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Robots in solar installations are nothing new; theyve been used to automate everything from operations and maintenance to inspection and cleaning. In recent months, interest in robots for installation has increased, particularly among developers of large-scale solar installations facing staff shortages, safety concerns, rising costs, and pressure to build. Faced with the labor shortage affecting the large-scale solar energy sector, some companies are presenting so-called robotic superworkers as a solution. California startup RoboForce aspires to deploy a troop of worker robots on the Moon, but for now, its ambitions are more concrete and focused on solar developers who are struggling to find staff. Another American company, Charge Robotics, is doing something similar. RoboForce aims to transform the solar energy industry by deploying robotic labor to address labor shortages and improve productivity, especially in harsh and demanding environments, explains Veeral Hardev, the companys business development manager. The company kicked off the year with a $10 million funding announcement and the launch of its latest model at Intersolar North America 2025. With the upcoming launch of our first pilot projects and the recent construction of our outdoor mini solar test farm, our goal is to significantly improve the efficiency of solar construction, Hardev says. A golden opportunity Hardev told pv magazine that he sees solar as RoboForces first market, and its easy to see why. In the United States, industry analysts have long warned of labor shortages. In a Q4 2024 report, analyst Wood Mackenzie and the Solar Energy Industries Association say labor shortages will continue to impact utility-scale solar installations. A combination of labor shortages and inflation caused labor costs to rise by 10% in 2024. In more recent reports, Wood Mackenzie has predicted that labor shortages will remain a problem in 2025. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that employment of solar installers will grow 48% from 2023 to 2033, much faster than the average for all occupations. An average of 4,100 solar installer openings are projected annually during that decade. Many of these openings are expected to occur due to the need to replace workers who are moving into other occupations or leaving the workforce, for example, through retirement. Hardev says these challenges represent a huge business opportunity for RoboForce. In September 2024, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with CT Green Capital to deploy its technology on the developers 1 GW commercial-scale project, which will require approximately 3 million solar panels. CT Green Capital is just one of many developers turning to automation. On the other side of the world, Neoen Australia is testing AI-powered installation robots, manufactured by Chinese company Leapting, at its 350 MW Culcairn solar farm in Riverina, New South Wales. Safety first Two people who worked on that project said the reason for deploying the robots had more to do with safety than labor shortages. However, judging by some of the feedback pv magazine has received from solar developers themselves, its possible that high-tech evangelists like RoboForce are overestimating the solar sectors current capacity, and indeed its appetite, for fully automating installations. Personnel has not been a major constraint for the project, as the Riverina region is dynamic in terms of solar development and is an attractive place to live and work, Neoen spokespersons say of the Culcairn solar farm. We first studied the use of robots from a safety and ergonomics perspective, as the size and weight of modules have increased over the past two years. The safety issue posed by the increasing deployment of robots on construction sites is important and must not be overlooked amid the need for efficiency. For now, Neoen is satisfied with the Leapting robots. “The Leapting solution was the most advanced system; it was compatible with our modules and ready to deploy,” says one of the spokespersons. “The robots have been deployed for a few weeks. As they are trained with AI, they continually adapt to improve efficiency. The trend we are seeing on-site is encouraging.” US developer AES Corp. opted to build its own robot, Maximo, which was launched in July 2024. Since then, it has deployed more than 10 MW across four company sites, including its 2 GW solar-plus-storage plant in California. Nicolas Riehl, Maximo product manager at AES, says the company is expanding its Maximo robot fleet to meet its target of installing 100 MW by 2025. Like Neo in Australia, safety was a major factor in AESs decision to deploy robotic installers. As Riehl explained, solar module installation teams lift and place hundreds of modules weighing over 65 pounds (almost 30 kg) per day, often in extreme environments like desert heat. “Much like using an excavator instead of a shovel, Maximo makes work less tiring, improving working conditions for construction crews and bringing a new level of inclusivity to solar energy projects,” Riehl said. “A good example of this is that some members of our crew were pregnant women; working alongside Maximo allowed them to safely participate in a segment of the workforce they would have otherwise been excluded from.” RoboForce also uses safety as a selling point for its robots, but it takes a much more pessimistic view of the developers ability to attract and retain human workers over the long term than any of the developers approached for comment for this article. Assist or substitute? Hardev says most of RoboForces competitors are more like worker assistants, in that theyre assisting, and human workers are still needed to perform fine motor and dexterity skills. Theyre not eliminating the need for workers to do repetitive and demanding tasks, Hardev argues. Think about those large solar installations of hundreds of megawatts or gigawatts, with millions of solar panels. Each of those millions of solar panels probably has between four and six attachment points. You still need someone to do that kind of work by hand. If youre off by more than a millimeter, it wont work, he adds. RoboForce is developing its AI technology to be self-learning and maintain accuracy regardless of the type of product or environment it operates in. To do so, it has had to conduct extensive market research and take into account all the safety limitations faced by human workers. One of them was height, Hardev explains. When we visited construction sites, we saw people lying on their backs doing the work, trying to install it close to the ground. Its difficult to do. And vice versa, sometimes they have to use a ladder if its much higher up. Location is another factor, Hardev explains. “Depending on where the project is built, there are certain considerations; if its in a flood zone, typically, at least in the United States, we see the minimum ground clearance height is about two-thirds of a meter from the ground. Our robot has a column it can elevate itself on and long, industrial-strength arms that allow it to reach very high and very low, at ground level.” Maximo, RoboForces competitor, was also designed to be intuitive, but to assist workers rather than replace them. Thanks to AI, Riehl and his team have reduced the time required to train Maximo on new modules from weeks to minutes. “This solution directly addresses the barrier of quickly moving from one project to the next and keeps our fleet operational year-round,” says Riehl. “We wanted Maximo to be easy to onboard and simple for crew training. We developed and designed a state-of-the-art user interface, user experience, and training program so crew members can be onboarded in a matter of days.” In addition, we are developing a formal certification process for crew members to operate our robots. With safety as our priority, on each job site we work closely with engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) firms and project owners to ensure our operations meet the highest safety standards. Riehl says hes received positive feedback from union crews who have worked with Maximo on projects. One of them said working with Maximo was such a fantastic experience that he doesnt want to go back to traditional installation, he added. There are no miracle solutions Oana Penu is the director of the European Union-backed InnoEnergy Skills Institute. She believes that training staff to work with robots safely and efficiently is key to the long-term success of their deployment in utility facilities. Robots are not a panacea, he warned. Without substantial investment in training for these collaborative roles, we risk replacing one labor shortage with another. He also noted that segments such as rooftop and residential solar remain heavily reliant on human workers. While robots can place panels, they currently lack the capability to perform tasks such as wiring, testing, or troubleshooting. They are most effective in large-scale, flat solar farms. Installations on rooftops and complex terrain will continue to require significant human labor. From the technologists perspective, most manual jobs will be automated in the future. We believe that as the next generation approaches, theres no desire for people to do these types of jobs, Hardev says. So we believe this gap will worsen over time. Its a major challenge and a weakness in the industry. Its too early to say for sure whether hes right in all his predictions, but, as proponents seem willing to attest, robots can certainly help alleviate labor shortages and solve safety problems at utility sites. |
