Dear Colleagues, 

In the last two decades, all over the world, there has been a huge growth in solar energy use in terms of both photovoltaic and thermal applications. However, the exploitation of this source can be limited by intrinsic and contingency or accessory factors. A low energy density is intrinsic in the solar energy source nature and determines the need for large spaces. In addition, it is aleatory and discontinuously available, making appropriate operation strategies and storage necessary. Contingency or accessory aspects concern countries’ policies and the possibility of accessing support mechanisms, which represent a powerful diffusion vehicle. According to the International Energy Agency data, solar thermal energy sustained around 7% (1.5 EJ) of global renewable heat consumption in 2018, but the gross annual addition of new capacity has shown a decline since 2014, with a global installed capacity of 480 GW. The trend for photovoltaic is expected to continue to grow. Until 2012, the European market was the driving force behind this growth, while in the last three years before 2018, China become the leading country. Singular examples are Italy and Spain, where the drastic reduction of incentive mechanisms produced a flattening in the installed capacity.

If, on one hand, there are these limiting factors, on the other hand, there are no limits in our ideas; rather, the hurdles must inspire our works. This Special Issue was created to collect outstanding research that analyzes the sustainable management of solar energy from one or more points of view, with the aim to make solar energy more and more attractive, despite the concerns mentioned above. Sustainability can be expressed in various forms, it can concern energy, environmental, and economic aspects. Wise management starts from the estimation of the source availability and can involve the production of new components, the setup of new technologies, the design of new systems, the optimization of existing ones, and the introduction of storage systems.

Submissions addressing the aforementioned topics and dealing with the following fields of applications from a theoretical, numerical, and practical point of view are welcome:

• alternative and innovative solutions for solar energy exploitation;
• renovation and performance improvement of existing solar-based plants;
• integration of solar-driven systems in buildings;
• integration of solar subsystems in existing plants (of any nature);
• use of solar energy for air conditioning and domestic hot water heating;
• use of solar energy for electricity production;
• less-common uses of solar energy, such as food cooking, preparation or drying, water desalination, and agriculture.

This is a non-exhaustive, no-limiting list, and all research papers that meet the purposes of the Special Issue will be accepted as well.

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• solar energy
• photovoltaics
• solar thermal technologies
• solar air-conditioning
• solar system renovation
• integrated solar systems
• solar cooking
• solar desalination
• optimized management of solar-based plants
• sustainability in solar applications