A partnership has formed between eighteen organizations to produce the Open Solar Outdoors Test Field (OSOTF), which has been designed to provide critical data and research on solar photovoltaic (PV) systems optimization in the public domain. Unlike many other projects, the OSOTF is organized under open source principles. All data and analysis when completed will be made freely available to the entire photovoltaic community and the general public. This paper documents how the teamwork between educational institutions and industry has resulted in one of the largest systems in the world for this detailed level of analysis of PV systems performance in real-world conditions. The challenges to this approach will be addressed and appropriate models for garnering industrial team work will be discussed. Conclusions will be drawn on how to scale other opportunities for the sharing of data to assist in improved optimization of socially-beneficial appropriate technologies.

The rise of Free and Open Source models for software development has catalyzed the growth of Free and Open Source Hardware (also known as " Libre Hardware "). Libre hardware is gaining significant traction in the scientific hardware community, where there is evidence that open development creates both technically superior and far less expensive scientific equipment than proprietary models. In this article, the evidence is reviewed and a collection of examples of business models is developed to service scientists who have the option to manufacture their own equipment using Open Source designs. Profitable Libre Hardware business models are reviewed, which includes kit, specialty component, and calibration suppliers for makers. The results indicate that Libre Hardware businesses should target technically sophisticated customers first and, as usability matures, target expanded markets of conventional consumers.

The relationships between energy and development are complex, compounded by increasingly differentiated situations amongst developing countries and within them. Moreover, the manner in which energy services are realised has consequences for our health, environment, wealth, and social relations. Two important issues currently preoccupying the realm of international development are enhancing energy access whilst simultaneously addressing climate change. International climate change negotiations ...

Renewable energy technologies are a key asset for the future energy supply and thus important for the global economy. Understanding how technological change happens in these sectors is important in order to influence their development. The focus of the thesis is on the wind and PV industry, which are both significantly influenced by foreign technologies but at the same time strongly differ in their development. As there is an important interaction between the industrial development and the technology transfer, this thesis examines the wind and PV industry in China in order to analyze the diffusion of technology and the process of technology transfer in more detail. The first focus after the introductory chapters is on the theoretical background. After a short introduction of the theory of technological change and industrial growth, technology transfer itself is further defined and conceptualized. In a further step, different categorization schemes for classifying the transfer mechanisms are presented. This concept and the classification is later used as a basis for analyzing the cases of wind and PV industry. Afterwards, the thesis takes a look into the considered industries. The development of the industries from the starting point to the current situation gives first insights to different industry dynamics despite the same framework conditions. Following a short general introduction, the development of each industry is explained first from the global perspective and then specifically focusing on China. The last part of the individual consideration of the sectors is the analysis of the status quo regarding the industrial development in China. Afterwards, the industries and the presented information are compared to distinguish the most striking differences and similarities for the later analysis. The next chapter links these earlier presented chapters and applies the information on the case study. Following the general analysis of the development, the scope is narrowed down to the technology transfer and its role in the industrial advances. Furthermore, the evolution of the technology transfer over time is analyzed under the framework of the concept presented in the second chapter. Besides the separate consideration of the industries, the fourth section further includes a comparative chapter where the use of technology transfer mechanisms in both sectors is contrasted, also applying the classification schemes from chapter two. The evaluation of the results shows significant differences in the technology transfer and in the importance of certain mechanisms. The application of the categorization schemes further reveals different tendencies in the selection of transfer mechanisms. This has important consequences for the market itself but also for the policy debate on how to design regulations and support schemes.

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.

Limited access to low-cost financing is an impediment to high-velocity technological diffusion and high grid penetration of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology. Securitization of solar assets provides a potential solution to this problem. This paper assesses the viability of solar asset-backed securities (ABS) as a lower cost financing mechanism and identifies policies that could facilitate implementation of securitization. First, traditional solar financing is examined to provide a baseline for cost comparisons. Next, the securitization process is modeled. The model enables identification of several junctures at which risk and uncertainty influence costs. Next, parameter values are assigned and used to generate cost estimates. Results show that, under reasonable assumptions, securitization of solar power purchase agreements (PPA) can significantly reduce project financing costs, suggesting that securitization is a viable mechanism for improving the financing of PV projects. The clear impediment to the successful launch of a solar ABS is measuring and understanding the riskiness of underlying assets. This study identifies three classes of policy intervention that lower the cost of ABS by reducing risk or by improving the measurement of risk: (i) standardization of contracts and the contracting process, (ii) improved access to contract and equipment performance data, and (iii) geographic diversification.

The rise of collaborative consumption, peer-to-peer systems, and not-for-profit social enterprise heralds the emergence of a new era of human collectivity. Increasingly, this consolidation stems from an understanding that big-banner issues—such as climate change—are not the root causes of our present global predicament. There is a growing and collective view that issues such as this are actually symptoms of a much more vicious, seemingly insurmountable condition: our addiction to economic, consumption, and population growth in a world of finite resources. Nanotechnology and Global Sustainability uses nanotechnology—the product of applied scientific knowledge to control and utilize matter at atomic and molecular scales—as a lens through which to explore the interrelationship between innovation, politics, economy, and sustainability. This groundbreaking book addresses how stakeholders can actively reshape agendas to create positive and sustainable futures through this latest controversial, cross-sectoral technology. It moves beyond issues of efficiency, productivity, and utility, exploring the insights of 22 contributors from around the world, whose work spans the disciplines of science and the humanities. Their combined knowledge, reinforced with various case studies, introduces an exciting prospect—how we can innovate without economic growth. This new volume in the Perspectives in Nanotechnology series is edited by Dr. Donald Maclurcan and Dr. Natalia Radywyl. Dr. Maclurcan is a social innovator and Honorary Research Fellow with the Institute for Nanoscale Technology at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia. Dr. Radywyl is a social researcher and Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne, Australia. She is also an Adjunct Research Fellow in the Faculty of Life and Social Sciences at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne. This book is written for a wide audience and will be of particular interest to activists, scholars, policy makers, scientists, business professionals, and others who seek an understanding of how we might justly transition to sustainable societies.

Given the urgency of development problems world-wide, as well as the opportunities of open source appropriate technology (OSAT) to help expedite sustainable development goals, a better understanding of the barriers limiting the scaling of OSAT is needed. In this study, key organizations and researchers working in the field of appropriate technology (AT) were interviewed to identify barriers to OSAT. The data was analyzed via pattern coding and content analysis. Results reveal that among the most pressing problems for those working in the field of AT were the need for better communication and collaboration between the agencies and communities to share the knowledge and resources, and to work in partnership. Specific barriers include: i) AT seen as inferior or “poor person's” technology, ii) technical transferability and robustness of AT, iii) insufficient funding, iv) weak institutional support, and v) the challenges of distance and time in tackling rural poverty. Finally, future work is outlined to better understand and overcome these barriers.