TALOS

roboTics and Artificial intelligence Living labs improving Operations in PV Scenarios

Ref 101119744
Topic HORIZON-CL4-2022-DIGITAL-EMERGING-02-07 — Increased robotics capabilities demonstrated in key sectors (AI, Data and Robotics Partnership) (IA)
Start date 01/10/2024
End date 30/09/2027

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Introduction

The TALOS project (roboTics and Artificial intelligence Living labs improving Operations in PV Scenarios) aims to revolutionize the management and maintenance of photovoltaic plants through the implementation of advanced robotic solutions and artificial intelligence. This project is part of the Horizon Europe program, specifically within the HORIZON-CL4-2022-DIGITAL-EMERGING-02 call, which seeks to promote emerging digital technologies to enhance competitiveness and sustainability in the energy sector.

Project Objectives

TALOS’s primary goal is to develop an intelligent system based on autonomous robots and AI algorithms to optimize operations and maintenance (O&M) in photovoltaic installations across different scenarios: land-based, floating, and agrivoltaic. Specific objectives include:

• Reducing operational and maintenance costs of photovoltaic plants by up to 5%.
• Improving inspection efficiency through automation, reducing human workload by 90%.
• Implementing a human-robot collaboration system for seamless integration of robotics in maintenance tasks.
• Developing an advanced management platform that enables coordination between multiple robots, optimizing inspection, cleaning, and vegetation control.
• Reducing worker exposure to hazardous environments, increasing occupational safety in the photovoltaic sector.

Developed Technologies

To achieve these objectives, TALOS integrates several cutting-edge technologies, including:

• Autonomous land and aerial robots equipped with advanced sensors for solar panel inspection, automated cleaning, and vegetation management.
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, capable of analyzing large datasets to detect anomalies and predict system failures.
• Multi-robot platform with a recommendation system, allowing interaction and coordination between different robotic units to optimize maintenance operations.
• Advanced sensors and computer vision, improving fault detection and assessment of solar panel conditions.
• Environmental impact reduction, optimizing resource use such as water and energy in cleaning and maintenance tasks.

Expected Impact

The implementation of TALOS will generate a significant impact on the photovoltaic industry, enabling:

• A 10% increase in solar plant performance through improved maintenance strategies.
• A reduced carbon footprint in the photovoltaic sector by optimizing resources and minimizing unnecessary human interventions.
• Enhanced worker safety and risk reduction by limiting manual tasks in hazardous environments.
• The development of an innovation ecosystem in renewable energies, involving robotics and automation startups.

Funding and Consortium

TALOS is funded by the European Commission under the Horizon Europe program, within the HORIZON-CL4-2022-DIGITAL-EMERGING-02 action line.
The requested grant amount for the Project is 8 769 661.50 EUR and the Budget of the Project is 10 520 860.0 €. The amount of subsidy requested for RES is 328 000.0 € and the estimated budget on the part of RES is 229 600.0 €

The consortium includes:

• CNET Centre for New Energy Technologies (Portugal) – Project coordinator and responsible for general supervision.
• EDP – Gestao da producao de energia S.A. (Portugal) – Affiliated to the project coordinator, leader of the land and floating pilot sites and validation and field tests in real photovoltaic installations.
• INESC TEC (Portugal) – Development of artificial intelligence and optimisation algorithms for predictive maintenance. Desarrollo de técnicas para astilleros S.A. (Spain) – Specialist in robotic solar panel cleaning in land based PV.
• SolarCleano (Luxembourg) – Specialist in robotic solar panel cleaning in floating and land based PV.
• Fundingbox Accelerator SP ZOO (Poland) – Cascading financing management and acceleration of technology start-ups.
• Fundingbox communities S.L. (Spain) – Cascading financing management and acceleration of technology start-ups.
• Isotrol (Spain) – Integration of digital management platforms to optimise the performance of solar plants.
• Alisys Digital (Spain) – Development of control interfaces and human-machine communication systems.
• RES Energy Global Services S.L. (Spain) – Technology partner in charge of integrating robotic solutions in solar plants.
• Wageningen University (Netherlands) – Impact assessment of robotic systems in agriculture and the agrivoltaic sector.
• Ethniko kentro erevnas kai technologikis anapty (Greece) – Development of advanced methodologies for the integration of robotic systems in the production of renewable energy.
• Edencore technologies private company (Greece) – Design of software architectures and automation platforms for the efficient management of robotic fleets.
• Geoponiko panepistimion athinon (Greece) – Research into optimisation techniques for the maintenance of agrivoltaic plants and evaluation of the impact on agricultural production.

Conclusion

TALOS represents a key advancement in the digitalization of the photovoltaic sector, providing innovative tools to optimize solar plant operations and maintenance. Through advanced robotics and artificial intelligence, this project will contribute to improving energy efficiency, reducing costs, and enhancing safety in the renewable energy sector.