Monorail-Riding Robots Could Continually Rearrange Solar Panels to Follow the Sun

Solbot R-200 will do the handyman's work

By Rebecca Boyle Posted 09.05.2012 at 2:53 pm 10 Comments

Monorail Rider Robots riding along monorails could arrange solar panels to follow the path of the sun, which a new startup claims would be cheaper and simpler than designing adjustable solar panels. Qbotix

Fleets of battery-powered robots could zip along monorails installed in solar arrays, tweaking individual panels’ angles so they follow the sun across the sky. This could be cheaper than installing actuators on every solar panel so they track the sun, according to a new robotics startup. Robots can make everything easier!

A company called QBotix aims to make solar panels more efficient and more affordable just based on their infrastructure, which is one of the technology’s main challenges. Stationary solar arrays don’t gather as much sun as possible because, well, the sun moves. They can instead be designed to follow the sun’s path across the sky like sunflowers, harvesting light all day long as opposed to the few hours when the sun beats down at the right angle. But this is more expensive.

Moving panels with the utmost efficiency requires moving them on two axes — tilting forward and sideways to follow the sun exactly. But it’s difficult and expensive to install huge, heavy solar panels that can move on two axes. You need motors and controls, unless you want workers to nudge them all day long.

Qbotix says it can build a two-axis solar array for the price of a single-axis one, and improve energy capture from solar panels by 15 percent, all by using robots instead. The concept rests on a pair of autonomous robots called the Solbot R-200.

The pair (one main robot and one backup) can maintain solar panels sufficient to generate 300 kilowatts of electricity. They would be mounted on simple monorails, which can be installed in any solar array, including on uneven surfaces or rolling hills. The robots would adjust each panel throughout the day to ensure it tracks the sun. One robot can adjust up to 200 panels every 40 minutes, which is how long it takes the sun to move 10 degrees across the sky. The other robot will recharge while its twin is working.

The system also comes with software that can track plant performance, the company says. QBotix lined up funding this spring and says it already has its first customer, which will begin installation later this month. You can read more about the company here.

[via PhysOrg]

Previous Article: Science Has Discovered the 'Pigtail' Molecular Cloud and it is Beautiful

Next Article: Video: Cheetah Robot Sets a New Land Speed Record

10 Comments

Link to this comment

jefro

09/05/12 at 6:49 pm

So they took an energy negative product and spend more energy on it.

The solution to solar is not in PV silicon based cells. It might be a great solution to forward based groups like Marines or science teams out in the field. It might be OK for remote cabins but it is not yet a green solution. There is no way to get more energy out of a silicon based pv than it takes to create one.

The solution is to use what Spain does now to harness the power of the Sun. Their solutions are actually green in that the heat of the sun is powering electrical generation.

I wish someone would invent a silicon based PV panel that got better output. The other solution is to create a PV panel that doesn't use such energy intensive processes.

I am all for using the sun but the actual facts never seem to get posted.

Link to this comment

Robot

09/05/12 at 7:54 pm

Silly question, when is a robot a robot or just automation? But, I am glad someone found a better, more efficient way of adjusting solar panels.

Yea, yea, I know, 'Robot', is a cool word!
I get that, but boy, I can't even go to the movies without people noticing me, sheesh.

Link to this comment

matsci1

09/06/12 at 9:24 am

@ Jefro

I would be interested in seeing a reference as to how much energy is required per kilowatt of produced solar cells.

Link to this comment

nighthawkich

09/06/12 at 1:29 pm

Dont get me wrong, im a robot nut. I would use robots to brush my teeth, wipe my #$%, and drive me to work if they were available.

However wouldn't this application be better served and less energy intensive with small auto actuating servos built into the base of the panel?

Link to this comment

Llowelme

09/06/12 at 3:10 pm

Night - Less energy intensive yes but more expensive. They are just trying another way to save costs. It's kind of a pick your poison decision. If the panels cost less you can build more of them but you have to live with them being less efficient or come up with something like this. Or you can build them with all the bells and whistles but as they cost less you have fewer of them.

Link to this comment

nighthawkich

09/07/12 at 10:00 am

gyros and self actuating servos are built into a lot of modern medium scale RC cars. They only cost $3-4 each at your local hobby store, and a panel would require maybe 2 per axis of movement. Beef the cost up about 2 fold for industrial application, the cost would still not be an issue given the cost of the panels. Unless they somehow got the cost of these panels below $100 each and i missed that monumental announcement.

Now compare that to the likely cost of developing, programming, laying track, and maintenance for a custom autonomous robot? It would have to be maintaining 10s of thousands of panels before that even begins to become feasible compared to simple built in apparati.

More likely i think someone built this just to say "Isn't this cool". At which point I must concede yes its cool, but far from practical.

Link to this comment

lousephyr

09/09/12 at 8:07 pm

i'm not sure i understand why people continue to use highly inefficient solar panels,
300kwh; you hoping to power 30 homes, or one small office;
the area you would need to collect enough power for a small american city, would nearly equal size of city;
a solar furnace would take up far less space & you could use to remove a lot of waste that goes to landfill/waste management;
or use proper solar energy; from space ;
a 1km solar sail collects in 24 hours
sufficient power for every electrical device in america for a year. & you don't need to track the sun;
energy can be beamed back using pulsed laser to existing power grids;
( on sun tracking; ("Stationary solar arrays don’t gather as much sun as possible because, well, the sun moves")could you guys please move into the 21st century,not the 13th century.
it isn't the sun moving,the earth is the object moving;
if the sun moved as people suggest everyday, there wouldn't be an earth here to start with;); (just like it's not sunset,or sun rise; it's earth rise & earth set)
call me pedantic if you like, but this is supposed to be a science based online mag;

Link to this comment

riff_raff

09/09/12 at 11:10 pm

"I would be interested in seeing a reference as to how much energy is required per kilowatt of produced solar cells."

matsci1,

That's an excellent question. Silicon PV solar cells are quite energy intensive to manufacture. But there is more to the situation than that. Any form of renewable energy has an LCOE value which is a measure of all of its associated manufacturing/installation/operating costs versus the projected income over its lifetime. Even with these robots, the LCOE of PV solar is still far too high to be competitive with even commercial wind.

Link to this comment

suggestivesimon

09/10/12 at 8:40 am

I would be interested in seeing a reference as to how much energy is required per kilowatt of produced solar cells.

Link to this comment

quasi44

09/19/12 at 1:48 pm

Yeah, the overall efficiencies bug me too. A dedicated repair robot that can work in transit is another thing entirely and brings efficiency a new level of consideration. Mebbe try that math once.