Abstract:

The world’s continuously increasing energy consumption, which causes a huge amount of pollution, has led researchers to search for more sustainable technologies. In this way, some renewable energy-based systems such as solar and wind systems are now commercialized. Among all renewables, wave energy has the highest potential in terms of energy production which makes it more interesting to study. This paper aims to introduce wave energy system and to present some possible ways to improve this technology. Firstly, an overview of wave energy and its worldwide potential is provided and different types of wave energy converters (WECs) are listed and briefly explained. Secondly, the advantages and drawbacks of each system are discussed to provide a better understanding of the technology. Finally it is concluded that for improving wave energy systems not only in term of efficiency but also in commercialization of the technology, more investments are required to conduct more research. Meanwhile, using recent methods such as numerical modeling and computational simulation can speed up the modeling and testing process, both in terms of time and cost reduction.

Keywords:

Wave, sustainability, wave energy converters (WECs), numerical modeling, simulation.