ARENA funds robotics and software to reduce solar costs

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced that it has committed over $3.2 million in funding to two solar projects that will help achieve ARENA’s vision of ultra-low-cost solar.

PV Lighthouse Pty Ltd (PV Lighthouse) will receive $1.97 million in funding for its project to expand its SunSolve yield modelling software and Built Robotics Australia Pty Ltd (Built Robotics) will receive $1.3 million towards its autonomous piling robots project, unlocking more than $6.5 million in total investment across both projects.

ARENA CEO Darren Miller said both projects will help improve solar PV technology, making it more efficient and quicker to deploy, helping realise Australia’s renewable energy future sooner.

“Ultra-low-cost solar is Australia’s key to achieving the renewable energy transition and reaching our net zero goals,” he said. “Automation and efficiency are both leading tools in driving down costs. Both projects are exploring innovative approaches to doing just this.

“These are groundbreaking projects using cutting-edge technology to enhance Australia’s solar PV manufacturing and energy generation.”

PV Lighthouse’s project will further improve the existing SunSolve software to increase the accuracy of power output forecasts and reduce uncertainty and risk during planning and development.

Built Robotics’ project, an Australian first, will automate the pile driving processes associated with constructing utility-scale solar farms. Current methods are labour- and time-intensive. The design and piloting of first- and second-generation prototype robots has the potential to reduce piling time and labour costs by approximately 82% and 88% respectively, increasing installation efficiency and safety.

“Before SunSolve existed, developers did not have a modelling solution that could accurately represent their structures and modules,” said Keith McIntosh, Founder and CEO of PV Lighthouse and SunSolve. “This meant they had to guesstimate several of the loss factors required for their yield forecasts. Now developers can rapidly calculate these factors with SunSolve, giving them greater confidence in their forecasts — a key advantage when negotiating project financing.”

“Australia is a technology hub for renewable energy and Built Robotics is honoured to be working with ARENA to continue inventing better ways of building solar farms,” said Paul Kelly, General Manager and VP of Business Development at Built Robotics. “By helping to automate the most repetitive and difficult tasks on job sites, Built Robotics’ robots aim to lower the cost of energy, accelerate construction and provide safer working conditions for skilled workers.”

ARENA is looking to reduce the installed cost of a solar project to just 30c/W and reach a levelised cost of electricity below $20 per MWh by 2030. This could help unlock a total installed capacity of 1 TW of solar PV by 2050.

Both projects are examples of the innovative ideas that ARENA expects to support through its $100 million Solar ScaleUp Challenge.

For more information about the Solar ScaleUp Challenge, visit: https://challenge.greenhouse.tech/arena-solar-scaleup-initiative.

Image credit: Built Robotics.