SWOT analysis for the development of photovoltaic solar power in Africa in comparison with China

Lei, Yu; Lu, Xi; Shi, Ming; Wang, Lei; Lv, Haiyan; Chen, Sirui; Hu, Chengyu; Yu, Qinghua; Silveira, Serafim Dias Henriques da

doi:10.1016/j.eiar.2019.04.005

Cited by 63 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Many previous studies have used the SWOT analysis as a screening tool in their research to carry out strategic planning. It seems that SWOT analysis is expanding over time into a widening field of applications, such as implementation of Industry 4.0 [47,51], renewable energy schemes [48,52], water management [53], strategies for economic sustainability [54], oil and gas industry [55], waste management [56], and solar power development [57]. One of the major drawbacks of this technique, however, is that the influence of each criterion in decision-making cannot be gauged quantitatively.…”

Section: Literature Surveymentioning

confidence: 99%

Adapting Universities for Sustainability Education in Industry 4.0: Channel of Challenges and Opportunities

et al. 2020

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The emergence of Industry 4.0, also referred to as the fourth industrial revolution, has entirely transformed how the industry or business functions and evolves. It can be attributed to its broadening focus on automation, decentralization, system integration, cyber-physical systems, etc. Its implementation promises numerous benefits in terms of higher productivity, greater volatility, better control and streamlining of processes, accelerated enterprise growth, sustainable development, etc. Despite the worldwide recognition and realization of Industry 4.0, its holistic adoption is constrained by the requirements of specific skills among the workforce. The personnel are expected to acquire adaptive thinking, cognitive and computational skills, predominantly in the area of information technology, data analytics, etc. Thus, the universities that laid the foundation for future talents or trends in society have to adapt and modernize the existing programs, facilities, and infrastructure. This reshaping of higher education in consonance with the vision of Industry 4.0 possesses its opportunities and challenges. There are, of course, a multitude of factors involved and they need a reasonable assessment to strategically plan this metamorphosis. Therefore, this work aims to explore and analyze the different factors that influence the progression and enactment of Industry 4.0 in universities for sustainable education. For this purpose, a systematic approach based on a questionnaire as well as a SWOT (strengths (S), weaknesses (W), opportunities (O), and threats (T)) integrated with the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is adopted. The questionnaires are administered to university employees and students (or stakeholders) to assess their viewpoint, as well as to estimate the priority values for individual factors to be included in SWOT. The AHP is implemented to quantify the different factors in terms of weights using a pairwise comparison matrix. Finally, the SWOT matrix is established depending on the questionnaire assessment and the AHP weights to figure out stakeholders’ perspectives, in addition to the needed strategic scheme. The SWOT implementation of this research proposes an aggressive approach for universities, where they must make full use of their strengths to take advantage of the emerging opportunities in Industry 4.0. The results also indicate that there are fundamental requirements for universities in Industry 4.0, including effective financial planning, skilled staff, increased industrial partnerships, advanced infrastructure, revised curricula, and insightful workshops. This investigation undoubtedly underlines the importance of practical expertise and the implementation of digital technologies at the university level to empower novices with the requisite skills and a competitive advantage for Industry 4.0.

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Section: Literature Surveymentioning

confidence: 99%

Adapting Universities for Sustainability Education in Industry 4.0: Channel of Challenges and Opportunities

et al. 2020

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“…However, a techno-economic viability investigation for this system is a substantial process needed to persuade individuals to turn to solar energy. Even though it is theoretically feasible to replace the present fossil fuel electricity infrastructure with renewable energy conversion facilities, such as solar PV systems, financial boundaries remain the essential obstacle to a renewably-powered society [22]. As an off-grid solar PV system is to be incorporated with an energy storage system, battery packs are used for energy storage in territories without power grids.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Techno-Economic Feasibility Assessment of Grid-Connected PV Systems for Residential Buildings in Saudi Arabia—A Case Study

