In Kasai City, Hyogo Prefecture, there is a solar power plant where an autonomous "robot weeder" moves around the site while cutting grass.
This is a low-voltage interconnection project with a solar panel output of about 126.3 kW and a grid output of 49.9 kW.
Figure 1 ● Running automatically every day
(Source: Nikkei BP)
People who happen to pass by the surrounding roads often peer through the fence. There is also an association with the outdoor version of iRobot's room vacuum cleaner "Roomba", and when you notice that the robot is intelligently cutting weeds, you will not be able to see it. Robots have a mysterious power that attracts people.
What is running around here is a robot-type "lawn mower" that is used in factory green spaces, parks, and residential gardens. Husqvarna, a Swedish manufacturer of equipment for forestry, agriculture, and landscaping, was adopted.
Move around the site while mowing the grass every day, and when the charge level decreases, return to the charger by yourself, and after charging, return to the position in the middle of mowing again and start mowing the grass. Weeding is done.
Himeji Inzai (Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture), a power generation company, adopted it while working on advanced power generation facilities and O&M (operation and maintenance) (related column).
The time period during which the vehicle will run to mow the grass is set in advance, and during that time period it autonomously runs around the site and cuts the grass. It is ideal as a weeding measure for solar power plants.
The environment of the site of the ground remains, and the advantage is still alive. Not all the land that used to be a ground is being used for a solar power plant. Some are also used as warehouses. The landlord has requested that the path leading to this warehouse be weeded as well. This brings additional benefits.
Using a robot weeder, you can weed even this passage with a little ingenuity.
The crossbar of the fence that separates the solar power plant and the aisle is set high from the ground. This allows the robot weeder to travel freely under the fence without bumping into it. In this way, the robot weeder can freely move back and forth between the solar power plant and the warehouse (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2 ● We devised a net instead of a fence
(Source: Nikkei BP)
The entire site of the field is surrounded by a high and strong fence, so the robot weeder will not go outside.
There is also an environment suitable for autonomous driving of such robots, and after full-scale weeding before installing the power generation equipment, the robot weeder is installed and runs around every day to maintain a clean state.
Using this low-voltage solar power plant as a model, Himeji Inzai began providing weeding services for solar power plants in the surrounding area.
