Capral Aluminium has inked a deal to supply Australian-made lower-carbon aluminium extrusions to manufacture Solar Waves—a new patented solar deployment system from Australian clean-tech company Green Energy Systems (GES).
Solar Waves is a modular, prewired solar system designed for rapid installation across a variety of environments—including land, waterways, and agricultural settings.
“The Solar Waves system is designed to be fast to deploy, easy to relocate, and acts more like a fully functioning appliance. At end of life, it can be 100% recycled. It’s a smarter way to approach utility-scale solar deployment,” GES founder and managing director Glenn Carless explains.
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Unlike traditional solar arrays, Solar Waves is delivered in prewired packages called “Mega Waves”, eliminating the need for traditional nuts, bolts, screws, or clamps. Its patented slide-together aluminium frame enables full in-factory robotic automated assembly, reducing on-site work to simple ‘plug and play’ installation while offering excellent corrosion resistance and durability over an estimated 30-year lifespan.
“Our primary focus was to use aluminium as the core material in our system because of its high strength-to-weight ratio and its capacity to be extruded into components with fine engineering tolerances at no additional cost,” Carless says.
“Sustainability is central to our approach, and aluminium is the ultimate circular material—infinitely recyclable. When we approached Capral to produce the 20 custom extrusions for our unique components, they really got behind our vision. They played a key role in extruding the components that make up our system. It wasn’t just about supplying material—they’ve been critical in helping fine-tune each component and their connectivity.”
A key aspect of the project is the use of Capral’s LocAl Green lower carbon aluminium. With a certified carbon footprint of 8kg CO₂e/kg or less—well below the global average—LocAl Green supports GES’s commitment to reducing embodied carbon and delivering sustainable outcomes. Manufactured locally and fully recyclable, Capral’s LocAl complements the Solar Waves system’s closed-loop, low-impact design philosophy.
Moreover, Capral’s ASI Certification provides additional assurance that the aluminium used in the GES Solar Waves products is responsibly sourced, meeting high standards for environmental and social performance across the supply chain.
Green Energy Systems’ Solar Waves solution has been commissioned for a pilot installation in California, to be deployed over water canals. A collaboration between the Turlock Irrigation District, Solar AquaGrid, the University of California Merced, and the California Department of Water Resources, the pilot forms the final step in selecting a scalable solar solution to potentially cover thousands of miles of Californian canals.
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“Being selected as only one of two final options is a significant step forward,” Carless says.
“This trial gives us an opportunity to demonstrate what Solar Waves can do—generate clean power, conserve water, minimise land use, and deliver all of that at an affordable cost, in one package.”
To meet future demand, GES plans to scale up manufacturing through automated production facilities in both Australia and the United States, supporting the rapid delivery of its system to large-scale solar projects worldwide.
