Conventional fossil fuel‐based power generation is one of the main contributors to global environmental pollutions. The rapid depletion of fossil fuel reserves as well as their adverse environmental impact heighten the quest for cleaner and sustainable energy resources to generate electricity. Solar energy is an unlimited and immeasurable source of renewable energy that is used for direct electricity production through the solar PV cell. However, environmental conditions as well as operation and maintenance of the solar PV cell affect the optimum output and substantially impact the energy conversion efficiency, productivity and lifetime, thus affect the economy of power generation. In this study, an investigation about recent works regarding the effect of environmental and operational factors on the performance of solar PV cell is presented. It is found that dust allocation and soiling effect are crucial, along with the humidity and temperature that largely affect the performance of PV module. Additionally, the wind itself carries a significant amount of dust and sand particles, especially in the deserted areas. Deposition of dust in humid conditions forms adhesive, sticky mud on the PV cell and worsens the situation as it reduces the power generation up to 60–70%. This study discusses advanced approaches to mitigate the effects of these factors with their relative merits and challenges. Finally, a guideline is proposed to minimize the effect of different environmental and operational factors to optimize the performance of solar PV cell.

The integration of storage technologies into the hybrid energy system (HES) offers significant stability in delivering electricity to a remote community. In addition, the benefits of using storage devices for achieving high renewable energy (RE) contribution to the total energy supply are also paramount. The present study provides a detailed review on the utilization of pump‐hydro storage (PHS) related to the RE‐based stand‐alone and grid‐connected HESs. The PHS‐based HESs have been analyzed considering the technical details, including reliability, cost‐effectiveness, and environmental indicators. The optimization techniques are critically employed to the PHS‐based systems, including metaheuristics intelligent techniques, commercially available optimization and simulation tools, and recent advanced optimization tools. A comparative analysis of PHS integration to the stand‐alone and grid‐connected systems based on techno‐economic and environmental indicators over other storage technologies is also presented. The key technical and environmental challenges related to the PHS‐based HES are identified. Results from the recent research studies indicate that the PHS‐based HESs offer significant cost and environmental benefits over battery storage technologies. The study identifies that the particle swarm optimization is the mostly appreciated optimizing technique for cost‐effective energy supply and environmental aspects followed by hybrid optimization model for electric renewables and genetic algorithm.

The depletion in non-renewable energy sources and a fast-growing population in Bangladesh are exacerbating the already existing energy scarcity, highlighting the need for an efficient and robust renewable-energy supply chain. The primary goal of this study is to evaluate the most optimized renewable-energy supply chain based on natural resource availability and government policies of Bangladesh. In the present study, four renewable energy resources, including solar, biomass, wind and hydropower, are studied and nine subcriteria are defined under four primary criteria for each supply chain. Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and VIseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) are multicriteria decision-making approaches used in this study to compare and choose the best renewable-energy supply chain. The relative significance of four supply-chain criteria for primary renewable energy in this study, namely energy procurement, production, operations and maintenance costs, and social and environmental impact, is gathered via a survey. The results of this research, supported by a comprehensive sensitivity analysis, indicate that hydropower is the best renewable-energy supply chain, followed by wind as a compromise solution, biomass and solar. The study also demonstrates that no energy source can satisfy all supply-chain criteria alone; each resource is better for a specific criterion—solar is better for procurement, hydropower is significant for production and wind is remarkable for operations and social impact. Therefore, to maximize output, renewable energy sources must be integrated. From Bangladesh’s perspective, for the first time, by using TOPSIS and VIKOR together, this study offers significant insights to establish an efficient and sustainable renewable-energy supply chain for practitioners, academics and policymakers.