Australia Funds Solar Robotics with $3.3M Boost to Luminous

Australia has provided government funding of A$4.9 million (US$3.3 million) to robotics firm Luminous to scale up its solar panel installation technology using AI automation. The funding is the first to be disbursed under the Australian Renewable Energy Agency's (ARENA) $100 million Solar ScaleUp Challenge, which was established to help fund large-scale deployment of solar and lower associated costs.

Luminous will implement five of its LUMI robots on two large solar farms—Neoen's 440-megawatt Culcairn Solar Farm in New South Wales and Engie's 250 MW Goorambat East Solar Farm in Victoria. The robot systems are controlled by artificial intelligence to implement the pick-and-place solar panel installation on racking frames, unburdening a large amount of manpower and accelerating. Human workers will still be responsible for securing the final panel.

The LUMI robots that have already been tested in the US have exhibited potential efficiency in streamlining operations. Luminous indicates that the system can accelerate solar panel installation between 2.5 and 3.5 times, cut out labour-intensive activities and the related construction risks, and reduce Australia's overall solar farm cost by up to 6.2 percent.

With the Australian government planning to reduce the price of solar power to 30 cents a watt and the cost of electricity to below $20 per megawatt-hour, automation technologies such as LUMI are also being looked upon as being critical. The goal is part of Australia's overall strategy for net-zero emissions, with large-scale solar driving the lead in the energy revolution within the nation.

The use of the LUMI robots will be implemented in collaboration with Equans, a multinational engineering and construction company. This project can be the model for the models of buildings in the renewable energy sector in using robots and artificial intelligence to enhance scalability and efficiency.

ARENA, the organization entrusted with the management of public investment in renewable energy technology, has invested over $388 million in over 200 solar R&D projects since 2009. One of its strategic objectives is funding technologies and models that will lower the cost of solar and help Australia become a clean energy technology leader.

While the Solar ScaleUp Challenge is complete, ARENA has reaffirmed its ongoing commitment to investing in early-stage clean energy innovations that have the potential to make major cost reductions or accelerate deployment pace. The agency expects more innovation in automation and digital construction will be required to address future solar capacity needs.

Luminous' plan outlines a turn towards the solar building sector towards using robots and artificial intelligence to automate project design and break away from reliance on enormous manual labor forces. The innovation follows international trends where automation is being used more to enhance productivity in green infrastructure projects.

With the proliferation of large-scale installations throughout Australia's energy sector, these technologies had the ability to accelerate construction timetables as well as fill widening labour gaps and health and safety issues on-site. The Australian government views such innovation as essential to meeting its longer-term renewable energy and climate objectives.

The success of LUMI robots in their so far pilot deployments is guaranteed to have an impact on future solar infrastructure choices in the industry, possibly establishing new benchmarks for the design of utility-scale solar farms in Australia and across the world. 

Source: Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), Luminous
Credit: Content taken from coverage by Nirmal Menon