Imam

Al‐Turki

2019

Sustainability

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This paper presents a techno-economic feasibility evaluation for a grid-connected photovoltaic energy conversion system on the rooftop of a typical residential building in Jeddah, one of the major cities in Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia, electric energy consumption is the highest in the domestic sector, with 48.1% of the total electricity consumption. As the power generation in Saudi Arabia mainly relies on conventional resources, environmental pollution and energy sustainability are major concerns. To minimize these issues, the Saudi government is in the process of maximizing the utilization of renewable energy resources for power generation. Investing in solar energy in Saudi Arabia is important because the country is witnessing a rapid increase in load demand, with annual growth rates of 6%. In this paper, the system advisor model software for renewable energy modeling has been utilized to perform a techno-economic feasibility analysis of a residential grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) system, which is proposed for a typical apartment in Saudi Arabia, on the basis of various key performance indicators, namely: yield factor, capacity factor, performance ratio, levelized cost of energy, net present value, internal rate of return, and payback period. A sensitivity analysis that investigates the impact of varying techno-economic parameters on system performance and feasibility is also discussed. The size of the PV system for a typical Saudi Arabian apartment is estimated to be 12.25 kW. Results have shown that the proposed system can generate 87% of the electricity needs of an apartment. The technical analysis showed that the capacity factor and the performance ratio were 22% and 78% respectively. The levelized cost of energy and net present value revealed competitive figures of 0.0382 $/kWh and $4378, respectively. The investigations indicate that residential PV installations are an effective option for energy management in the country.

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“…The experimental data are derived from expert scoring method along with actual data analysis. Table 3 exhibits the standardization results in accordance with Equations ( 30) and (31).…”

Section: Classification and Standardization Of Evaluation Indexesmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Based on the aforementioned principles as well as existing literature and data collection [29][30][31], this study establishes the evaluation index system of PV industry along the Belt and Road from five aspects, namely economy, politics, society, ecological environment and resources, as listed in Table 1.…”

Section: Index Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Improved SPA and ICS-LSSVM for Sustainability Assessment of PV Industry along the Belt and Road

Liang

Wang

2021

Energies

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Scientific and timely sustainability evaluation of the photovoltaic industry along the Belt and Road is of great significance. In this paper, a novel hybrid evaluation model is proposed for accurate and real-time assessment that integrates modified set pair analysis with least squares support vector machine that combines improved cuckoo search algorithm. First, the indicator system is set from five principles, namely economy, politics, society, ecological environment and resources. Then, the traditional approach is established through modifying set pair analysis on the basis of variable fuzzy set coupling evaluation theory. A modern intelligent assessment model is designed that integrates improved cuckoo search algorithm and least squares support vector machine where the concept of random weight is introduced in improved cuckoo search algorithm. In the case analysis, the relative errors calculated by the proposed model all fluctuate in the range of [−3%, 3%], indicating that it has the strongest fitting and learning ability. The empirical analysis verifies the scientificity and precision of the method and points out influencing factors. It provides a new idea for rapid and effective assessment of PV industry along the Belt and Road, as well as assistance for the sustainable development of this industry. This paper innovatively proposes the sustainability evaluation index system and evaluation model for the photovoltaic industry in countries along the Belt and Road, thus contributing to the promotion of sustainable development of the photovoltaic industry in countries along the Belt and Road.

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SWOT analysis for the development of photovoltaic solar power in Africa in comparison with China

Cited by 63 publications

References 29 publications

Adapting Universities for Sustainability Education in Industry 4.0: Channel of Challenges and Opportunities

Adapting Universities for Sustainability Education in Industry 4.0: Channel of Challenges and Opportunities

Techno-Economic Feasibility Assessment of Grid-Connected PV Systems for Residential Buildings in Saudi Arabia—A Case Study

Using Improved SPA and ICS-LSSVM for Sustainability Assessment of PV Industry along the Belt and Road

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