A clever idea for climate neutrality – sheet metal specialist creates a parasol for fish

Some ideas are astonishingly ingenious in their simplicity. A project on Taiwan's west coast that combines fish farming and solar power generation is one such example. Covering an area of around 3.5 million square metres, solar panels from Taiwanese sheet metal processing specialist INTER-TECH with a total output of 350 megawatts shield a fish farm's breeding tanks from sunlight. INTER-TECH Managing Director Edward Liu explains: "The solar panels provide shade for the pools and prevent photosynthesis, which in turn inhibits algae growth and ensures better water quality. In addition, they prevent changes in water quality caused by heavy rainfall."  

For years, Taiwan has been promoting solar energy through government schemes that also contribute to the development of technological innovations. The island nation aims to become climate neutral by 2050, with around  20% of its electricity coming from renewable sources by 2025. "The original target of 20% by 2025 has been postponed by one year to 2026, " says Liu, explaining: "The reasons behind this are changes in government regulations, land scarcity, a climate with typhoons and earthquakes, the shortage of skilled workers and issues with supply chains." These are challenges that INTER-TECH hopes to overcome, at least in part, with ideas such as the project combining fish farming and solar power generation. 

Almost 10 years ago, INTER-TECH was commissioned by the Metal Industries Research & Development Centre to transform a theoretical model of solar panel mounting systems into a practical product. In collaboration with Taiwanese steel distributor HKS Steel, INTER-TECH  developed a material suitable for the mounting system. "The beams must be corrosion-resistant and withstand strong winds, typhoons and earthquakes up to magnitude eight on the Richter scale," explains Liu. An alloy of  magnesium, aluminium, zinc and nickel developed by HKS specifically for this application meets these requirements. The material has a smooth surface, high strength properties and is corrosion resistant.

INTER-TECH supports the development of a unique Solar C mount based on the theoretical model. "The frame and support structure consists of around 100 single parts, which we have to manufacture with precision," says Liu. This involves investing in a TruLaser 3060 fibre 6 kW laser cutting system, a TruLaser 3030 fibre with 24 kW and a TruBend 8320 bending machine  with automatic tool changer from TRUMPF. "We can process sheets up to six meters long and between 32 and 40 millimetres thick on the machines," says Liu. The material for the C mounts comes on coils - rolled-up steel sheets – and is first cut to size with a laser at INTER-TECH and provided with holes for brackets. The company then bends the parts on the TruBend 8320,  packs them and loads them onto lorries. "Including supply and removal, bending a six-metre-long workpiece takes exactly 37 seconds," Liu says proudly. And that is important, because one of the major challenges in the production of the C mounts is the comparatively large production volume of 1,800 tonnes that INTER-TECH processes every month. "Thanks to the high productivity of our TRUMPF machines, we can ensure this production capacity with very stable manufacturing quality," says  Liu with satisfaction.

The assembly of the single parts of the C mount takes place on site. "During the design phase, we ruled out welding processes for joining the parts with a view to corrosion resistance," explains Liu. Instead, INTER-TECH relies on screw mounting with bolts. "This  method, which is unique  to Taiwan,  requires calculation and analysis using special software for screw mechanics," Liu continues.  "This naturally gives us a competitive advantage. At present, we are the only Taiwanese manufacturer that can supply mounts of this quality," says Liu. 

 INTER-TECH is achieving multiple objectives with this project. "We are utilising the land area twice – once for the solar park and once for the fish farm. The electricity generated supplies the entire plant and helps to further increase the proportion of solar energy." So it's no wonder that Edward Liu is already looking forward to follow-up orders: "The next project is an agricultural farm in the interior of the country with solar panels with a total installed capacity of 300 megawatts. Here, we will also equip the mount systems with electronics that allow the panels to be aligned according to the position of the sun." 

For him, the cooperation with TRUMPF is a key building block for the success of his company. Apart from the productivity and manufacturing quality of the TRUMPF machines, he was impressed by the TRUMPF team's commitment. "When we were considering purchasing a six-metre bending machine, none of the domestic or foreign machine manufacturers were able to supply us with a system that did not require foundations," he reports. "Our TRUMPF sales representative then introduced us to the  TruBend 8320 , which fully met these and all our other requirements." Liu signed the purchase agreement  for this  machine  just one week after opting for the TruLaser 3060 fiber, and he has not regretted it: "With these two machines, we were able to increase our annual turnover by 75% in 2021."