The LUMI solar panel-installing AI-powered robot working on Engie’s Goorambat East Solar Farm.
Robotics pioneer Luminous has been selected to receive $4.9 million in funding as the first recipient of ARENA’s $100 million Solar ScaleUp Challenge, which sought to supercharge innovation and crowdsource ideas from around the world on how to reduce the cost of large-scale solar.
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Luminous’ project will introduce and demonstrate its LUMI robot, an AI-powered pick and place technology designed to streamline utility scale solar construction.
The robot was recently tested at the Goorambat East Solar Farm, being developed by Engie.
LUMI addresses one of the industry’s most labour-intensive tasks, panel installation.
It autonomously places solar modules on to racking structures, allowing on-site workers to complete the final securing process, reducing manual labour and improving installation speed, safety and cost-efficiency.
ARENA chief executive Darren Miller said that reducing operation and maintenance costs in deployment of large-scale solar was 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 below $20 per megawatt hour,” Mr Miller said.
“These are important targets because at this cost, solar will form the foundation for Australia’s renewable energy ‘superpower’ future.
The LUMI solar panel-installing robot was recently tested at Engie's Goorambat East Solar Farm.
“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.
“Solutions like LUMI are key to reducing costs and maintaining Australia’s leading role in the development and innovation of solar technologies.
“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 United States, 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.
