Solar Farms Use Robots to Compete
太陽能場設置維護 機器人上陣
By Diane Cardwell

RICHMOND, California – In a dusty yard under a blistering August sun, Rover was hard at work, lifting 20-kilogram solar panels off a stack and installing them, one by one, into a concrete track. A few meters away, Rover’s companion, Spot, moved along a row of panels, washing away months of grit, then squeegeeing them dry. They could have kept at it all day.
一個陽光炙熱的八月天，羅福（漫遊者之意）在一個滿是灰塵的工場努力工作，把一堆重20公斤的太陽能板一個個舉起來，安裝在一個水泥軌道上。幾公尺外，羅福的夥伴史波特沿著一排太陽能板移動，清洗板上積累數月的砂礫，再以橡膠刷刮乾。要羅福與史波特整天工作也不成問題。

That is because they are robots, surprisingly low-tech machines that a start-up company called Alion Energy is betting can automate the installation and maintenance of large-scale solar farms.
那是因為，它們是機器人。新創公司「艾里恩能源」看準這些低科技機器人可用於大型太陽能發電場，使太陽能板的安裝及維修完全自動化。

Working in near secrecy until recently, the company, based in Richmond, California, is ready to use its machines in three projects in the next few months in California, Saudi Arabia and China. If all goes well, executives expect that they can help bring the price of solar electricity into line with that of natural gas by cutting the cost of building and maintaining large solar installations.
總公司位於加州里奇蒙的艾里恩公司直到最近一直祕密作業，未來幾個月打算把機器人用在加州、沙烏地阿拉伯與中國大陸的三項計畫。公司高層預期，如果一切順利，它們可降低大型太陽能電場的安裝維護成本，從而使太陽能電價與天然氣相若。

In recent years, the solar industry has wrung enormous costs from developing farms, largely through reducing the price of solar panels more than 70 percent since 2008. But with prices about as low as manufacturers say they can go, the industry is turning its attention to finding savings in other areas. Modules dropped to 35 percent of system costs in 2013, down from 53 percent in 2010, while labor, engineering and permitting rose to 15 percent from 9 percent in the same time period, according to Greentech Media, which tracks the industry.
近年來，太陽能產業開發電場成本大幅降低，主要是因為2008年至今太陽能板的價格累計已下降70%以上。然而在生產商聲稱價格已經不能再低的局面下，業界開始把焦點轉至如何在其他方面省錢。追蹤此一產業動態的調研機構「綠科媒介」指出，太陽能板模組在系統成本中所占比率已自2010年的53%降至今年的35%，同期間人力、工程、申請許可成本所占比率則由9%增至15%。

For all that the industry promotes its innovations, the business of mounting panels on the ground has remained largely the same for years. In an expensive, time-consuming process that can demand hundreds of hands and millions of screws, workers clear and level the ground, drive in metal posts and attach and wire the heavy, glass-encased modules.
數年來，業界全力倡導創新，在地面安裝太陽能板的方式卻大致不變。安裝太陽能板既費錢又耗時，可能需動用數百人力，旋上數百萬個螺絲釘。在這個過程中，工人必須整地，把金屬樁釘入地下，固定以玻璃包覆的沉重模組，再為它們裝上電線。

After the panels are installed, it can be expensive to keep them free of dirt or vegetation that can reduce their output.
太陽能板裝好後，使它們不因灰塵沾染、植物生長而致產量降低，可能同樣很花錢。

Several companies are developing or selling robots to aid in installation or cleaning, including the Swiss outfit Serbot.
數家公司正在研發或銷售機器人，以幫助安裝或清理作業，包括瑞士的Serbot公司。

Another start-up based in California, QBotix, has developed a robot that controls tracking operations, tilting the panels to follow the sun and maximize their output. Getting as much as 40 percent more electricity out of each panel than in a fixed-tilt system, said Wasiq Bokhari, the company’s chief executive, allows developers to build smaller, cheaper systems to meet their energy targets.
加州的另一家新創公司QBotix研發的一款機器人能夠控制軌道作業。它使太陽能板傾斜以對準太陽，讓產量達到最大化。該公司執行長波卡里表示，如此每塊太陽能板發電量可比固定式的多出40%，使開發商能以更小型、更廉價的系統達成發電量目標。

