Efficient approaches for harvesting solar energy in cogeneration: a review

Stronger urbanization will increase the demand for power and thermal energy to meet the new energy service requirements, which often leads to higher fossil fuels use and emissions. Renewable energy utilization has high potential in urban context to reduce carbon emissions. Solar energy in particular has proved to be promising renewable source due to its ubiquity, abundance and sustainability. Efficient utilization of solar energy for cogeneration is an important application in the built environment, with wide applicability. This review provides a comprehensive state-of-the-art analysis of solar energy for combined heat and power supply based on the available literature. Different approaches to solar cogeneration are classified and critically reviewed. The review shows that efficient solar cogeneration methods could significantly improve the utilization efficiency of solar energy.