Late final 12 months AES Company unveiled the Atlas, an automatic photo voltaic deployment robotic the corporate claimed to be a primary of its variety. Right here, AES provides PV Tech Energy the complete story of its growth.
To handle probably the most vital challenges posed by local weather change, the world should obtain web zero emissions by 2050. To achieve that objective, governments, companies and communities want to alter the strategy to seven emission-emitting infrastructure programs: power, trade, mobility, buildings, agriculture, forestry, and waste.
Accelerating the deployment of renewable energy at scale is an important a part of this variation, and this requires reimagining the best way we set up photo voltaic. At AES, we’re rising to this problem, rising the pace of photo voltaic deployments, addressing workforce shortages, and selling security and inclusivity with Atlas, our lately launched automated photo voltaic set up robotic.
We’re additionally addressing land constraints and building timelines with our funding in 5B, a clear tech innovator specializing in prefabricated photo voltaic expertise.
Unprecedented photo voltaic progress
As we speak, the ability sector accounts for about 30% of worldwide CO2 emissions. To realize web zero by 2050, almost all this energy should be generated by renewable power. Furthermore, the programs which can be presently powered by fossil fuels—particularly mobility, trade, and buildings—might want to transition to electrical energy. In some circumstances, it will occur instantly via the adoption of latest merchandise and applied sciences like electrical automobiles and warmth pumps, whereas different programs will electrify not directly, consuming fuels which can be produced from electrically generated feedstocks comparable to inexperienced hydrogen.
Because of this, by 2050, the demand for electrical energy will enhance to 2 to 3 occasions what it’s at present [1] — and that elevated demand will primarily be met by photo voltaic power. This represents an unprecedented alternative for photo voltaic growth and necessitates quick paced building of large-scale photo voltaic amenities. The Photo voltaic Vitality Industries Affiliation (SEIA) estimates that within the US alone, attaining the Biden administration’s objective of 100% clear electrical energy by 2035 would require the annual deployment of greater than 130GW of photo voltaic, a five-times enhance from the 24GW added in 2021.
Globally, the Worldwide Vitality Company (IEA) estimates that annual photo voltaic deployment might want to enhance from the 183GW put in in 2021 to greater than 630GW by the top of this decade [2].
We have to change how we do issues
This poses vital challenges — and alternatives — in a building trade that’s already dealing with workforce shortages [3]. Within the absence of modifications within the methods photo voltaic photovoltaic crops are put in, the section of US workforce devoted to photo voltaic building might want to quadruple, from the 230,000 photo voltaic employees at present to greater than 900,000 employees by 2035 [4].
A single utility photo voltaic plant could require the set up of a number of hundred thousand photo voltaic panels. Staging, putting, and securing panels onto mounting buildings represents a few of the most repetitive and time-consuming processes in photo voltaic set up. Atlas was designed to help the already-stretched workforce by finishing these duties, rising the set up price to allow shorter building timelines, all whereas rising high-quality set up jobs.
Along with this materials workforce growth, the photo voltaic trade might want to handle rising security constraints within the coming years, which automated set up can mitigate. The photo voltaic indusattempt is shifting in direction of bigger, high-capacity modules. New module manufacturing requirements will assist to enhance effectivity and delivering the optimised challenge economics which can be wanted to help the acceleration of photo voltaic growth.
Nonetheless, though bigger modules save labour bills, steadiness of plant value, and permit for a extra environment friendly use of land, additionally they add appreciable weight. New module requirements weigh as much as 50% greater than the earlier trade commonplace and create a 60% bigger floor space that makes them tougher to raise and deal with [5]. Atlas does this heavy lifting for photo voltaic installers, rising security and supporting inclusivity by lowering bodily energy necessities for photo voltaic installers.
Aside from heavier lifting, photo voltaic set upers are additionally prone to face hotter installation circumstances [6,7]. By mid-century, the Nationwide Climate Service estimates that 4 occasions as many US cities will experience 30 or extra 100+-Warmth-Index-days, and that excessive warmth waves are prone to turn into extra frequent [8].
On condition that high-insolation websites with little shade produce optimum photo voltaic output, photo voltaic is usually deployed in harsh-weather, high-temperature areas. Because of this, our trade employs vital protecting measures to forestall heat-related sickness. Within the coming years, such efforts to maintain the photo voltaic building workforce protected from heat-related sickness will turn into increasingly vital, impacting building operations and challenge timelines.
Security is our primary precedence, and by automating the panel set up course of, we will restrict personnel publicity and strenuous actions in excessive warmth index circumstances, whereas accelerating the tempo of deployment and shortening the construction timeline.
