The direct conversion of daylight into electricity by photovoltaic solar cells is one of the most promising of the renewable energy options. The importance of the technology is reflected in the growth in the field. What was largely technology for space programmes in 1976 produced 28.6 MW of terrestrial modules in 1987. The popularity of the technology can partly be explained by its versatility. Arrays of any size and voltage can be constructed from standard modules, with the conversion efficiency being practically independent from output. Photovoltaics are also well suited to on-site...

The Symposium presented and discussed the latest research on new theories and advanced applications of automatic systems, which are developed for manufacturing technology or are applicable to advanced manufacturing systems. The topics included computer integrated manufacturing, simulation and the increasingly important areas of artificial intelligence and expert systems, and applied them to the broad spectrum of problems that the modern manufacturing engineer is likely to encounter in the design and application of increasingly complex automatic systems.