Guest Editors
Assoc. Prof. Rahul Kumar
Email: drkrahul85@gmail.com; rahul.aero001@gmail.com
Affiliation: School of Mechanical Engineering, Lovely Professional University, Punjab, India
Homepage:
Research Interests: energy and fuels, aerospace engineering, solar energy conversion applications, nanomaterials, thermal energy storage
Prof. Anuj Jain
Email: a1978jain@gmail.com
Affiliation: School of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Lovely Professional University, Punjab, India
Homepage:
Research Interests: networks, IoT, smart cities
Dr. Abhishek Sharma
Email: drasharma58@gmail.com
Affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, B I T Sindri, Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India
Homepage:
Research Interests: I C engine, energy from waste, alternative fuel, solar energy, energy storage
Prof. Olusegun D. Samuel
Email: samuel.david@fupre.edu.ng
Affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, Delta State, Nigeria
Homepage:
Research Interests: exergy, CFD, energy conversion, artificial intelligence
Summary
With rapid advancements in renewable energy engineering, solar cell research has become central to developing high-efficiency, sustainable power systems that can sustain the global energy demands. It is in fact that photovoltaic materials are continuously evolving their structures and system-level integration techniques to improve energy generation, conversion and utilization. The areas of scope span material innovation, performance optimization, grid integration, energy storage coupling and next-generation smart energy infrastructures. In addition, emerging technologies such as perovskite photovoltaics, thin-film semiconductors, multi-junction architectures, nanostructured surfaces, AI-driven modeling, digital twins and power-electronic-based energy management systems, which improve efficiency, durability and scalability. These innovations enable applications extending from utility-scale solar farms and smart microgrids to building-integrated photovoltaics, distributed generation and autonomous renewable-powered systems. The most important opportunity in the modern education and research environment is to bridge the gap between theoretical solar cell science and practical energy engineering deployment, so that learners and researchers can have a comprehensive exposure to materials, devices, systems engineering and energy policy impacts. Critical advantages of modern solar technologies are high conversion efficiency, low operation costs, carbon neutrality, easy integration with hybrid systems and adaptability across diverse climates and infrastructures.
However, long-term stability, material degradation, energy storage alignment, intermittency, large-scale deployment costs and seamless grid compatibility remain challenging. The proposed solution highlights the importance of engineering-driven innovation, including the development of strong photovoltaic materials, optimization of device designs, integration of intelligent control, improvement of thermal and optical control, creation of integrated structures that combine generation, storage and intelligent distribution. The main advantages are better efficiency, system reliability, sustainability, operational flexibility and clean energy transition pathways. In addition, applications in the real world such as rural electrification, industrial power control, electric mobility charging systems, smart buildings and national renewable energy policies. In technology and learning perspective, the field requires interdisciplinary knowledge of materials science, device physics, energy systems engineering, data analytics and policy considerations.
We thus encourage a multidisciplinary collection of works that supports engineering-driven solar cell research and makes this journal a leading venue for innovation in materials, device design, energy systems integration and smart renewable technologies. We welcome contributions from global contexts to indicate the diversity of challenges and opportunities in this domain. Specifically, we seek works that provide innovative insights on the development, optimization, deployment and evaluation of advanced solar technologies in theoretical, methodological and practical dimensions.
Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
• Next-Generation Perovskite Solar Architectures for High-Efficiency Smart Energy Systems
• Nanostructured Photovoltaic Surfaces for Optimized Renewable Energy Harvesting and Storage
• Digital-Twin-Assisted Solar Systems for Reliable Distributed Renewable Energy Management
• Thermal-Optimized Solar Cell Designs for Stable High-Efficiency Renewable Operation
• Optical-Engineered Solar Devices Improving Output Across Diverse Environmental Conditions
• Robust Photovoltaic Modules for Rural Electrification and Sustainable Community Energy Access
• Integrated Solar-Energy Storage Solutions Supporting Continuous Industrial Power Management
• Solar-Powered Charging Infrastructure for Accelerated Electric Mobility Adoption Globally
• Autonomous Solar Platforms Delivering Reliable Power in Remote Off-Grid Environments
• Advanced Photovoltaic Analytics Improving Lifecycle Sustainability of Energy Technologies
• High-Performance Solar Engineering Accelerating National Renewable Policy Implementation
• Interdisciplinary Solar Research Frameworks Strengthening Future Clean Energy Transitions
Keywords
solar cell, advanced photovoltaics, perovskite solar technologies, smart energy systems, renewable energy integration, nanostructured photovoltaic materials, digital twin–enabled energy management, high-efficiency solar energy conversion
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