Robots Critical to Survival of Alternative Energy Industry

As alter­na­tive meth­ods of pro­duc­ing ener­gy become increas­ing­ly sought-after, pro­duc­tion must keep pace. For alter­na­tive ener­gy indus­tries to sur­vive and thrive, they must increase their reliance on the indus­tri­al robot. ​“The grow­ing demand in alter­na­tive ener­gy sources after the recent nuclear cat­a­stro­phe in Japan will push robot instal­la­tions, e.g. the pro­duc­tion of solar cells etc.” — Inter­na­tion­al Fed­er­a­tion of Robot­ics (www​.ifr​.org)

Robots and Solar Energy

Indus­tri­al robots effec­tive­ly accom­mo­date the rapid (and con­stant) evo­lu­tion of solar ener­gy tech­nol­o­gy. Sim­u­la­tion soft­ware makes it pos­si­ble for solar ener­gy sys­tem com­pa­nies to change prod­ucts and process­es quick­ly and seamlessly. 

Solar pan­el man­u­fac­tur­ers increas­ing­ly rely on robots for a host of mate­r­i­al han­dling appli­ca­tions. Indus­tri­al robots pro­vide ide­al solu­tions for pre­ci­sion-dri­ven assem­bly and heavy pal­letiz­ing needs, while still assist­ing with inspec­tion and qual­i­ty con­trol jobs. Robot­ic vision elim­i­nates the need for com­plex fix­tur­ing and plays a key role in many solar ener­gy man­u­fac­tur­ing appli­ca­tions, from locat­ing and inspect­ing parts, to guid­ing robots. 

Robot­ic Cell and Wafer Handling:

Solar cells and sil­i­con wafers are del­i­cate items that require del­i­cate han­dling solu­tions. Robots are capa­ble of assem­bling these solar ener­gy sys­tem com­po­nents with greater gen­tle­ness and pre­ci­sion than is pos­si­ble man­u­al­ly. They main­tain con­sis­tent pro­duc­tion speeds and repeata­bil­i­ty nec­es­sary for solar cell and sil­i­con wafer assembly/​handling.

Robots for Solar Pan­el Assembly:

Man­u­fac­tur­ers ben­e­fit from using robots when it comes to con­struct­ing solar pan­els, which are often very com­plex in design. Once again, con­sis­ten­cy and del­i­cate han­dling are very impor­tant. Every com­po­nent must be care­ful­ly aligned. Robots are also very use­ful for han­dling heavy glass pan­els and oth­er solar pan­el com­po­nents with care. 

Robots and Wind Energy:

Indus­tri­al robots have proved invalu­able tools for near­ly every aspect of wind tur­bine man­u­fac­tur­ing. Wind ener­gy sys­tem man­u­fac­tur­ers incor­po­rate robot­ic solu­tions for weld­ing, cut­ting, paint­ing, debur­ring, sand­ing, drilling, and oth­er appli­ca­tions.

Using Robots to Con­struct Wind Turbines:

When it comes to cre­at­ing and assem­bling wind tur­bine com­po­nents, robots offer many advan­tages over man­u­al and hard automa­tion. Fast and flex­i­ble, robots allow wind tur­bine man­u­fac­tur­ers to increase pro­duc­tion and meet lead times more effi­cient­ly, as well as adjust quick­ly to prod­uct changes. The pre­ci­sion and con­sis­tent per­for­mance pos­si­ble with robots beats man­u­al meth­ods, vast­ly improv­ing qual­i­ty con­trol. Robots are cur­rent­ly used to cut, weld, and drill wind tur­bine tow­ers, gears, blades, and oth­er components. ?

Wind Tur­bine Fin­ish­ing with Robots:

Wind tur­bine blades and oth­er com­po­nents must be fin­ished (paint­ed, sand­ed, pol­ished, deburred) to per­fec­tion. High qual­i­ty stan­dards are nec­es­sary to main­tain the blade bal­ance, extend com­po­nent longevi­ty, and with­stand envi­ron­men­tal wear and tear. Robots are help­ing wind tur­bine man­u­fac­tur­ers achieve the best pos­si­ble results. With robots, paint appli­ca­tion in par­tic­u­lar is more con­sis­tent and quick, allow­ing com­pa­nies to match both qual­i­ty require­ments and cus­tomer demands.

Con­tact Robots​.com online or at 877−762−6881 for more infor­ma­tion about inte­grat­ing robots for alter­na­tive ener­gy industries.