Distributed manufacturing with 3-D printing: a case study of recreational vehicle solar photovoltaic mounting systems

Abstract

For the first time, low-cost open-source 3-D printing provides the potential for distributed manufacturing at the household scale of customized, high-value, and complex products. To explore the potential of this type of ultra-distributed manufacturing, which has been shown to reduce environmental impact compared to conventional manufacturing, this paper presents a case study of a 3-D printable parametric design for recreational vehicle (RV) solar photovoltaic (PV) racking systems. The design is a four-corner mounting device with the ability to customize the tilt angle and height of the standoff. This enables performance optimization of the PV system for a given latitude, which is variable as RVs are geographically mobile. The open-source 3-D printable designs are fabricated and analyzed for print time, print electricity consumption, mechanical properties, and economic costs. The preliminary results show distributed manufacturing of the case study product results in an order of magnitude reduction in economic cost for equivalent products. In addition, these cost savings are maintained while improving the functionality of the racking system. The additional electrical output for a case study RV PV system with improved tilt angle functionality in three representative locations in the U.S. was found to be on average over 20% higher than that for conventional mass-manufactured racking systems. The preliminary results make it clear that distributed manufacturing -even at the household level -with open-source 3-D printers is technically viable and economically beneficial. Further research is needed to expand the results of this preliminary study to other types of products.

Distributed Manufacturing of Flexible Products: Technical Feasibility and Economic Viability

“…Distributed manufacturing is the term used here to describe decentralized fabrication of parts in smaller factories or homes that are local to end-users [12,13,69,[79][80][81][82][83]. This concept is ideal for additive manufacturing as 3-D printers located around the globe could be utilized to make a variety of parts for people that are geographically close to consumers.…”

“…In the not so distant past economies of scale provided consumers with more convenient and lower-priced goods than what they could make themselves [8]. However, starting in the early 2000's a wave of publications have argued that distributed manufacturing with 3-D printing can reduce costs for consumers [9][10][11][12][13]. The mainstream view of 3-D printing is that of a less centralized model of manufacturing, where 3-D printing businesses manufacture and sell products to consumers or other businesses [14].…”

Development of a Resilient 3-D Printer for Humanitarian Crisis Response

“…The RepRap project has driven down costs of 3-D printing to fit resource-constrained contexts like those found in the developing world or during a crisis [9]. The potential for 3-D printers in humanitarian aid work has been able to capture the interest of practitioners in the field [10], as 3-D printing can have positive effects on nearly every step of the humanitarian supply chain [5].3-D printing can reduce time and money used in the procurement of goods [11,12] by reducing the amount of capital required for manufacturing at a given location, allowing distributed manufacturing [13][14][15] or more localized manufacturing to occur [3,10]. By manufacturing goods locally at the site of a disaster response, the only materials that need to be shipped to the site of a disaster are the raw materials needed for manufacturing.…”

“…3-D printing can reduce time and money used in the procurement of goods [11,12] by reducing the amount of capital required for manufacturing at a given location, allowing distributed manufacturing [13][14][15] or more localized manufacturing to occur [3,10]. By manufacturing goods locally at the site of a disaster response, the only materials that need to be shipped to the site of a disaster are the raw materials needed for manufacturing.…”

Open Source 3-D Printed Nutating Mixer

“…This trend in cost savings from 90-99% is seen in a wide variety of open hardware tools for science and their outputs [5,6,11,12]. Moreover, the open source design platform has provided the opportunity for distributed manufacturing [14][15][16][17][18]-specifically to download the designs and print them anywhere at any time, which can provide additional savings from avoided shipping costs as well as various taxes and tariffs. These savings are perhaps most stark when distributed manufacturing using 3-D printing (which enables material minimization coupled to free complexity) is tied to some form of automation.…”