The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is providing up to USD 21.72 million to establish solar robotics manufacturing facilities in Melbourne and Brisbane, supporting faster, safer, and more efficient construction of large-scale solar farms across Australia.

Funding for two complementary technologies

Funded under Round 2 of ARENA's Solar Sunshot Program, the projects will manufacture two complementary technologies in Australia: robots that install solar panels and autonomous systems that drive foundation piles.

According to ARENA, the new facilities in Victoria and Queensland will help improve productivity, reduce construction costs, and ease workforce constraints as large-scale solar deployment grows, supporting the agency's goal of ultra-low-cost solar.

ARENA CEO Darren Miller said the projects will advance the development of technologies previously demonstrated in Australian conditions into locally manufactured products that can be deployed at scale.

"Installing foundations and placing panels are two of the most labour-intensive parts of solar farm construction. It's hard work in the hot sun," Mr. Miller said.

"Australia needs to install large volumes of solar quickly and cost-effectively. Local manufacturing and automation can improve the way solar farms are built by reducing construction costs and making installation faster, safer, and more efficient, an important part of ARENA's ultra-low-cost solar vision.

"Manufacturing these technologies in Australia will help to strengthen local supply chains, develop specialist skills, and give solar projects better access to advanced construction equipment when and where it is needed."

Luminous Robotics to scale up panel installation in Melbourne

ARENA is providing up to USD 12.43 million to Luminous Robotics to establish a Melbourne manufacturing facility for its autonomous solar panel installation robots, known as LUMIs.

The facility is expected to support the manufacture and deployment of around 100 LUMI robots by 2029, helping automate solar panel installation on large-scale solar farms.

Luminous Robotics came through ARENA's 2024 Solar Challenge, an initiative designed to supercharge innovation and crowdsource ideas from across the world on how to reduce the cost of large-scale solar.

ARENA supported demonstrations of the LUMI robots at solar farms in Victoria and New South Wales, where the technology was tested under Australian construction and environmental conditions. The new funding will enable the company to move the technology from field demonstration to industrial-scale manufacturing in Australia.

"We've proven LUMI on real solar farms in Australia, in the heat and dust, doing some of the hardest work on site. With ARENA's support, the next step is to turn that into scale," Tenzin Crouch, General Manager of Luminous Robotics Australia, said.

"Building a production line in Melbourne, delivering our first hundred robots, and then growing from there. If Australia is going to build renewable energy at the scale and speed we need, robotics will have an important role to play, and we are building it."

Built Robotics to establish Brisbane piling hub

Built Robotics Australia will receive up to USD 9.29 million to establish a Brisbane manufacturing hub and operations centre for autonomous piling systems used in utility-scale solar construction. The facility will manufacture and deploy 12 robotic piling systems, helping automate one of the most labour-intensive stages of solar farm construction.

The project builds on previous ARENA-supported deployments of Built Robotics' autonomous piling technology in Australia, establishing domestic capability to manufacture, integrate, and test piling systems for solar projects.

"Australia has shown the world that construction robotics and physical AI work in the field. Now we're going to build that technology here," Paul Kelly, Vice President of Business Development at Built Robotics, said.

"Our Brisbane hub will make Queensland a home for autonomous solar construction, creating skilled local jobs and a supply chain that serves projects in Australia, building on nearly a decade of work we've done here."

Building a domestic solar supply chain

Together, the two projects will build Australian manufacturing capability at two critical stages of solar farm construction. By moving proven robotics into larger-scale production and deployment, ARENA says they can help create a domestic equipment supply chain for Australia's growing large-scale solar industry.

The funding forms part of the USD 593.56 million Solar Sunshot Program, which ARENA is delivering to support innovation in Australia's solar PV manufacturing industry.

Solar Sunshot was announced by the Australian Government in March 2024 and aims to uncover and support innovation to drive scale and diversity in a critical industry.

According to ARENA, the program is designed to harness Australia's strong renewable energy potential, high-quality and abundant raw materials, and long track record of excellence in research and development so the country can strengthen and diversify its supply chains and create economic opportunities.

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