Category:MOST

The Pearce Research Group at Michigan Tech in Open Sustainability Technology focuses on open and applied sustainability, which is the application of science and innovation to ensure a better quality of life for all, now and into the future, in a just and equitable manner, whilst living within the limits of supporting ecosystems.

Specifically we are interested in exploring the way solar photovoltaic technology can sustainably power our society and how open-source hardware like open source appropriate technologies (or OSAT) and RepRap 3-D printing can drive decentralized local production and manufacturing (and maybe even social change).^[1] See Advancing Open, Sustainable Technology with 3D Printing.

MOST on Instagram.

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Current Research Projects

Photovoltaic Materials, Electronic Device Physics, and Solar Photovoltaic Systems Projects

Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology provides the lowest cost electricity available in most markets. As installed costs continue to decline, antiquated polluting fossil-fued-based grid electricity prices continue to escalate, PV growth will continue to grow to dominate the energy industry of the future because it simply has a lower levelized cost.^[2]
$We intend to further reduce the costs by developing an ultra-high efficiency indium gallium nitride (InGaN) solar cell.[3] The band gap of InGaN can be tuned from 0.7eV-3.4eV by adjusting the ratio of indium and gallium in the film so a multi-layered cell covers the entire range of the solar spectrum. Thus, a well-designed InGaN solar cell can absorb and convert a much higher fraction of the sun's light energy into electricity. In addition to band gap engineering, PV device performance can be improved by engineering the microstructure of the material to increase the optical path length and provide light trapping. For this purpose, nano-columns are candidates for the ideal microstructure as it has been shown that when their diameters are optimized, resonant behavior is observed.$

We intend to further reduce the costs by developing an ultra-high efficiency indium gallium nitride (InGaN) solar cell.^[3] The band gap of InGaN can be tuned from 0.7eV-3.4eV by adjusting the ratio of indium and gallium in the film so a multi-layered cell covers the entire range of the solar spectrum. Thus, a well-designed InGaN solar cell can absorb and convert a much higher fraction of the sun's light energy into electricity. In addition to band gap engineering, PV device performance can be improved by engineering the microstructure of the material to increase the optical path length and provide light trapping. For this purpose, nano-columns are candidates for the ideal microstructure as it has been shown that when their diameters are optimized, resonant behavior is observed.
This project aims to improve efficiencies of commercial solar cells using resonant plasmonic nanostructures. We are using wide-angle, polarization–independent, broadband plasmonic perfect meta-absorbers capable of achieving absorption throughout the entire solar spectrum while reducing semiconductor absorber layer thicknesses, which reduces deposition time, material used, embodied energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and ultimately economic costs.
An important factor in decreasing the costs of PV systems is implementing a proper system design which effectively utilizes the modules to their greatest efficiency. Here we are properly accounting for meteorological factors which affect the performance of PV modules, and to suggest best practices for reducing losses and increasing yields for PV systems. See: the OSOTF or some of our projects on snow and solar cells

Open Source Distributed Manufacturing

Open source hardware (OSH) consists of physical objects designed and offered in the same manner as free and open-source software (FOSS). MOST is working on open-source scientific hardware for Open source labs using Arduino microcontrollers and RepRaps in addition to our standard work in OSAT.
We are on the front lines of a 3D Revolution and made Open Source.com's list of "5 favorite 3D printing projects". Joshua Pearce Explains the 3D Printing Revolution on Japan's Corbett Report
We are further developing our <$2000 open-source metal 3-D printer. The metal 3-D printer is controlled with an open-source micro-controller and is a combination of a low-cost commercial gas-metal MIG welder and a derivative of the Rostock, a deltabot RepRap. We provided everything you need to make your own as we are climbing the ladder of sophistication together to give everyone the ability to print useful objects in steel and aluminum.
A RecycleBot is a waste plastic extruder - that can take household polymer waste and turn it into valuable 3-D printer feedstock. This project focuses on designing, building and testing an extruder for the RepRap that uses polymer waste as a feedstock.

Completed Projects

Completed Projects for all Years

Videos

OS Lulzbot at MOST

OSE tour of MOST lab

The Wild West of Distributed Recycling

Michigan Tech Owning Open Hardware

Why do we make such a big deal about open source hardware?

BBC Arabic visits MOST

Group Links

References

↑ Rumpala, Y., 2016. A New Printing Revolution? 3D Printing as an Agent of Socio-Political Change. International Journal of Technoethics (IJT), 7(2), pp.105-123.
↑ K. Branker, M.J.M. Pathak, J.M. Pearce, A Review of Solar Photovoltaic Levelized Cost of Electricity, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 15, pp.4470-4482 (2011). DOI and Open access
↑ D.V.P. McLaughlin & J.M. Pearce, "Progress in Indium Gallium Nitride Materials for Solar Photovoltaic Energy Conversion", Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A 44(4) pp. 1947-1954 (2013).

Subcategories

This category has the following 21 subcategories, out of 21 total.

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Jephias Gwamuri Thesis (13)

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MOST backpack delta (5)
MOST completed projects and publications (672)
MOST Delta Build (33)
MOST literature reviews (337)
MOST methods (607)
MOST news (4)
MOST RepRap build (24)
MOST RepRap methods (35)
MOST users (64)
MY3701 (11)
MY4777 (712)
MY5490 (109)
MY5970 (28)

O

P

Pearce publications (15)

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Media in category "MOST"

The following 19 files are in this category, out of 19 total.

2012 case for OSAT.pdf 1,239 × 1,752, 9 pages; 306 KB
LED-vs-incan in Houghton.ods ; 31 KB
MOST HSPrusa extruder 41.jpg 453 × 640; 232 KB
MOST HSPrusa extruder 42.jpg 640 × 480; 260 KB
MOST HSPrusa extruder 43.jpg 640 × 480; 329 KB
MOST HSPrusa extruder 44.jpg 640 × 439; 326 KB
MOST HSPrusa y-carriage 22.jpg 640 × 480; 211 KB
MOST pump01.png 980 × 683; 97 KB
MOST pump02.png 980 × 683; 93 KB
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MOST pump09.png 980 × 683; 106 KB
MTU-Plastic Bank Internships.pdf 1,275 × 1,650, 2 pages; 494 KB
Pearce-pubs-3.png 307 × 135; 102 KB
Recyclebot.gif 600 × 238; 3.01 MB

[1] Rumpala, Y., 2016. A New Printing Revolution? 3D Printing as an Agent of Socio-Political Change. International Journal of Technoethics (IJT), 7(2), pp.105-123.

[2] K. Branker, M.J.M. Pathak, J.M. Pearce, A Review of Solar Photovoltaic Levelized Cost of Electricity, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 15, pp.4470-4482 (2011). DOI and Open access

[3] D.V.P. McLaughlin & J.M. Pearce, "Progress in Indium Gallium Nitride Materials for Solar Photovoltaic Energy Conversion", Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A 44(4) pp. 1947-1954 (2013).

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