Comparative techno-economic-environmental investigation of hybrid renewable energy systems for combined cooling, heating and power provision to hotel buildings in hot desert climates

Journal article, 2026

Hybrid renewable energy systems (HRESs) are suitable for addressing the intermittency of separate, individual renewable resources, and for more reliable and flexible energy provision. They are thus expected to play a vital role in promoting the wider use of renewable energy technologies, which are a core element of energy transition pathways. In this study, various combinations of renewable energy technologies and product options are investigated within selected HRES configurations. These include photovoltaic (PV) panels, solar thermal collectors (STCs), PV-thermal (PV-T) collectors, wind turbines (WTs) and biomass boilers (BBs), representing a range of technical performance and cost levels. Detailed techno-economic-environmental assessments of these HRESs are performed for a case study of a hotel in Fayoum, Egypt, given the growing importance of the local tourism sector. Sensitivity analysis considering the solar field area and number of WTs is performed, along with optimisation based on net present cost (NPC) to determine optimal systems for power, heating and cooling provision to the selected hotel. The results show that PV panels, especially the low-cost product options, enable the HRESs to deliver favourable economic performance, with a lowest NPC of $195.7k, along with a corresponding levelised cost of energy (LCOE) of 0.060 $/kWh, a payback period (PBP) of 6.3 years and annual carbon emissions (ACE) of 22.1 ton/year. The PV-T-based systems are also promising, as they achieve the highest levels of self-sufficiency ratio (up to ∼40%), while having a significant potential for further technical improvements as well as cost reductions are expected in the future. From an environmental perspective, the PV- and PV-T-based systems are similar, delivering significant emissions reductions (>50%). A modified HRES layout that splits the heat provision into hot water and space heating satisfied by renewables (solar and biomass) and the hotel's existing air-conditioning system is also proposed. A decrease of 10% in NPC relative to the original PV-based HRES is achieved, while the LCOE decreases from 0.060 to 0.054 $/kWh and the PBP from 6.3 to 3.4 years. The modified HRES layout benefits from a smaller boiler, lower biomass consumption and less electricity fed/sold to the grid. The results and conclusions from this study can provide valuable guidance for the design and establishment of HRESs in practical applications, especially for the selection of available renewable energy technologies and product options, thus facilitating the wider deployment of such promising systems.