Utility Introduces ‘first-of-its-kind’ A.I. Enabled Robot to Help with Solar Installations

By B.N. Frank

Proponents have promised that renewable energy companies would provide tens of thousands of new American jobs. Apparently not all of these jobs will go to humans though.

From Daily Energy Insider:

AES introduces ‘first-of-its-kind’ robot to help with solar installations

AES Corp. unveiled Wednesday Atlas, a first-of-its-kind solar installation robot.

The Atlas robot enables the rapid deployment of new solar resources at scale. It represents a major advance in solar energy technology as Atlas is designed to make it faster, more efficient, and safer to construct new solar facilities.

The robot was designed by AES and constructed in cooperation with Calvary Robotics and other third parties.

“Stakeholder commitment to a net-zero carbon energy future has never been higher, but our industry risks not being able to achieve this goal if we continue to adopt clean energy at the current pace,” Chris Shelton, AES senior vice president and chief product officer, said. “The AI-enabled, first-of-its-kind Atlas robot automates the construction of new solar resources, enabling a safer work environment, shorter project timelines, and lower overall energy costs.”

Atlas will complement AES’s workforce in the construction of new solar projects by performing the heavy lifting, placing, and attachment of solar modules.

“We are proud of the work that we’ve been able to do with AES in the development of Atlas at our Webster, New York headquarters. Calvary is focused on utilizing our expertise in advanced manufacturing to meet customer needs,” Michael Marseglia, Calvary Robotics vice president for robotics and technology, said. “To achieve this vision, we must rely on our most valuable assets, our talented people working together. We strive to create an environment rich with opportunity for learning, advancement, and personal fulfillment.”

In addition to Atlas, AES has deployed other innovations like its MAVERICK technology, which enables the deployment of solar resources three times as fast to deliver twice the amount of energy on the same amount of land. It also pioneered the world’s first DC-coupled solar plus battery storage solutions providing dispatchable clean energy.

In addition, AES has deployed solar robots from Ecoppia to automate the cleaning of panels to ensure peak performance.

This all sounds very impressive. However, experts have warned for years about vulnerabilities associated with Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) technology. Embarrassing as well as disastrous examples of A.I. inaccuracies and issues continue to be reported (see 1, 2).

In regard to solar panels, they can and do catch fire. In fact, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has started investigating fires associated with Tesla solar panels.

Other solar panel complaints include: