Robots Built to Clean and Install Solar Panels

Rover, a robot, placing a solar panel in a track at Alion Energy, which is looking to shave labor costs

       In Richmond, California, there are low-tech robots installing and maintaining large-scale solar farms, at least a start-up company, known as Alion Energy, believes so. Working in near secrecy until recently, the company 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.
       In recent years, the solar industry has wrung enormous costs from developing farms, largely through reducing the price of solar panels more than 70% 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.
       "We've been in this mode for the past decade in the industry of really just focusing on module costs because they used to be such a big portion of system costs," said Arno Harris, chief executive of Recurrent Energy, a solar farm developer, and chairman of the board of the Solar Energy Industries Association. Now, Mr. Harris said, "Eliminating the physical plant costs is a major area of focus through eliminating materials and eliminating labor."

Oil-Rich Russia Works to Increase Renewable Energy

     The Energy Ministry of Russia has recently submitted a draft law to Dmitry Medvedev, prime minister of Russia, which is intended to support the deployment of renewable energy sources, such as solar power, wind power, and hydroelectric power. Russia, however, has failed to meet its renewable energy set goal for 2010, in which it was to obtain 1.5% of the country's electric demand from renewable power plants. In 2011, Russia even failed to reach yet 1%.
      Currently there has been no details concerning tariffs for specific technologies, but notably the new law promises a 14% return on investment. In addition, the electricity is said to be bought through power purchase agreements. If approved, this project would cost an amount of 85 billion rubles (approximately $2,716,396,000). This, in turn, is shown to the public as an incentive scheme that will prioritize projects that are in line with a local content requirement.
      Russia, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates (UAE) are the few of the largest petroleum exporters throughout the globe. They are each ones of the top 8 petroleum producers yet they acknowledge the environmental consequences of using petroleum, especially UAE whereas the nation aggressively pursues solar and wind energy. The possible reasons for why these petroleum-dependent nations are pursuing renewable energy is as follows: the consequences of climate change, air and water pollution are severe; and the less oil nations consume may lead to more demand in exports causing there to be an increase in foreign exchange revenue and massive petroleum-derived profits.
      This new plan's target goal is for Russia to obtain 2-2.5% of its electricity from renewable energy sources, or 6 gigawatts of installed capacity by 2020. It has also been claimed that the draft law has supposedly been approved by Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev on April 25, 2013, but there has been no information regarding this announcement in the English media as of yet.