AI-powered robots are set to reduce the cost of large-scale solar, thanks to new funding by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
Robotics Pioneer has been awarded $4.9 million as the first recipient of ARENA’s $100 million Solar ScaleUp Challenge, which seeks to supercharge innovation and crowdsource ideas from around the world on driving down the costs of large-scale solar deployment.
Luminous’ project will introduce and demonstrate the company’s LUMI robot, an AI-powered pick and place technology designed to streamline utility-scale solar construction.
ARENA said LUMI addresses one of the industry’s most labour-intensive tasks: panel installation.
LUMI autonomously places solar modules onto racking structures, allowing onsite workers to complete the final securing process, reducing manual labour and improving installation speed, safety and cost-efficiency.
ARENA CEO, Darren Miller, said that reducing operation and maintenance costs in the deployment of large-scale solar is a critical lever in achieving ARENA’s ultra low-cost solar vision.
“ARENA has set an ambitious goal to reduce the installed cost of solar to 30 cents per watt and bring the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) below $20/MWh. These are important targets, because at this cost, solar will form the foundation for Australia’s renewable energy ‘superpower’ future.”
Miller said to achieve net-zero, Australia will need immense amounts of solar power at ultra-low cost.
“We’ve already proven our ability to manufacture advanced technologies. It’s now time to apply that capability to solar PV, a cornerstone of the nation’s clean energy future,” he said.
“Solutions like LUMI are key to reducing costs and maintaining Australia’s leading role in the development and innovation of solar technologies.”
Miller said the Solar ScaleUp Challenge brought together local and global thinkers, innovators and developers to collaborate and find innovative and groundbreaking solutions to transform the solar industry.
“This project is a great example of that ingenuity.”
Luminous hopes the LUMI robot will enhance productivity and safety on Australian solar farms by helping the existing workforce to install solar panels up to 3.5 times faster, without any need for heavy lifting.
While LUMI has already demonstrated cost reductions on solar farms in the US, the ARENA project marks the first global deployment of a full fleet of five LUMI robots, unlocking the potential to lower solar farm costs by up to 6.2 per cent.
Luminous has partnered with Equans to deploy LUMI at two Australian solar farms: the 440MW Neoen Culcairn Solar Farm in New South Wales, and the 250MW Engie Goorambat East Solar Farm in Victoria.
Luminous CEO, Jay Wong, said the company is thrilled to work with ARENA and Equans to showcase the future of solar construction in one of the world’s most advanced solar markets.
“With LUMI, we’re not just introducing a robot – we’re setting out to redefine the standard for how solar farms are built and help sites energise faster and safer,” he said.
“Deploying our LUMI fleet in Australia will allow us to capture the data, performance insights and real-world impact needed to drive global adoption – the kind of scale and transformation we founded Luminous to achieve.”
ARENA said the project continues its support of Australian innovation in the solar PV industry.
The agency has provided more than $388 million to more than 200 solar research and development projects since 2009 through funding programs inherited from the Australian Solar Institute or delivered by ARENA since 2012.
Although the ScaleUp Challenge has closed, ARENA said its work to accelerate the pace of innovation in renewable energy technologies continues.
The agency said now is the time to engage for investors, developers, researchers or entrepreneurs with a vision for low-cost large-scale solar. ARENA will continue to support big ideas and back breakthroughs that power Australia’s clean energy future.
Project funding is still available through the Advancing Renewables Program and Solar Sunshot Program.
