October 15, 2009 – ABB provided the four robotic systems included in the production line of Covilis, a company located 20 kilometers away from Lisbon, Portugal, and which is currently the world’s largest, most efficient, and most advanced production unit for tempered glass mirrors for solar thermal power plants. The production of Covilis aims mostly at the markets of southern Europe, the United States of America, the Middle East, and Australia.
Covilis, employing 120 people and a member of the Saint-Gobain group, was officially inaugurated on June 10th, 2009, with the presence of the Portuguese Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Innovation. It has a production capacity of more than two million square meters of parabolic cylinder mirrors, which allow the generation of energy corresponding to the annual needs of a city with 150,000 inhabitants. The use of solar means for the generation of this energy, instead of a conventional coal-fired power plant, will avoid the emission in the atmosphere of up to 149,000 metric tons of CO2. The production of this factory, aimed mostly at external markets, namely, Spain, the United States, the Middle East, and Australia, will give a positive contribution to Portuguese national exports.
The IRB6640 robotic systems provided by ABB perform the manipulation and palletization of components at different points in the manufacturing process, which starts with the placement of glass plates on the cutting tables, and ends with the packaging of the mirrors, ready for mounting on the metal structures of the solar fields. The repeatability, precision, and reliability of the ABB robotic systems, besides ensuring the characteristics and quality of the final product, guarantee a smaller number of manufacturing defects and less required human intervention, thus raising the efficiency and safety of the production line.
The automation of the production line, which comprises ABB technology, leads to parabolic mirrors possessing the exactly required amount of curvature and a high degree of homogeneity, thus affording optimal reflection properties, and excellent resistance to rigorous atmospheric and climatic conditions.
The contribution of ABB robotic systems to the increase in productivity in the area of renewable energy makes these systems an ever more important player in the defense of sustainability and of the environment.
Paulo Monteiro
Robotics