Green jobs for robots are becoming an important factor in pushing sustainable new technologies into commercialization, and a couple of recent developments underscore the key role our mechano-minded friends are playing. First, emerging solar giant Dow Corning Corp. has just announced an alliance with robot master Reis Robotics to promote a silicone-based encapsulating technology for solar cells that is expected to lower the cost of solar energy through a more efficient production process.
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Second, just last month the National Renewable Energy Laboratory featured robots that operate a solar energy test site, where companies can use the latest technology to asses, develop and refine their solar cells. The public-private aspect of the endeavor mirrors the new federally-funded kinetic hydropower test facility embedded in Tulane University, which aims to create new green jobs by providing a platform for private companies to develop sustainable technologies.
Green Jobs for Everyone
The Obama administration has been focusing like a laser on green jobs for people, but the news from Dow and NREL underscores another cornerstone of our sparkling green future, and that is the judicious use of robots to push efficiencies forward. The solar industry offers plenty of examples that show how the manufacturing process and installation design can be tweaked to make a significant dent in the cost of alternative energy, even without a significant technological breakthrough in the energy-creating process itself. For example, Dow claims that its new encapsulating technology protects solar cells with a faster, more compact and efficient manufacturing process that will lower the overall cost of solar installations.
Green Job Therapy for Robots
Not for nothing, but does anybody else out there think it’s hilarious that there’s a company out there called Reis Robotics? You know, like that guy from The Terminator! It’s like in the second one where the evil robot has been reprogrammed to save humanity instead of wiping it out, only he saves humanity by developing low cost solar cells instead of whomping the bad robot. Oh wait, the guy’s name wasn’t Reis, it was Reese. Okay so nevermind.
Image: Robots by Antonis Lamnatos on flickr.com.
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