Solar-building robots are setting an impressive pace at ENGIE’s Goorambat East Solar Farm near Benalla in Victoria, where they are being tested for installation speed and safety.
The LUMI robots are the creation of US robotics company Luminous, which received $4.9 million in funding as the first recipient of ARENA’s $100 million Solar ScaleUp Challenge.
Luminous’ project aims to introduce and demonstrate their AI-powered pick-and-place technology designed to streamline utility scale solar construction.
Related article: Luminous scores $4.9M to demo solar-building robot
The LUMI robots autonomously place solar modules onto racking structures, allowing onsite workers to complete the final securing process, reducing manual labour and improving installation speed, safety and cost-efficiency.
ENGIE site representative Justin Webb said, “We have been really pleased by the innovation and forward thinking shown by contractors Bouygues Construction Australia and Equans Solar & Storage Australia during the ongoing construction of our Goorambat East Solar Farm near Benalla.
“This has included testing three robotic systems to install pilings and more recently solar panels, with American company Luminous testing their LUMI system outside of the US for the first time and demonstrating the future of solar farm construction.
“The intended higher productivity of these autonomous systems will reduce the cost of renewable energy projects and enable projects to be built in less time, which will bring down energy costs for consumers and potentially allow more solar farms to be built.
“These robots also require skilled technicians to operate them, thus upskilling the current renewable energy workforce and enabling more productivity.
“The use of autonomous robots could also have large benefits for the construction of solar farms in remote and inhospitable areas, such as is deserts, where the climate could be dangerous for human staff.
Related article: Rise of the robots in the race to renewables
“In the longer term, with continued development, robots like these will also enable a reduction in health and safety related risks from construction projects, for example, reducing the manual handling of heavy solar panels.”
Construction of the solar farm is ahead of schedule thanks to the hard work from Bouygues and Equans. Commissioning has commenced, and first energisation of the Goorambat East Solar Farm is expected by end of October 2025. Full energisation is well on target for mid-2026.
The solae farm will have a generating capacity of up to 250MW, which is enough to power up to 105,000 average Victorian homes.
