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Topic · Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems

Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems is a research topic within Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment. Science Explorer counts 37k research works in it since 1951. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on advancements in solar thermal energy technologies, including solar thermal collectors, photovoltaic/thermal hybrid technology, concentrated solar power plants, use of solar energy in industries, photovoltaic efficiency, central receiver designs, phase change materials, nanofluid cooling, building integrated photovoltaics, and energy and exergy analysis.

  • Solar Thermal Collectors
  • Photovoltaic/Thermal Hybrid Technology
  • Concentrated Solar Power Plants
  • Solar Energy Use in Industries
  • Photovoltaic Efficiency
  • Central Receiver Designs
  • Phase Change Materials
  • Nanofluid Cooling
  • Building Integrated Photovoltaics
  • Energy and Exergy Analysis
Research works
37k
fractional, since 1951
In the world top 10%
3.7k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+27%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
37% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems

Which countries lead Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems research?

By volume, China and India publish the most (3k and 1.8k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 3k works
  2. 2 India 1.8k works
  3. 3 United States 551 works
  4. 4 Iran 537 works
  5. 5 Türkiye 459 works
  6. 6 Iraq 420 works
  7. 7 Saudi Arabia 419 works
  8. 8 Egypt 347 works
  9. 9 Spain 273 works
  10. 10 Malaysia 262 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 37.0%India: 22.8%United States: 6.8%Iran: 6.6%6 others listed: 26.9%37%largest
China2,999 · 37.0%India1,849 · 22.8%United States551 · 6.8%Iran537 · 6.6%6 others listed2,180 · 26.9%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems research?

By volume in 2022-now, Xi'an Jiaotong University publishes the most Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems research, followed by Chinese Academy of Sciences and North China Electric Power University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 103 works
  2. 2 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 102 works
  3. 3 North China Electric Power UniversityChina 81 works
  4. 4 Islamic Azad University, TehranIran 79 works
  5. 5 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 71 works
  6. 6 University of Technology - IraqIraq 65 works
  7. 7 Zhejiang UniversityChina 60 works
  8. 8 Vellore Institute of Technology UniversityIndia 59 works
  9. 9 Helmholtz Association of German Research CentresGermany 59 works
  10. 10 King Fahd University of Petroleum and MineralsSaudi Arabia 56 works

Who are the leading researchers in Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems include Ben Zhong Tang, Kai You Wang and Lei Jiang.

  1. 1 Ben Zhong Tang China 261k citations
  2. 2 Kai You Wang China 224k citations
  3. 3 Lei Jiang China 214k citations
  4. 4 Frede Blaabjerg Denmark 203k citations
  5. 5 Hua Zhang Singapore 196k citations
  6. 6 Seeram Ramakrishna Singapore 186k citations
  7. 7 Qiang Zhang China 184k citations
  8. 8 Yuming Guo Australia 175k citations
  9. 9 Kalyanmoy Deb United States 171k citations
  10. 10 Xin Wu France 165k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems?

The most cited paper in Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems is "Review on thermal energy storage with phase change materials and applications" (Atul Sharma, V.V. Tyagi, C.R. Chen et al., 2008), with 5,917 citations. Next come "Review on thermal energy storage with phase change: materials, heat transfer analysis and applications" (4,741) and "Role of renewable energy sources in environmental protection: A review" (3,901).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Review on thermal energy storage with phase change materials and applications Atul Sharma, V.V. Tyagi, C.R. Chen et al. · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 11 Feb 2008 5,917
2 Review on thermal energy storage with phase change: materials, heat transfer analysis and applications Belén Zalba, José Ma Marı́n, Luisa F. Cabeza et al. · Applied Thermal Engineering 10 Dec 2002 4,741
3 Role of renewable energy sources in environmental protection: A review Narayan Lal Panwar, S.C. Kaushik, Surendra Kothari · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 13 Jan 2011 3,901
4 Solar thermal collectors and applications Soteris A. Kalogirou · Progress in Energy and Combustion Science 2004 3,213
5 A review on phase change energy storage: materials and applications Mohammed Mehdi Farid, Amar M. Khudhair, Siddique Ali K. Razack et al. · Energy Conversion and Management 22 Nov 2003 3,095
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems research done?

The largest centres of Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Xi'an (China), Tehran (Iran) and Chennai (India). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Babol and Gabès.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 493 works
  2. 2 Xi'anChina 198 works
  3. 3 TehranIran 187 works
  4. 4 ChennaiIndia 187 works
  5. 5 BaghdadIraq 176 works
  6. 6 ShanghaiChina 169 works
  7. 7 NanjingChina 164 works
  8. 8 WuhanChina 144 works
  9. 9 TianjinChina 119 works
  10. 10 New DelhiIndia 97 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. BabolIR · 55.0 works29×
  2. GabèsTN · 21.1 works22×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems than the world average.

See Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems on the map

Where is the best place to study Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems?

Among universities, judged by research, Kafrelsheikh University, Tanta University and Babol Noshirvani University of Technology score highest, combining citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 30.68%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Tanta UniversityKafrelsheikh Univers…Babol Noshirvani Uni…Prince Sattam Bin Ab…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Kafrelsheikh UniversityEgypt 80.542.3%22.2×28 +160.9%
2Tanta UniversityEgypt 72.943.5%8.9×32 +11.4%
3Babol Noshirvani University of TechnologyIran 70.932.3%54.1×50 +143.5%
4Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz UniversitySaudi Arabia 68.925.0%11.7×33 +249.5%
5King Fahd University of Petroleum and MineralsSaudi Arabia 66.420.6%15.1×56 +58.2%
6Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 63.615.3%5.4×103 +48.5%
7Delta University for Science and TechnologyEgypt 62.639.5%30.0×11 +169.1%
8Islamic University of MadinahSaudi Arabia 60.533.5%18.5×11 +402.6%
9King Khalid UniversitySaudi Arabia 60.218.9%7.7×31 +263.8%
10Nanjing Forestry UniversityChina 57.835.9%2.9×14 +183.6%

Universities only. The score blends citation excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems, country by country

Is Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 27% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.052% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems0.052% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems9.8% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

Questions people ask

Who leads solar energy research?

By volume in 2022-now, Xi'an Jiaotong University publishes the most Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems research, followed by Chinese Academy of Sciences and North China Electric Power University. By volume, China and India publish the most (3k and 1.8k works in 2022-now).

All 1,273 questions in the Question Catalogue

Discussion

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