Homegrown solar pioneer first to be funded for Solar Sunshot

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced that Australian solar pioneer 5B has been selected as the first project to receive funding from the Australian Government’s $1 billion Solar Sunshot Program to help expand Australia’s solar manufacturing industry.

Funding of up to $46 million will go to the Australian-based company to increase manufacturing capacity of its innovative ‘Maverick’ — an automated solar deployment system using prefabricated, prewired panels. The technology has the potential to drastically speed up and scale up the rollout of solar farms, reducing the cost and labour intensity of current methods.

ARENA CEO Darren Miller said ARENA is excited to be announcing 5B as the first project under the Solar Sunshot Program to support solar manufacturing in Australia to accelerate the renewable energy transition.

“This project represents the best of homegrown Australian technology and innovation in solar and we are proud to support 5B’s goals of making solar deployment faster, cheaper, safer and more efficient,” he said. “ARENA has a vision of reaching 1 TW of installed solar PV in Australia by 2050 to achieve our renewable energy ambitions. Projects like this are what we need to get there.

“Today represents a step towards building Australia’s resilience in the solar value chain as the global demand for renewable energy technologies, products and knowledge intensifies.”

5B CEO David Griffin said this funding would drive down 5B’s Australian production costs by 25% and accelerate 5B’s ability to offer large customers lower-cost energy alongside the safety, speed and land efficiencies unique to the 5B Maverick solution.

“It means we can further strengthen our team, creating opportunities from the factory floor, in our field deployment crews, and specialists working on gigawatts of solar farm designs,” he said.

The funding will support the expansion of 5B’s Australian manufacturing capacity in solar to produce at least 200 MW of Maverick units at its Adelaide manufacturing facility over the next three years. The Maverick systems will support the demand for increased deployment of large-scale solar across Australia.

Solar Sunshot was announced by the Australian Government in March 2024 and aims to uncover and support innovation to drive scale and diversity in a critical industry.

Australia benefits from strong renewable energy potential, high-quality, abundant raw materials, and a long track record of excellence in research and development.  Solar Sunshot aims to harness these advantages so that Australia can strengthen and diversify its supply chains and create economic opportunities.

Image caption: 5B Maverick solar panel installation at an off-grid nickel mine. Source: 5B