Driving automation
AES’ objective is to speed up the way forward for power, collectively. We got down to reimagine photo voltaic set up to make it safer, sooner, extra inexpensive, accessible, environment friendly and scalable. This led us to develop Atlas, a first-of-its-kind synthetic intelligence-enabled photo voltaic panel set up robotic. We designed Atlas via a multi-year innovation course of and constructed it in cooperation with our accomplice Calvary Robotics, together with different third events.
Atlas is a instrument to help the photo voltaic installation workforce; it automates the repetitive and handbook steps of the photo voltaic panel installation course of. Atlas installs photo voltaic panels in half the time required for present absolutely handbook strategies. This reduces construction timelines whereas enhancing security by minimising heavy lifting and creating higher working circumstances in harsh climates.
Automation in managed and structured environments, comparable to factories, has been round for many years. Within the photo voltaic trade, robotics and superior manufacturing methods have been used within the 4 steps of module manufacturing: silicon ingots, wafers, cells, and modules. Within the discipline, easy robotic functions comparable to robotic automated mowers and photovoltaic module cleansing robots are more and more frequent.
Lately, developments in synthetic intelligence, laptop imaginative and prescient, cell robotics, and superior sensing for navigation, positioning and detection in dynamic environments have enabled superior robotics and automation functions that will not have been doable only a few years in the past. From self-driving automobiles to autonomous agricultural and building equipment, outside automation in unstructured environments is now a actuality.
We evaluated these technological developments, tracked them over time, and included superior robotics and laptop imaginative and prescient into Atlas. Relatively than beginning with the only set up duties, we centered on probably the most repetitive steps within the course of. Our goal was to show that Atlas may overcome probably the most tough challenges, serving to to spice up confidence and enabling Atlas to scale.
This primary-generation of Atlas robots are comprised of 1 robotic arm that picks and locations the photovoltaic modules onto the photo voltaic buildings and their respective clamps. Its laptop imaginative and prescient system allows Atlas to “see” the photo voltaic construction and clamps. It then calculates its place relative to the torque tubes and determines the place to position and safe the module. Atlas’ second robotic arm finalises the set up course of by locating and torquing the bobtail of the clamp, permitting for a whole set up of the photo voltaic panel.
The Atlas robotic was designed to be PV construction and photovoltaic module agnostic; its synthetic intelligence permits it to be educated on completely different photo voltaic construction and panel combos. Photo voltaic panel mounting {hardware} is designed for people, not robots. We designed Atlas to work with these present, commercially accessible mounting programs, reasonably than developing a brand new tracker and clamp design for optimum automated deployment.
Though growing such a tracker would have simplified Atlas’ design and operation, it might have required photo voltaic builders and installers to introduce a brand new mounting product, creating complexity and constraining Atlas’ attain. As we scale, we might be able to additional speed up by influencing the provision chain to supply mounting {hardware} that’s optimised for automated set up.
Along with our companions, we’re additional growing Atlas’ capabilities by rolling it out inside AES’ photo voltaic pipeline. Atlas will proceed to assemble expertise, increasing the module and tracker system combos that it might probably work with. Enhancements in performance is among the key focus areas to proceed difficult Atlas to fulfill our imaginative and prescient. Atlas’ capability and flexibility will proceed to develop because it builds extra photo voltaic initiatives throughout a larger number of topologies.
We’re executing on Atlas’ expertise roadmap, and in collaboration with gifted groups to iterate and enhance Atlas. We are going to proceed to increase the fleet to tackle extra and bigger initiatives. We’re dedicated to our objective of accelerating the way forward for power, collectively, and we’re excited to convey Atlas to the photo voltaic trade to assist unlock the pace of photo voltaic deployment the world wants to fulfill web zero emissions.
Authors
Ashley Smith, chief expertise & innovation officer, AES
Deise Yumi Asami, photo voltaic transformational designs director, AES
Alvaro Creixell, photo voltaic building innovation challenge supervisor, AES
References
[1] IEA, “World Vitality Outlook 2021, Dataset”.
[2] IEA, “Web Zero by 2050 A Roadmap for the World Vitality Sector”. Might 2021
[3] PV-Tech.org, “Renewables companies ‘threat expertise exodus’ amid expertise scarcity fears.” March 2022.
[4] SEIA, eleventh Annual Nationwide Photo voltaic Jobs Census 2020. Might 2021.
[5] PV Tech.org, “DNV evaluation on BOS value of huge format modules exhibits slight benefit of 182mm module”. October 2021.
[6] Nationwide Facilities for Environmental Info, “Assessing the U.S. Local weather in August 2021”. September 2021.
[7] World Climate Attribution, “Western North American excessive warmth just about unattainable with out human-caused local weather change.” July 2021.
[8] Nationwide Geographic, “Off-the-charts’ warmth to have an effect on thousands and thousands in U.S. in coming many years.” July 2019.
