{"id":73198,"date":"2023-04-05T07:53:18","date_gmt":"2023-04-04T21:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=73198"},"modified":"2023-04-05T07:53:18","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T21:23:18","slug":"5b-automation-progress-mb2887","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/5b-automation-progress-mb2887\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia&#8217;s 5B: Onwards To Automation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-73200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/5b-solar-automation-2.jpg\" alt=\"5B Maverick Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Line\" width=\"1200\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/5b-solar-automation-2.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/5b-solar-automation-2-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/5b-solar-automation-2-1024x538.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/5b-solar-automation-2-768x403.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It may not look like much, but the fixing of this first bolt was a big moment for Australian &#8220;solar farm in a box&#8221; pioneer 5B.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>5B&#8217;s Maverick system is a modular, pre-fabricated and pre-configured solar panel and racking solution including concrete ballast shipped in blocks each containing up to 90 x 540-550W solar panels. These blocks are then unfolded on-site &#8211; and at a rapid clip.<\/p>\n<p>Last year the company claimed a &#8220;solar speed record&#8221;, deploying twenty-two Mavericks in a single day with two crews of ten people. 1.1MW of solar power capacity was deployed in just one day.<\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube-wrapper\"><iframe title=\"5B Solar Speed Record in the Atacama\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4wZQVjWsacs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Since launching in 2017, 5B&#8217;s Maverick solution has attracted a lot of attention and has been chosen for a number of significant projects; including recently being selected for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/5b-solar-kathleen-liontown-mb2821\/\">use in a hybrid power station<\/a> for a major lithium mining project in Western Australia. Starting in June this year, 342 5B Maverick arrays will be rolled out (err, unfolded) at the Kathleen Valley site to create a 16MWp solar farm.<\/p>\n<p>Another major project we\u2019ve mentioned previously here on SQ \u2013 SA Water\u2019s Happy Valley water treatment plant, which is comprised of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/redeployable-solar-farms-mb2289\/\"> around 30,000 solar panels<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Back in 2019, 5B was selected as Sun Cable\u2019s preferred technology on the development of the solar farm aspect of the massive (and currently rather troubled) Australia-Singapore Power Link project; should that go ahead.<\/p>\n<h2>5B&#8217;s Need For (Even More) Speed<\/h2>\n<p>The company is continuing to strive towards even faster deployment, but also to speed things up while slashing costs at the production end as well.<\/p>\n<p>In January last year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/5b-solar-arena-funding-mb2320\/\"> 5B scored funding<\/a> from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to do so. $14 million in ARENA funding is supporting a $33.4 million project involving development of a high volume, scalable and predominantly automated manufacturing, assembly and deployment process line for Maverick.<\/p>\n<p>At the deployment end of things, 5B is also working on a GPS Guided Deployment (GGD) field robotic system to automate the 5B Maverick deployment process.<\/p>\n<h2>First Bolt &#8220;An Epic Moment&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p>Earlier this week, the foundation bolt of 5B&#8217;s Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Line went in at the company&#8217;s facility in Sydney &#8211; described by 5B as the robotic equivalent of \u2018turning the first sod\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>5B says once fully operational, the Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Line is expected to produce a 50-70 kilowatt solar array every 30 minutes with minimal labour.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;It is a very big deal in the industry. There will be a million incremental steps before we reach this end point,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/5Btech\/posts\/pfbid02hbUjgiorbn2sEQRTgrPwPXc78MpsHCVqGPE55tkTp7pnymHCVubBdnmGB2kikcd4l\"> says the company.<\/a> &#8220;The task should not be underestimated, both in terms of its impact on the sector and how hard it is to achieve.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>5B stated the moment represented a step change not just in the company&#8217;s evolution, but for the whole solar industry.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Hopefully, 50 years from now, this moment will be logged alongside Henry Ford\u2019s mass manufacturing of cars, or Apple\u2019s iPhone for standardising, simplifying, accelerating, and packing more value into the system itself.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Even if it isn&#8217;t or things don&#8217;t quite pan out as intended, it&#8217;s always great seeing Australian companies thinking big and playing an important role in decarbonising energy systems through cheap, clean renewable electricity. More (solar) power to 5B!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It may not look like much, but the fixing of this first bolt was a big moment for Australian &#8220;solar farm in a box&#8221; pioneer 5B.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":73200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[678],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-solar-battery-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Australia&#039;s 5B: Onwards To Automation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It may not look like much, but the fixing of this first bolt was a big moment for Australian &quot;solar farm in a box&quot; pioneer 5B.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/5b-automation-progress-mb2887\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Australia&#039;s 5B: Onwards To Automation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It may not look like much, but the fixing of this first bolt was a big moment for Australian &quot;solar farm in a box&quot; pioneer 5B.