Renewable Energy and Industry 4.0: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

The fast merging of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies with Renewable Energy Systems (RES) is changing the world energy infrastructures into new digitalized, effective, and sustainable energy operations. This paper provides a comprehensive review based on the PRISMA framework in order to explore the role, challenges and opportunities of adopting the I4.0 technologies, including the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data analytics, Blockchain and Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), in renewable energy applications. The review includes peer-reviewed articles published from 2015 to 2025 in academic database such as Scopus, IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect, and Springer. The results indicate that I4.0 usage leads to improved effectiveness of renewable energy forecasting, predictive maintenance, smart grid management, and data-driven decision-making, resulting in increased efficiency in operations and reduction of emissions. Nevertheless, there are long-standing obstacles like cybersecurity weaknesses, interoperability, infrastructure constraints, and policy-mismatch, that have impeded mass adoption, especially in the developing economies. The paper presents research directions in open research that focus on AI-based optimization, secure IoT design, validation of digital twins, framework-based standardised data, and context-specific policy models. In general, this study highlights the transformative nature of I4.0 in hastening the process of energy transition in the world and meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by developing sustainable, intelligent, and resilient energy systems.