The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has today 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. 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.
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. These improvements are critical to help emerging technologies secure project investment, which supports ARENA's ultra low cost solar vision.
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 per cent and 88 per cent respectively, increasing installation efficiency and safety.
The impact of these projects will be significant and highlight Australia's essential role in developing, and deploying the technology needed for the scale of the clean energy transition.
Keith McIntosh, Founder and CEO of PV Lighthouse and SunSolve said, "Before SunSolve existed, developers did not have a modelling solution that could accurately represent their structures and modules. 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," says Paul Kelly, General Manager and VP of Business Development at Built Robotics.
"By helping to automate the most repetitive and difficult tasks on jobsites, Built's 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 30 cents per watt and reach a levelised cost of electricity below $20 per megawatt hour by 2030. This could help unlock a total installed capacity of 1 terawatt 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.
This is a global initiative that is intended to stimulate greater innovation and collaboration in the solar sector, realise ARENA's ultra low-cost solar vision and accelerate the deployment of large-scale solar projects.
