49 www.drivesncontrols.com July/August 2023 CLEAN ENERGY n systems. The company has already supplied trusses for 1.8GW of solar capacity. It estimates that in a typical 200MW solar project in Nevada, its technology can save $5m in labour costs. Another labour-intensive aspect of erecting solar farms is mounting the PV panels onto their support structures. This work is arduous and hazardous, and lifting the heavy panels into place can lead to stress injuries. Automation is again helping out. In 2021, the robot-maker Sarcos Technology and other collaborators embarked on a project, supported by the US Department of Energy, aimed at streamlining solar array construction using a robotic system that would deliver, detect, lift and place photovoltaic modules in the field. The O-AMPP (Outdoor Autonomous Manipulation of Photovoltaic Panels) project received its final validation earlier this year and Sarcos is planning to launch a commercial version in 2024. The potential benefits include: cutting the time it takes to build a new solar farm by almost 40%; the ability to work on more projects simultaneously; improved quality; and safer worksites, reducing the risk of lifting and fatigue-related injuries. The Sarcos technology uses machine vision to guide panels precisely to where they need to be installed. The panels are placed in position by a robot arm designed to operate reliably in tough outdoor conditions. Another company with a robotic solar panel installation technology is AES Corp whose “first of its kind”Atlas robot, announced in December 2021, uses AI to assist in the lifting, placing and attachment of solar modules. The robot, built in cooperation with Calvary Robotics and others, is intended to save time, enhance safety and cut energy costs. AES has also partnered with an Australian company called 5B which has developed prefabricated, pre-wired 48-50kW groundmounting solar PV arrays that can be deployed at high speed. Module assembly, cabling, connections and testing are all done in a factory, rather than in the field. 5B describes this approach as“a complete step change”from the way in which conventional solar technologies are designed, assembled, procured and constructed. It claims that its Maverick technology is up to ten times faster than traditional methods: 1MW of capacity can be installed by a team of 10 in a day. It also generates up to 1.6 times more power per hectare and can cut on-site time by around 80%, resulting in much faster commissioning. On-site factories Perhaps the most ambitious application of automation technologies to solar farm construction is that proposed by another Californian company, Terabase Energy, which is planning to erect temporary “factories” at solar sites where robotic equipment will unpack pallets of solar modules and assemble them in climate-controlled conditions, ready for autonomous rover vehicles to transport them to their correct locations and connect them to the array. Terabase – which has attracted more than $52m of funding from backers including Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures – claims that its Terafab “automated digital field factory” will double productivity compared to traditional installation methods. It has recently opened a “factory to make factories”in California, which is currently manufacturing its first gigawatt of Terafab assembly lines. The plant has the capacity to build more than 10GW of Terafabs per year. The Terafab system combines a digital twin of the project site, supply chain and inventory management systems, an on-site wireless digital command centre, the field-deployed automated assembly line, along with the installation rovers, to create a round-the-clock operation. The modular design can be replicated rapidly at different sites. As well as speeding up construction, Terabase argues that its system will improve worker health and safety by eliminating the need for workers to lift heavy solar panels and steel structures, often in harsh conditions. They will work in climate-controlled conditions, aided by automation technology, making their jobs much more pleasant as well as safer. The company also claims that its installation efficiency and time savings will cut project costs, leading to a lower “levelised cost of energy”. “The Terafab system is a game-changer, offering a comprehensive solution that merges cutting-edge construction automation with a sophisticated digital system to transform the way solar power plants are constructed,”says Terabase Energy’s co-founder and CEO, Matt Campbell. “We successfully field-tested Terafab last year, building 10MW of a 400MW site in Texas.”The Californian factory, he adds, is “the next step forward to rapid commercial scaleup.” The Terafab system is due to be deployed commercially on several projects starting later this year. n Built Robotics’ automated pile driver carries almost 200 steel piles and hammers them precisely into the ground Sarcos’ robotic arm lifts and places photovoltaic modules in the field AES Corp’s Atlas robot lifts, places and attaches solar modules
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