 46 , 47 , and then estimated the in-panel solar radiation 48 . Here we separated the direct and diffuse solar radiation components based on an empirical piecewise model 49 that takes into account both ratios of surface to top-of-atmosphere solar radiation (i.e., the clearness index) and the local zenith angle. We assumed a horizontal single-axis tracking system (north-south direction) with a tilt of the solar panel to be 0° and a maximum tuning angle of 45°. Solar power output from a given panel is calculated using the performance model described by Huld et al. 50 and Pfenninger and Staffell 51 , which considers both the surrounding temperature and the effect of irradiance. It is noted that we assumed the single-axis trackers for calculating solar capacity factors, which may be unsuitable enough for the small countries such as Japan, South Korea, and United Kingdom. These small countries do not have enough uncommitted land area for that and are going very likely to have to favor no tracking with rooftop photovoltaic system. Therefore, we further assessed the impacts of different solar tracking systems (i.e., single-axis and dual-axis for both a horizontal and a vertical axis) on the electricity system reliability. The detailed comparisons are shown in the SI (Supplementary Note  3 and Supplementary Fig.  10 ).

For wind capacity factor, by assuming a wind turbine hub height of 100 m, the raw wind speed data is first interpolated to 100 m by employing a power law, based on wind speed at 10 and 50 m. The 100-m-height wind speed is estimated by employing the following Eqs. ( 1 ) and ( 2 ):

where \(i,\alpha\) represent grid and alpha exponent for wind profile, and \({U}_{10},{U}_{50},\) and \({U}_{100}\) represent wind speed at 10, 50, and 100 m.

The wind capacity factor calculation employed a piecewise function consisting of four parts: (i) below a cut-in speed ( \({u}_{{ci}}\) ) of 3 m s −1 the capacity factor is zero, (ii) between the cut-in speed of 3 m s −1 and rated speed ( \({u}_{r}\) ) of 12 m s −1 the capacity factor is \({{u}_{{ci}}}^{3}/{{u}_{r}}^{3}\) , (iii) between the rated speed of 12 m s −1 and the cut-out speed ( \({u}_{{co}}\) ) of 25 m s −1 the capacity factor is 1.0, and (iv) above the cut-out speed of 25 m s −1 the capacity factor is zero 12 , 52 , 53 . The process yielded the solar and wind capacity factors for each grid cell and each hour.

An area-weighed mean hourly energy generation profile was created for the solar and wind resources individually for each region of interest. In this work, hourly solar and wind capacity factors for 168 countries/regions were produced. Capacity factors derived from reanalysis data were known to differ from real-world systems 12 , 54 , and thus these calculated capacity factors from the reanalysis dataset were rescaled. That is, the reanalysis data were used herein only for reflecting the temporal and spatial characteristics of the resource. For consistency, we normalized capacity factor values using the 25th percentile calculated capacity factor data for a region of interest due to data availability of real-world wind and solar capacity factors from public datasets or reports for all the countries and regions of interest. Our estimates represent real-world wind and solar capacity factors that are in good agreement with available observational data 55 . We then obtained the time-series hourly normalized wind and solar capacity factor dataset at the country/region level.

Country-level hourly electricity demand data

In this work, country-level hourly electricity demand data were estimated in various ways, such as from government and electricity market websites, public power systems datasets, and previous studies (Supplementary Data  1 ). As shown in Supplementary Data  1 , we compiled 168 countries and regions’ demand data, including real-word hourly demand data of 62 countries and regions, and projected hourly demand data of the rest due to data availability 56 . Toktarova et al. developed a multiple linear regression model to project electricity demand in hourly resolution for all countries globally by incorporating 57 real load data profiles of diverse countries to analyze the cyclical pattern of the data. In addition, given the different self-consistent continuous gapless time series of hourly electricity demand among different countries and regions, a single latest year of hourly electricity demand data was used in our following simulations to investigate the impact of diversity of solar and wind resources across years on power system reliability for countries and regions with available real-world electricity data. For the rest of the countries and regions, we chose the hourly electricity demand data of the most recent year of future (i.e., the year of 2020) from the projection model 56 . We herein obtained the country-level demand dataset by joining the 1-year hourly demand data together 39 times to form a 39-year record consistent with the resource data. In addition, for regional demand data, we combined all the demand data of available countries within the according region at hourly scale to represent the temporal characteristics.

