3-D printing solar photovoltaic racking in developing world

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide a technical and economic evaluation of the value of the RepRap as an entry-level 3-D printer in the developing world and provide a cost effective solar photovoltaic (PV) racking solution to better serve the developing world and aid in the acceleration of their economic and socioeconomic growth. A customizable open-source PV racking concept is designed, prototyped for three types of modules, constructed into systems, and outdoor tested under extreme conditions for one year. An economic analysis is provided along with a technical evaluation of the system, which found the proposed racking system can be successfully printed with RepRap 3-D printers and saves between 85% and 92% from commercially available alternatives depending on the plastic used for printing. In addition, the plastic parts proved able to withstand some of the harshest outdoor conditions and due to the free and open-source nature of the designs, it allows the system to be adapted to custom applications in any region in the world more easily than any commercial alternatives. The results indicate that the 3-D printable X-wire solar photovoltiac racking system has the potential to aid in the acceleration of solar deployment in the developing world by providing a low cost PV racking solution.

Design of Post-Consumer Modification of Standard Solar Modules to Form Large-Area Building-Integrated Photovoltaic Roof Slates

“…Finally, future work could probe the use of distributed manufacturing of polymer [19,20] or polymer composites [61] with UV (ultraviolet) and temperature protection for the conversion kits to reduce the cost of BIPV design investigated here even further.…”

“…Historically, the academic interest in PV racking has been low, with only two studies being published (2015 and 2016) in the non-patent literature as of this writing (on flat roof racking) [19] and racking for the developing world [20]. Due in a large part to this lack of attention and the relative unimportance of the costs of PV racking, it has been marginal historically, and there has been little progress on reducing the materials and costs associated with PV racking [1].…”

Pharmaceutical-grade oral films as substrates for printed medicine

“…In the past decade printing has advanced to an enabling technology in many fields of science and engineering (Berthuy et al, 2016;Kastner et al, 2017;Li et al, 2016;Wittbrodt and Pearce, 2017). This trend has also arrived in pharmaceutical manufacturing research since printing of medicines has some specific advantages over other technologies (Boehm et al, 2014).…”

General Design Procedures for Airport-Based Solar Photovoltaic Systems

“…The one area of potential problem of interference might occur due to the use of metal parts for the racking of the modules. This has not been found it practice, but there are also already alternative materials that can be used for PV racking including plastic tension-based systems [55,56], fiber glass [57], plastic [58] and concrete [59]. These alternative material systems may be considered for airports with metal racking concerns.…”