Röhlig Australia Delivers the Future: Supporting the Birth of Solar Robots
At Röhlig Australia, we’re proud to be part of a project that combines robotics, renewable energy, and a touch of imagination.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), established in 2012, has already supported more than 660 projects with over $2.25 billion in funding to accelerate the nation’s transition to clean energy. One of its most recent initiatives, the Solar ScaleUp Challenge, set out to find new ways to reduce the cost of large-scale solar and speed up deployment.
That’s where Luminous Robotics has made a remarkable impact. The robotics pioneer has developed LUMI, an AI-powered robot designed to tackle one of the toughest and most labour-intensive jobs in solar farm construction: installing solar panels. Instead of workers manually lifting and placing every panel, LUMI autonomously positions them on racking structures, while crews secure them in place. The result? Installation up to 3.5 times faster, reduced costs, and improved safety for everyone on site.
ARENA funding has enabled the first global deployment of a full LUMI fleet, with two robots heading to the Goorambat East Solar Farm in Victoria, Victoria’s biggest solar farm to date, developed by Engie Australia and New Zealand, and with EPC activities managed by Bouygues Construction Australia Pty Ltd and Equans Solar & Storage Australia Pty Ltd— a valued Röhlig customer.
More robots to follow at Neoen’s Culcairn Solar Farm in New South Wales, where Bouygues Construction Australia Pty Ltd and Equans Solar & Storage Australia Pty Ltd is also the main contractor.
Röhlig’s role in the journey
As the project scaled, Röhlig provided the logistics backbone: international air and sea freight solutions, customs consulting, tariff advice and duty minimisation, last mile delivery to Project site with specialised tilt tray truck for autonomous driving of the Robots onto the fields. Most memorably, our brand-new 4-star green star Rating Melbourne warehouse became the temporary home of the first two LUMI robots.
Here, a dedicated Assembly & Work Space was provided, where the Luminous team assembled, tested, and fine-tuned the machines — and we like to think of it as witnessing the birth of robot twins.
After spending their first “weeks of life” in our warehouse, the twins were safely delivered to their new home at the solar farm, where they are now helping to build Australia’s sustainable energy future.
The renewable energy industry in Australia is developing at an incredible pace, and projects like this show just how much innovation lies ahead. Röhlig is proud to play a vital role in this transformation by providing best-in-class logistics services to support our customers and partners in building a cleaner, more sustainable future.