Technical Papers and Presentations

In this work, linear and spot Fresnel lenses, designed by an earlier study of the authors, are prototyped in four methods; two mold-free prototypes made by 3D printing and acrylic CNC machining, and two mold-based prototypes made by acrylic casting and hot embossing. The purpose is to proof the design concept of the Fresnel lenses and evaluate the best prototyping method for future work. All four lenses are tested under direct sunlight, where each resulting focal irradiance is compared to that achieved by Monte-Carlo Ray Tracing MCRT simulations performed by the COMSOL Multiphysics^® simulation software's Ray Tracing Module. The two methods of CNC machining and hot embossing were found superior in terms of light-focusing accuracy when compared to the simulated results.