Simulation design

A set of forward simulations were performed to track the ability of wind, solar installed capacity, and energy storage, if present, to meet demand in every hour. In this study, we used a Macro Energy Model (MEM), which is developed for optimizing electricity system (or electricity and fuels) without considering any spatial variation, policy, capacity markets 57 . Without considering any power system cost, generation technology, and transmission loss, we modeled the idealized hourly power supply process through dispatching wind and solar energy, as well as charging or discharging of storage, if present. Here we specified the wind and solar installed capacity, and storage capacity under the various capacity mixes of solar and wind fractions (i.e., every 5% change of solar fraction from 0% solar and 100% wind to 100% solar and 0% wind) and different levels of excess annual generation (i.e., 1x, 1.5x, and 3x generation) and energy storage (i.e., maximun 3 and 12 h of charging time) assumptions. The installed capacities for solar, wind, and storage for individual countries/regions are estimated using the Eqs. ( 3 )–( 5 ).

where \(y\) and \(s\) represent the year and size, respectively. \({{{{Capacity}}}}_{{{{solar}}}}\) , \({{{{Capacity}}}}_{{{{wind}}}}\) , and \({{{{Capacity}}}}_{{{{{{{\mathrm{storage}}}}}}}}\) represent the solar, wind, and storage capacities, respectively. \({{{{{\rm{SF}}}}}}\) represents the fraction of energy generated from solar (from 0 to 100% at intervals of 5%); \({{{{{\rm{OB}}}}}}\) represents the overbuilding of capacity, equaling 1, 1.5, or 3; \({{{{{\rm{Pwr}}}}}}\_{{{{{\rm{avg}}}}}}\) represents the mean power demand; \({{{{{\rm{Hrs}}}}}}\) represents the total hours in the year; \({{{{{\rm{CF}}}}}}_{{solar}}\) and \({{{{{{\rm{CF}}}}}}}_{{{{wind}}}}\) represent normalized capacity factors of solar and wind, respectively. And \({{{{{\rm{Bat}}}}}}\) represents battery storage, equaling 0 (i.e., no storage), 3, or 12.

When storage was assumed to be available, we assumed the initial status of storage was the same as the final status for each year, which means the charging and discharging process is balanced. We also assumed a storage charging round-trip efficiency and storage decay rate of, respectively, 90% and 1.14 × 10 −6 per hour (i.e., 1% of stored electricity lost per month) 2 , reflecting the high-end performance of current batteries 58 , 59 . Dispatchable energy used to charge a battery (called the maximum hourly storage charging) was no more than the storage power rating, equaling storage capacity divided by storage charging time.

Given the restriction of computing resources, we chose ten major countries by comprehensively considering the electricity demand and growth domestic product (GDP) from each continent except Oceania (i.e., Asia, Africa, Europe, and the America), within which only two main countries were selected (i.e., Australia and New Zealand). For each main country, 21 sets of the solar and wind mix from 0% solar and 100% wind to 100% solar and 0% wind with 5% change under 3 groups of overbuilt (1x, 1.5x, and 3x generation) and 3 groups of storage (no storage, 3 h, and 12 h of storage) were simulated, totaling 7938 simulations for all the main countries. To investigate the ability to supply power at multinational regions, continental, and intercontinental scales, we further applied the same simulation design for the main countries to multinational regions, continents, and multi-continental regions (Supplementary Data  4 ). In addition, except the abovementioned main countries, 103,194 one-year simulations consisting of 21 sets of the solar and wind mix with no excess generation or energy storage, were added for each of the remaining 126 countries worldwide.

Hourly electricity supply process

For only solar-wind electricity systems without storage, in a given hour, the MEM model estimates the ability of power to be produced by assessing whether dispatchable solar and wind energy is no less than electricity demand. Excess solar and wind energy can be curtailed due to no available storage. 100% reliability results if the solar and wind power supply system can meet all the electricity demand in every hour of the simulation.

When storage is assumed to be available in a given hour, if the solar and wind energy could meet the electricity demand, storage would be charged with excess solar and wind generation, if available, until the storage is full under the constraint of the maximum hourly storage charging, after which solar and wind energy can be curtailed. In contrast, if wind and solar energy cannot meet electricity demand, storage would be discharged to fill the power supply gap until storage is emptied or the power supply gap is filled.

Here, we define reliability assuming electricity systems use only wind/solar/storage resources to meet current demand for electricity services. If one allows for other backup electricity (e.g., using natural gas with or without CCS), then issues of reliability with excess annual generation and/or storage are largely moot.

Data availability

The electricity demand, solar, and wind capacity factors data generated for this study have been deposited in Dantong2021/Geophysical_constraints: Data of electricity demand, solar and wind capacity factors (v1.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5463202 .

Code availability

The Macro Electricity Model (MEM) code is available on GitHub via https://github.com/ClabEnergyProject/MEM .

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41921005). D.T., D.J.F., L.D., and K.C. were supported by the Carnegie Institution for Science endowment and a gift from Gates Ventures, Inc. S.J.D. was supported by the US National Science Foundation (Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy and Water Systems (INFEWS) grant EAR 1639318).

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K.C., N.S.L., S.J.D., and D.T. designed the study. D.T. performed the analyses, with support from D.J.F. on simulations and L.D. on resources estimates, and from S.J.D., Q.Z., N.S.L., and K.C. on analytical approaches. D.T. and S.J.D. led the writing with input from all coauthors.

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Tong, D., Farnham, D.J., Duan, L. et al. Geophysical constraints on the reliability of solar and wind power worldwide. Nat Commun 12 , 6146 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26355-z

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