Luminous, an Australian robotics company, will receive $4.9 million in funding as the inaugural winner of ARENA’s $100 million Solar ScaleUp Challenge – a program designed to cut costs and supercharge innovation in large-scale solar deployment.
The funding will support Luminous’ deployment of its AI-powered LUMI robots, a pick-and-place system that automates one of the most labour-intensive parts of solar farm construction: panel installation. LUMI places panels onto mounting structures, allowing workers to secure them without the need for heavy lifting, dramatically improving speed, safety and cost-efficiency.
Luminous CEO Jay M. Wong said, “With LUMI, we’re not just introducing a robot – we’re setting out to redefine the standard for how solar farms are built and help sites energise faster and safer.”
The first full fleet of five LUMI robots will be deployed at two major Australian solar farms: Neoen’s 440MWp Culcairn Solar Farm in New South Wales and Engie’s 250MW Goorambat East Solar Farm in Victoria, in partnership with global EPC firm Equans.
ARENA CEO Darren Miller said, “Solutions like LUMI are key to reducing costs and maintaining Australia’s leading role in the development and innovation of solar technologies.”
He added, “To achieve net zero, Australia will need immense amounts of solar power at ultra-low cost… It’s now time to apply our advanced capabilities to solar PV, a cornerstone of the nation’s clean energy future.”
LUMI has already shown success in the US market and is expected to increase installation speeds by up to 3.5 times, while cutting project costs by up to 6.2 per cent.
Since 2009, ARENA has invested more than $388 million in over 200 solar R&D projects. While the ScaleUp Challenge has now closed, ARENA continues to invite applications through its Advancing Renewables Program and Solar Sunshot initiative.