# Special Issue: New Developments and Prospects in Clean and Renewable Energies
###### Abstract  
We present a novel approach to the design of the proposed proposed approach to the design of the proposed approach. We present a novel approach to the design of the proposed approach, which is based on the proposed approach. storage and active thermal protection in their cooperation. Different modes of operation of the energy systems were experimentally verified with emphasis on the use of RE sources and waste heat. The research methodology is focused on the analysis and synthesis of the current state of knowledge in the field, inductive and analogical forms of the development of innovative modes of operation of combined building-energy systems, the development of innovative variants of building envelope panels with integrated energy-active elements, and synthesis of the knowledge obtained from the scientific analysis. The obtained data were transformed into the design and implementation of the prototype of the prefabricated house IDA I (Bratislava, Slovakia), the experimental family house EB2020 (Tomasov, Slovakia) and the mobile laboratory--simulator and optimizer of intelligent compact devices (Modra, Slovakia). The authors are currently building a test cell for research on thermal insulation panels with integrated active thermal protection. The results of the theoretical analysis of building structures with active thermal protection show their energy potential and functionality, e.g., thermal barrier, heating/cooling, heat storage, etc. Based on the implementation of experimental buildings, new technical solutions for envelopes with controlled heat transfer were proposed. The novelty of their research lies in the design of different variants of the mode of operation of energy systems using RE sources and in the retrofitting of building envelopes with integrated energy-active elements. [PERSON] and [PERSON] [7] showed the importance of considering all sustainability challenges Earth faces, not just CC, when evaluating how energy should be used in the future. The rise of multiple global environmental challenges makes the search for solutions more difficult, because all technological solutions give rise to some unwanted environmental effects. Further, not only must these various problems be solved in the same short time frame, but they will need to be tackled in a time of rising international tensions, with steady global population increase. This review looked particularly at how all these environmental problems impact the future prospects for RE, given that RE growth must not exacerbate the other equally urgent problems, but must make a major difference in a decade or so. Their key finding is that, while the world must shift to RE in the longer run, in the short term, what is more important is to improve Earth's ecological sustainability by the most effective means possible. The authors showed, using the transport and agricultural sectors as examples, that non-CC challenges were often more serious. Hence, emphasis needs to shift from improving technical measures such as the energy efficiency of transport (as measured using pass km or tonne km per primary MJ), or agricultural output (as measured by tonnes per primary GJ). Reducing both the global transport tasks and agricultural production (while still providing an adequate diet for all) can be far more effective than converting the energy used in these sectors to RE. [PERSON] et al. [8] introduced an innovative method to cluster solar radiation stations using static and dynamic parameters by employing multi-criteria analysis for easier solar resource forecasting. The innovation stems from characterizing solar irradiation both quantitatively and qualitatively, including the variability of intermittent sources. The 76 Spanish stations are characterized initially by static parameters like mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis. Four clustering methods (hierarchical, k-means, k-medoids, and spectral cluster) group areas with similar solar irradiation traits at thirty-minute intervals.