Due to hot-humid and arid weather Egyptian buildings' demand for thermal comfort conditions (space cooling) is increasing exponentially and is supplied through grid electricity fuelled chillers. There are 11.5 million buildings in Egypt. Blackouts caused by grid failure due to overloading and lack of power is a common place.
Looking at Egypt's high solar resource (~2000 kWh/m2/yr), an environmentally and economically viable option would be solar heat driven chillers. In this context, NoNSToP project aims to develop a cost effective, polygenerating (power, heat and cooling) solar concentrating PVT system able to deliver electrical power up to 3 times higher than an equivalent non-concentrating panel and heat at >120 °C.
The novelties include (i) integrated low concentrating (C<5) and mid-concentrating (C<15) optical concentrators in a single trough; (ii) synthesis of directly absorbing multifunctional nanofluid and (iii) demonstration of the overall performance in conjunction with a commercial vapour absorption system (VAS) chiller in a 'Living Solar Lab' concept.
The project will aim to:
- train through collaborative research local scientists and industry professionals,
- make energy available to a wider population of lower socioeconomic background and
- create business opportunities for Egyptian and UK industry partners.
Project outcomes are applicable to all building types and the fast developing, small and medium commercial and industrial activities across the globe. The project will lead to joint research, two-way knowledge and technology transfer
manufacture in Egypt, development of high level skills, and contribution to energy security.
The project team comprises one leading UK research university (BUL), one Egypt research institute (NRIAG) and 3 industries with a substantial research and development track record in solar technologies, efficient energy use in buildings, technology transfer and commercialisation.
The research team inspects the paraboloidal dish concentrator
Meet the Principal Investigator(s) for the project
Dr Harjit Singh - Dr Singh received his BEng, and MEng (IIT Roorkee, India) with specialisation in Mechanical and Thermal Engineering disciplines and PhD (University of Ulster, UK) in experimental evaluation of natural convective heat transfer in CPC solar collector cavities. He was a Senior Lecturer in Renewable Energy at the Kingston University London (2009-2011) prior to accepting the current position. He has six years of research experience on various EU, EPSRC, the Carbon Trust and Defra funded projects. Dr Singh was previously a Lecturer of Mechanical Engineering at National Institute of Technology Hamirpur, India. His research focuses on various aspects of solar energy systems, energy use in built environment. Topics currently being researched into include design and development of novel concentrating solar collectors, vacuum insulation panels and building retrofit for improved energy efficiency.
Partnering with confidence
Organisations interested in our research can partner with us with confidence backed by an external and independent benchmark: The Knowledge Exchange Framework. Read more.
Project last modified 13/10/2023