Journal profile · Environmental Science-Environmental Science (miscellaneous)
Solar
ISSN 2673-9941 · MDPI AG · Switzerland
Solar: impact factor 5.1 (journal website); JCR Q2 (journal website); fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review about 6 weeks (community reports); 59 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Solar is published by MDPI AG. By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Photovoltaic System Optimization Techniques, Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems and Solar Radiation and Photovoltaics, together about 35.1% of its articles. Its main subfields are Electrical and Electronic Engineering. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Solar (ISSN 2673-9941) is a peer-reviewed, open access journal of scientific research on solar thermal energy and photovoltaic system, which publishes articles, reviews, and communications as well as Special Issues on particular subjects. We also encourage scientists to publish their experimental and theoretical results in as much detail as possible. Therefore, there is no restriction on the maximum length of the papers. Full experimental details should be provided so that the results can be reproduced. Additionally, electronic files or software regarding the full details of the calculation and experimental procedure as well as source codes can be submitted as supplementary material.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Environmental Science-Environmental Science (miscellaneous)
Editor-in-chief Jürgen Heinz WernerPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Photovoltaic System Optimization TechniquesEnergy14.4%
- Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic SystemsEnergy10.4%
- Solar Radiation and PhotovoltaicsComputer Science10.4%
- Photovoltaic Systems and SustainabilityEnvironmental Science6.3%
- solar cell performance optimizationEngineering5.3%
- Hybrid Renewable Energy SystemsEnergy4.7%
- Energy and Environment ImpactsEnvironmental Science4.7%
- Microgrid Control and OptimizationEngineering4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q2 · Energy and Fuels
Publisher-reported: JCR figures are Clarivate's and CiteScore figures Scopus's to confirm; both are a different system from the CAS zones.Publisher website
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of SciencePublisher website
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 5.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 7.2LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 7.2Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.72LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.31LetPub ·
- h-index
- 24OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 54OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 6OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3.9%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 54LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 233 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 61 | 61 | 27 |
| 2025 | 59 | 59 | 233 |
| 2024 | 33 | 33 | 658 |
| 2023 | 36 | 36 | 560 |
| 2022 | 34 | 34 | 454 |
| 2021 | 5 | 5 | 23 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 6 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 15.5 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 8.6 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication
- 61 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 6 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | CHF 1,000 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | CHF 1,000 | — | — | |
| LetPub | CHF 1,000 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | CHF 2,600 | — | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Open calls for papers1, by deadline
Publisher websiteWhat to prepare7 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 200 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required, 3
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted3
- articleArticle: These are original research manuscripts. The work should report scientifically sound experiments and provide a substantial amount of new information.Length not stated
- editorialAll peer-reviewed articles published by MDPI are assessed by our independent Academic Editors, and MDPI staff are not involved in any editorial decisions regard…Length not stated
- reviewReview: Reviews offer a comprehensive analysis of the existing literature within a field of study, identifying current gaps or problems.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- Authorship Authorship
MDPI follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines which state that, in order to qualify for authorship of a manuscript, the following criteria should be observed: Make substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; Draft the work or review it critically for important intel…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflicts of Interest
Prohibits excessive self-citation, copying references, preferential citation, and citing advertisements; follows COPE guidelines. Model summary
According to The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, “Authors should avoid entering into agreements with study sponsors, both for-profit and non-profit, that interfere with authors’ access to all of the study’s data or that interfere with their ability to analyze and interpret the data and to prepare and publish manuscripts independently when and where they choose.” All authors mus…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statements
Data sharing encouraged; FAIR principles; deposit in trusted repositories; restrictions explained in Data Availability Statement. Model summary
Data availability statements are required for all articles published with MDPI. During the peer review and editorial decision process, authors can be asked to share existing datasets or raw data that have been analyzed in the manuscript, and whether they will be made available to other researchers following publication. Authors will also be asked for the details of any existing datasets that have …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics Statement
MDPI is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). We fully adhere to its Code of Conduct and to its Best Practice Guidelines. The editors of this journal enforce a rigorous peer review process together with strict ethical policies and standards to ensure to add high quality scientific works to the field of scholarly publication. Unfortunately, cases of plagiarism, data falsification,…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright / Open Access
Articles published in Solar will be Open-Access articles distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The copyright is retained by the author(s). MDPI will insert the following note at the end of the published text: © 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and cond…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publication fees
If you transfer your manuscript to another open access (OA) journal, you will be charged an Article Processing Charge (APC) if your article is accepted for publication. The APC for each journal can be found on the individual journal’s website. For more information about APCs, please see here.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Editorial Process and Peer Review
All submissions are thoroughly peer-reviewed by experts within the field and undergo a structured editorial workflow designed to ensure quality, transparency, and scientific integrity. The full editorial procedure is available on the Editorial Process page and is also provided below. Pre-check Pre-check consists of a technical pre-check performed by the Editorial Office and an editorial pre-check …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints and Conference Papers
Solar accepts submissions that have previously been made available as preprints provided that they have not undergone peer review. A preprint is a draft version of a paper made available online before submission to a journal. MDPI operates Preprints, a preprint server to which submitted papers can be uploaded directly after completing journal submission. Note that Preprints operates independently …
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Country or region
- Switzerland
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2673-9941
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 6 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Solar
What is the impact factor of Solar?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 5.1; this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 7.2, h-index 24.
How long does peer review take at Solar?
Authors report an average review time of about 6 weeks. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
What JCR quartile is Solar in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q2; by category, Energy and Fuels Q2. JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones.
What are the manuscript requirements of Solar?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 200 words; Reference style: Author–date; Templates: LaTeX and Word; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Required, 3; Graphical abstract: Optional; Cover letter: Required. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Which databases index Solar?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Solar is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Solar open access, and what is the APC?
Solar is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-25). Last updated: .