Renewable energy policies emphasize both the utilization of renewable energy sources and the improvement of energy efficiency. Over the past decade, built-in photovoltaic (BIPV) technologies have mostly focused on using photovoltaic ideas and have been shown to aid buildings that partially meet their load as sustainable solar energy generating technologies. It is challenging to install conventional photovoltaic systems on curved facades. In this research, elastic solar panels assisted by flexible photovoltaic systems (FPVs) were developed, fabricated, and analyzed on a 1 m² scale. A flexible structure on a flat, hemispherical, and cylindrical substrate was studied in real terms. Using the LabVIEW application, warm and dry climate data has been recognized and transmitted online. The results showed that when installed on the silo and biogas interfaces, the fill factor was 88% and 84%, respectively. Annual energy production on the flat surface was 810 kWh, on the cylindrical surface was 960 kWh, and on the hemisphere surface was 1000 kWh, respectively. The economic results indicate that the net present value (NPV) at a flat surface is USD 697.52, with an internal rate of return (IRR) of 34.81% and a capital return term of 8.58 years. Cylindrical surfaces and hemispheres each see an increase of USD 955.18. The investment yield returned 39.29% and 40.47% for cylindrical and hemispheres structures. A 20% increase in fixed investment in the flat system increased IRR by 21.3%, while this increase was 25.59% in the cylindrical system and 24.58% in the hemisphere. Research innovation is filling the gap on the use of flexible solar panels on curved and unconventional surfaces.

An effective simulation approach is introduced in this paper to study the thermal fluid-structure interaction (thermal FSI) on the effect of pin-through-hole (PTH) diameter on the wave soldering zone. A 3D single PTH connector and a printed circuit board model were constructed to investigate the capillary flow behavior when passing through molten solder (63SnPb37). In the analysis, the fluid solver FLUENT was used to solve and track the molten solder advancement using the volume of fluid technique. The structural solver ABAQUS was used to examine the von Mises stress and displacement of the PTH connector in the wave soldering process. Both solvers were coupled by MpCCI software. The effects of six different diameter ratios (0.1 < d/D < 0.97) were studied through a simulation modeling. The use of ratio d/D = 0.2 yielded a balanced filling profile and low thermal stress. Results revealed that filling level, temperature, and displacement exhibited polynomial behavior to d/D. Stress of pin varied quadratically with the d/D. The predicted molten solder profile was validated by experimental results. The simulation results are expected to provide better visualization and understanding of the wave soldering process by considering the aspects of thermal FSI.

The use of wind energy can be traced back thousands of years to many ancient times. Among the tools used for converting wind energy was the vertical-axis wind turbine (vawt). Investigating the performance of this type of turbine is an interesting topic for researchers. The appropriate correlation between the Double Multiple Stream Tube (DMST) model and the experimental results has led researchers to pay distinct attention to this model for vawt simulation. In this study, using the aforementioned model, the appropriate range of important wind turbine design parameters was determined. First, the model outcome was validated based on experimental results and then, the performances of 144 different turbine types were simulated with respect to chord length, number of blades, H/D ratio and airfoil type. Chord length was evaluated at three levels, 0.1, 0.15 and 0.2 m, number of blades 2, 3 and 4, Height to Diameters (H/D) ratio of 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2, and four types of airfoils, NACA0012, NACA0018, NACA4412 and NACA4418. Simulation was performed at a low Reynolds number (Re ≤ 10⁵) and at four TSRs, 1, 2, 3 and 4. The results show that wind turbines perform best at low TSRs when they have longer chords, more blades, and a higher H/D ratio, but this trend reverses at high TSRs. Among the four types of airfoils evaluated, the NACA4412 airfoils showed a better performance at TSRs 1 to 3.