“The solar market is very competitive, and people literally fight over single cents per watt, so by allowing such a dramatic decrease in overall power plant costs, we are bringing a lot of value to the market,” he said. The systems are now installed in five farms in the United States and Japan, with more scheduled to go in before the end of the year.
他說：「太陽能市場非常競爭，每瓦發電成本錙銖必較。我們引導發電場整體成本大降，為市場帶來可觀的價值。」這種系統已在美國與日本的五座發電場安裝，今年底前還會安裝更多。

Alion’s installation system is designed to work on uneven ground, executives said, cutting down on the need to level hectares of fields. First, a machine that is used to lay sidewalks and gutters spits out a long concrete track. After the track sets, Rover installs the panels and glues them in place. Human workers then wire the panels into the system. Spot can be controlled with a smartphone. It rolls along the rails beneath the panels, squirting water and passing over them with a spinning brush and a squeegee.
相關人士說，艾里恩的安裝系統可在不平坦的地面作業，減少整平地面的必要性。首先，一部用於鋪設人行道與排水溝的機器噴出一條水泥長軌道。軌道定形後，羅福安裝太陽能板，再把它們黏住。接著工人把太陽能板與系統連線。史波特可用智慧手機控制。它沿著太陽能板下方的軌道前進，對板面噴水並以一把旋轉刷及一把橡膠刮水刷清理。

The promise of automation is not only to reduce the cost of labor, but also to cut construction time – to 12 weeks from six to eight months in some cases.
自動化的目標不只在少用人工，更在縮短施工時間。有些實例由6到8個月減為12周。

The company has attracted some positive attention from analysts. “What’s exciting with Alion is that they’ve automated the entire process,” said Vishal Sapru, energy and environment research manager at the business consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, which recently gave Alion an award for innovation. “You reduce the number of days. You reduce the number of laborers. You reduce the number of inefficiencies that could arise in putting up these panels, and then it results in a huge cost savings.”
該公司已經獲得分析師一定的肯定。佛洛斯特&蘇利文企業顧問公司最近頒給艾里恩創新獎，該公司能源與環境研究經理沙普魯說：「艾里恩公司令人興奮的成就是，使整個過程自動化。可以減少安裝太陽能板所需天數、人力，提高效率，省下可觀成本。」

He cautioned that it was unclear precisely how much the technology would save – the company says it can reduce overall installation costs by 75 percent, while German companies that do similar work put their estimates closer to 50 percent, Mr. Sapru said.
不過他說，這種技術究竟能省下多少成本還很難說。艾里恩公司說可省下75%的整體安裝成本，德國同業則認為接近50%。

Back at Alion’s headquarters, a leaner, more nimble model of Rover lies in wait, while a second-generation Spot is in the works.
在艾里恩公司的總部，更輕便靈活的新型羅福已經準備就緒，第二代的史波特則還在研發中。

“The goal is not robotics,” but to beat the price of natural gas, said Mark Kingsley, the chief executive at Alion, as the machines continued moving inexorably along the rows. The panels Spot cleaned were suddenly producing about 12.5 percent more electricity. “You have to be lean and pretty low cost to meet that.”
艾里恩執行長金斯雷在機器不斷移動時說：「目標不是機器人，而是擊敗天然氣的價格。」史波特清理的太陽能板突然增產12.5%的電力。金斯雷說：「你必須短小精悍而且低成本，才能符合要求。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/business/energy-environment/putting-robots-to-work-in-solar-energy.html
Video：The Solar Robots: A California company thinks robots that can install and clean thousands of solar panels may make solar energy competitive with fossil fuels.
http://nyti.ms/GZYUyu

2013-10-29聯合報/G5版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 陳世欽譯 原文參見紐時週報八版上