According to the company, Rover – an automated installation vehicle, and Spot – the robotic cleaning solution, are part of Alion Energy’s service to build utility scale plants twice as fast as the conventional installation with 50% less labor required.
Commenting on the launch, Alion Energy CEO Mark Kingsley said the company has eliminated flaws that plague the installation process, by using robotic installation and cleaning technologies.
"Now, we can build plants that are not only the most cost-effective solution within the solar mix, but have a roadmap to deliver solar electricity at costs that can compete with any generation source," added Kingsley.
Alion noted that Rover does away with low-skilled tasks including bolt-tightening, ditch-digging and hauling heavy glass over uneven ground and High-skill tasks including electrical work, concrete production, machine and robotics operations are maintained or newly created.
Meanwhile, Spot offers simple and automated cleaning solutions to prevent double digit performance loss due to soiling. It is programmable to wash panels at any interval and can be activated from a computer, tablet or smart phone.
