Australian renewable energy company 5B, which specializes in solar technology, has secured an investment of 20 million Australian dollars (13.4 million US dollars) from BP ventures, which will enable the rapid deployment of large-scale solar energy. ladder.
The investment in 5B is the culmination of an AUD 55 million Series B funding round co-led by investors Artesian and AES Corporation.
The capital raised will support the development of 5B’s prefabricated, modular and reusable Maverick solar system. Each Maverick 5B block includes up to 90 solar panels mounted on specially designed racks that can be deployed and installed at high speed.
5B Maverick blocks are pre-assembled and pre-wired at the factory. They are then packed vertically to fit four blocks in a standard 40ft shipping container, with a total weight below the maximum payload of 6 tons.
Once in situ, the Mavericks 5B blocks can be easily unloaded and expanded to form a ground-mounted east-west solar farm, requiring minimal ground penetration and no major cable digging or works.
The pre-engineered nature of the solution reduces costs, time and on-site safety risks by confining the construction of the solar array to the factory, with better quality control and waste handling measures. In addition, the number of people on the construction site is reduced by replacing work activities with machines in the factory and in the field.
The company has already deployed the Maverick solution at more than 100 sites around the world, with a total generation capacity of more than 60 MW, including projects in the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia.
This year, the Maverick 5B was used to deploy 1.1 MW capacity panels – covering the equivalent of a football pitch – in a single day, with a team of just 10 people in the installation. Andes Solar II B from AES, in the Atacama. desert (Chile).
The capital injection from BP ventures will support the technological development and growth of 5B. It will also accelerate 5B’s international expansion and plans to establish a manufacturing and assembly center in North America.
