Vegetation maintenance
Renubot
When sheep aren't enough, autonomous lawnmowers can save significant time and effort in maintaining vegetation. Texas-based Renu Robotics has been developing Renubot for the past few years, fine-tuning its 63-inch autonomous tractor with DOE grants and bonuses. The lawnmower deck uses GPS and LiDAR to map and mow under and around the solar-powered support structure.
The lawnmower is powered by a lithium battery that can be quickly charged in Renubot's own docking station. It can operate day or night and adapts quickly to changing conditions and environments.
Renubot uses multiple sensors to determine its location, the presence of obstacles, and its next move. Fully funded in 2021, Renu Robotics is increasing its workforce and hiring engineers and field technicians to soon deploy automated lawnmowers at solar project sites across the United States.
Solar panel cleaning
Ecoppia
After launching operations in the dusty regions of the Middle East, Ecoppia solar panel cleaners are leveraging their extensive experience to expand their business in North America. Autonomous robots move along a fixed, tilting, and tracking system to clean panels without water. Each Ecoppia robot has its own onboard solar module for power. The Ecoppia AI platform initiates cleaning operations based on weather conditions and other factors, ultimately developing the best maintenance plan for its environment.
The E4 robotic arm (used for fixed tilting) moves along its own track, passing through a row of modules, floating above the panel, and cleaning them with a rotating microfiber cloth. When the robot completes its work on a row, it comes to a secure stop at the edge of the array, unaffected by the components and without casting shadows on the rows of the panel.
The T4 robot (used for the tracking system) behaves more like a Roomba, moving freely between rows but with a clearer sense of its position, so it doesn't fall off. The T4 also uses a rotating microfiber cloth and docks at the end of the row after completing its task.
Last year, Ecoppia received a $40 million investment from US real estate company CIM Group, which will further expand Ecoppia's business scope. With over 16 GW of clean energy contracts, Ecoppia will soon bring waterless cleaning robots to the US, adding several more gigawatts of electricity.
On-site survey
TerraSmart
To obtain assistance with land surveying, TerraSmart, a provider of ground-mounted solar solutions, used its Autonomous Precision Surveying Rover (APSR). Coordinate files were uploaded to a tablet, and the APSR then began its "tasks" of "measuring" and "drilling pilot holes for grounding screws." The battery-powered robot (with a backup gas generator) can drill up to 1,300 pilot holes per day. The APSR travels at speeds up to 11 mph and tilts up to a maximum of 45°, drilling holes up to 2 inches wide.
TerraSmart has three proprietary rover vehicles that it can deploy in its projects. In locations where personnel typically locate 200 measurement points per day, the APSR is significantly faster and more accurate. “Every time we use the APSR on a project site, the rack installation phase runs faster, smoother, and produces better tolerances,” says Ashleigh Kent, Marketing Director at TerraSmart. “The APSR works best on larger plots of land with less rock. It makes installation faster and more accurate.”
Module placement
Thanks to a $1.9 million DOE grant from RE2 Robotics, the unloading and placement of solar panels onto large utility-scale racks could be automated in the near future. RE2 hopes to apply its outdoor autonomous robotics technology to solar buildings and improve solar field assembly processes.
Robots will augment, not replace, solar construction workers. They are designed to increase labor productivity and enhance worker safety, enabling utility-scale contractors to produce more megawatts faster.
“Currently, the solar building process is largely manual, with a large number of repetitive tasks in very large projects,” said JorGen Pedersen, President and CEO of RE2, in a press release. “Developing technologies that make the process more efficient will make solar energy a more economical energy source for the future.”
RE2 is currently collaborating with companies such as Array Technologies and Mortenson to explore how mobile robotics technology can help with utility-scale solar power deployments.
