Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

solar

Hanwha Q Cells is No.1 in German solar module market

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Hanwha Q Cells Co., Ltd., one of the largest solar cell and module manufacturers in the world, achieved top market share in Germany’s solar module market in 2018, according to the survey, Global PV InstallerMonitor 2018/2019 by EuPD Research.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Germany’s electricity production from solar energy accounted for 6.1% of the total electricity generation in 2017, while electricity production from renewable sources reached 33.6%.

In 2018, renewables overtook coal to become Germany’s main energy source, supplying just over 40% of electricity production according to research from Fraunhofer.

[Read more…] about Hanwha Q Cells is No.1 in German solar module market

Hyundai plans solar charging system for cars

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Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors have announced plans to introduce solar charging technology on selected Hyundai Motor Group vehicles.

Electricity-generating solar panels will be incorporated into the roof or the hood of vehicles, and will support internal combustion, hybrid and battery electric vehicles with additional electrical power, increasing fuel efficiency and range.

The solar charging technology is being developed to support the vehicle’s main power source, improving mileage and reducing CO2 emissions.

[Read more…] about Hyundai plans solar charging system for cars

ABB installs solar power at its factory in Vietnam

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ABB recently inaugurated a 75 kWp solar photovoltaic (PV) installation at its high voltage and distribution solutions factory in BacNinh province in Vietnam.

The electricity generated is used to power a waste water treatment system, a canteen serving more than 200 people and part of the factory’s lighting.

Earlier this year, ABB also deployed its own smart technologies to commission the wastewater plant at the factory premises. Now the factory has an even lower impact on the surrounding environment, by running on clean energy.

[Read more…] about ABB installs solar power at its factory in Vietnam

What will America’s roads and highways look like in the future?

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The New Jersey Institute of Technology has been looking into the future to see how roads and highways will change over the next few years, and found a significant proportion of roadways in a poor state. 

Across the United States, says the NJIT, there are more than 4 million miles of public roadways, and 28 percent are listed as being in “poor condition”.

Throughout those roadways, 61,000 bridges are considered “structurally deficient”.

On top of the needs for rebuilding US roadways, 42 percent of America’s major urban highways remain congested, which costs an estimated $101 billion in wasted time and fuel annually.  [Read more…] about What will America’s roads and highways look like in the future?

Solar power revolution ‘unavoidable’ in Asia, says industry expert

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REC solar panel manufacturing plant in Singapore
A robot operates at a production line during a tour of an REC solar panel manufacturing plant in Singapore. Reuters / Edgar Su

By Henning Gloystein and Vera Eckert, Reuters

Investors are increasingly excited about the prospects for much faster growth in the solar power industry in Southeast Asia, which has until now been a backwater for renewable energy.

They say that the region is in a perfect position to benefit from rapidly declining prices in solar panels. It has strong economic growth, relatively high costs of electricity and a shortage from traditional sources, undeveloped infrastructure in more remote areas, plenty of sunshine, and backing for more renewable energy from many of Southeast Asia’s governments.

“Dramatically falling costs for solar energy technologies means businesses and governments are choosing renewable energy not for environmental reasons but for economic ones,” said Roberto De Vido, spokesman for Singapore-based Equis, one of Asia’s biggest green energy-focused investment firms with $2.7 billion in committed capital. “It simply makes good business sense. And that’s a trend that’s not going to change.”  [Read more…] about Solar power revolution ‘unavoidable’ in Asia, says industry expert

World Economic Forum selects robotics and automation companies in its ‘Technology Pioneers 2017’ list

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The World Economic Forum, the global nonprofit foundation whose annual meeting in Davos is attended by global leaders from business and politics, has published a list of companies which it considers to be the most pioneering in the field of technology.

In publishing its Technology Pioneers 2017 list, WEF has chosen 30 different companies to highlight from a variety of industries including biotechnology, agriculture, energy, transport, as well as a number of companies from the robotics and automation sector.

One of them is Horizon Robotics, a Chinese company which develops computer infrastructure to enable artificial intelligence computing and real-time decision-making, mainly aimed at enhancing self-driving vehicle safety.  [Read more…] about World Economic Forum selects robotics and automation companies in its ‘Technology Pioneers 2017’ list

Airships: Ready to fly high again after a century of suspicion

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futuristic-airship

The Hindenburg disaster, in which a massive German airship caught fire while landing in the US, resulting in the deaths of 36 people, occurred in 1937, but even today it’s remembered and thought of as the reason why airships never took to the skies in large numbers. 

The powerful images of the accident left many who viewed them with the impression that airships were dangerous, partly because they were filled with gas lighter than air.

But whereas the Hindenburg was filled with a flammable gas, modern airships are not – they haven’t been for many decades.  [Read more…] about Airships: Ready to fly high again after a century of suspicion