California-based construction autonomy firm Built Robotics has launched a fully autonomous solar piling system.

With the RPD 35, utility-scale solar foundations can be constructed up to five times faster than with traditional means and methods, says the company.

Piling is a complex construction activity at the heart of every utility-scale solar project. Solar piles are generally steel H-beams 3.6 to 4.8m long and up to 90kg in weight. A typical solar farm requires tens of thousands of piles to be installed, each of which must be driven into the ground upwards of 2.4m and positioned at an accuracy of around two centimetres. Together these piles form the structural foundation of the solar array.

The RPD 35 combines all the steps in the piling process – survey, pile distribution, pile driving and inspection – into one package. With the RPD 35, a two-person crew can install over 300 piles per day, up to five times better than what’s possible today, all while hitting the stringent tolerances. This is achieved through Built’s construction AI software working in tandem with a custom pile cartridge system and sensors such as RTK GPS.

“Solar piling is a tough, repetitive job, one well suited to automation,” said Noah Ready-Campbell, CEO of Built Robotics. “Our piling robots will dramatically improve the efficiency of workers on jobsites, which is critical in the chronically tight construction labour market. And just as importantly, they will take people out of harm’s way, reducing noise exposure, strain, struck-by and pinch hazards.”

Built has a track record of developing robots for the solar industry, with its first commercial deployment occurring in 2018. Since then, Built’s robots have helped to install over 2GW of solar capacity across the USA, enough to power over 400,000 homes.

At the same time, the solar industry has advanced rapidly, and with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, federal incentives have accelerated the solar buildout even faster. In 2022, about 10GW of utility-scale solar capacity was installed in the USA, and by 2030 projections show over 100GW will be installed each year. This rapid solar ramp-up is essential for the USA to hit its climate objectives, and it will only be possible through automation and other technologies.

Built is scheduling the first customer deployments of the RPD 35 for Q4 2023.

As the inventor of the world’s first autonomy machine for excavators, the Exosystem, Built transforms excavators into fully autonomous robots. Exosystems are deployed across the $1tn construction industry, building critical infrastructure for energy, telecoms and more.