L R AS Published on Saturday 24 September 2022 - n° 417 - Categories:panels
A robot to lay the piles for solar power plants (Mortenson) + to fix the panels (AES Corp)
MortensonMortenson, an American engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) supplier, has teamed up with Italian manufacturer Orteco to develop robotic equipment capable of speeding up the construction of photovoltaic solar power plants.
The GPS system operates autonomously to position piles on large-scale solar sites during construction. It is capable of positioning up to
100 steel piles. It is also using semi-automatic pile-driving technology in the construction of solar projects, a process that requires around 50% of the labour if traditional pile-driving methods are used.
"When used together, the Autonomous Pile Distribution System and semi-automatic pile-driving machines can reduce costs and the risk of injury, while also reducing the number of pile-drivers required.the risk of injury, free up much-needed workers for other critical tasks and reduce the overall delivery time for solar installations," says Mortenson. Mortenson is already using the stand-alone pile distribution system and semi-automatic pile driving machine on current photovoltaic projects.
AES Corporation
Last year, the American company AES Corporation presented a robot equipped with artificial intelligence to help workers on photovoltaic plant construction sites by lifting, placing and securing solar panels.
The artificial intelligence of the robot, called Atlas, allows it to be trained in different combinations of structures and solar panels, according to AES, which detailed the robot's development in a feature article
Read also: First automated panel installation robot
PV Tech of 21 September 2022
Editor's note The construction of photovoltaic power plants is beginning to be industrialised. If we can have a machine that will determine where to bury the piles and another piece of equipment that will install the solar panels, we will be able to considerably reduce the construction time of the plants and also, and above all, achieve a reduction in costs, facilitating a drop in the price per kilowatt-hour produced.
However, this equipment needs to be used as much as possible, which means having a continuous construction programme and a sufficiently large surface area to justify moving and using this type of equipment. This means that this equipment will lead to a new concentration of developers to the benefit of the biggest and best organised players.
What is certain is that we are on the threshold of a much greater use of machines in construction. For the moment, they are probably rudimentary, but they will become more sophisticated and take on more and more tasks on a building site. This is going to be essential as there are more and more labour problems around the world.
