The Role of Robots and Automation in the Renewable Energy Sector
Published on : Tuesday 16-06-2020
In the current application, robots are machines that use programming to imitate series of tasks either semi-autonomously or autonomously, while automation based on the computer software, machines, and other automated technologies to complete the tasks in place of humans or collaborated with humans.
Renewable energy companies are focuses to implement cumbersome engineering operations through the use of robots and automation to reduce the cost and time of the overall operational activity with enhance productivity and optimize performance. In renewable energy, the sources of energy include sunlight, water, wind, geothermal heat, and other various biomass energies. The rise in adoptions of robots and automation is due to advance in the methods to harness the natural energies of the sun, wind, and water amongst others. It is estimated the companies are more focused on solar energy, wind energy, and hydroelectric energy.
Considering the current market, in 2019, solar energy account for the highest demand for the power generation of a significant quantity of electricity owing to a rise in demand for solar-powered devices and solar panels in the global market. Application of robots and automation in the renewable energy sector are as follows –
Solar Energy
The application of robots and automation in solar energy is to assist renewable energy companies to invest in smart and instant production decisions, which expected to reduce the cost of labor and improves productivity.
For instance, In the solar systems, robotic automation has been introduced are silicon ingot, silicon modules, solar cells, and the silicon wafer.
Wind Energy
Robots and automation are making a huge impact on major aspects of wind turbine manufacturing i.e. wind turbine blades and their turbine towers. ABB is the leading manufacturers that operate in the manufacturing robots for wind turbines.
For instance, robots in wind turbines are used in the welding of certain structural components for turbine towers owing to its unique geometry.
Hydro-Electric Energy
In hydro-electric energy, robots are used in the welding and fabrication process. In other words, it is used in welding wickets which primarily require to rotating the system and access every part. Moreover, flexible robots with multiple motion axes primarily have the ability to successfully weld.
For instance, Genesis Systems Group LLC involves in the manufacturing of a system for welding of wicket gates in hydroelectric plants. Genesis uses Robots owing to cycle times are prolonged when done manually.
In conclusion, robots and automation are crucial in the manufacturing of products to harness renewable energy sources in the renewable energy sector. The complex design structure of the products is increasing the demand for machine precision, which cannot possible with the human workforce. While automaton offers an effective and efficient implementation of tasks in order to save time, cost, and the overall production cost. Moreover, the growth in the application of robots and automation by renewable energy companies are expected to shift the preference for safer sources of energy such as sunlight from energies such as petroleum.