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/5b-automation-progress-mb2887\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SolarQuotes Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-04T21:23:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/5b-solar-automation-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Bloch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@solar_quotes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@solar_quotes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/5b-automation-progress-mb2887\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/5b-automation-progress-mb2887\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Bloch\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/66afd571aa00c2e442f0192ebac2f6f1\"},\"headline\":\"Australia&#8217;s 5B: Onwards To Automation\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-04T21:23:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/5b-automation-progress-mb2887\/\"},\"wordCount\":547,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/5b-automation-progress-mb2887\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/5b-solar-automation-2.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"General Solar &amp; 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Sun Cable's proposed Australia-Singapore Power Link is a $20 billion project to be constructed at a site near Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory that will also incorporate a 20-30\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"5B Maverick folding solar","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/5b-folding-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/5b-folding-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/5b-folding-solar.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/5b-folding-solar.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/5b-folding-solar.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":70903,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/5b-solar-kathleen-liontown-mb2821\/","url_meta":{"origin":73198,"position":1},"title":"5B&#8217;s Fold-Out Solar To Help Power WA Lithium Mine","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"February 8, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Rapidly deployable home-grown solar energy tech is to feature in a hybrid power station for a major lithium mining project in Western Australia. Liontown\u2019s Kathleen Valley Lithium Project in WA's North-eastern Goldfields will crank out spodumene concentrate. This is used in the production of lithium hydroxide utilised in cathodes for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"5B - Kathleen Valley","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/5b-kathleen-valley.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/5b-kathleen-valley.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/5b-kathleen-valley.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/5b-kathleen-valley.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/5b-kathleen-valley.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56819,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-installation-robot-mb2268\/","url_meta":{"origin":73198,"position":2},"title":"Meet Atlas: The Robotic Solar Panel Installer","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"December 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"US energy company The AES Corporation has unveiled what it says is the first-of-its-kind solar panel installation robot. Rooftop solar installers don't need to be worried (yet). Atlas was designed by AES through a collaboration with Calvary Robotics and other parties. \"The AI-enabled, first-of-its-kind Atlas robot automates the construction of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Atlas solar panel installation robot","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/solar-installation-robot.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/solar-installation-robot.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/solar-installation-robot.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/solar-installation-robot.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/solar-installation-robot.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":57993,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/5b-solar-arena-funding-mb2320\/","url_meta":{"origin":73198,"position":3},"title":"5B Looks To Robots To Slash Solar Costs","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"January 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Australia's 5B is aiming to slash the capital costs of producing and deploying its revolutionary Maverick \"solar farm in a box\" solution by more than a third - and has received a helping hand from ARENA to do so. 5B Maverick\u00a0 is a modular, pre-fabricated, pre-wired and pre-configured solar panel\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"5B Maverick - ARENA solar funding","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/5b-maverick-arena.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/5b-maverick-arena.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/5b-maverick-arena.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/5b-maverick-arena.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/5b-maverick-arena.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39938,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/risen-energy-resilient-mb1530\/","url_meta":{"origin":73198,"position":4},"title":"Risen Energy Providing Solar Panels For Bushfire Relief Efforts","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"May 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Risen Energy Australia says it will supply its solar panels for modular solar and energy storage systems being rolled out in bushfire affected communities. Australia's horrendous bushfire season may have taken somewhat of a back seat in the media given COVID-19, but for many Australians it is still very fresh\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Risen solar panels Resilient Energy Collective","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/risen-panels-resilient.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/risen-panels-resilient.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/risen-panels-resilient.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/risen-panels-resilient.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/risen-panels-resilient.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47039,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/aapl-solar-agreement-mb1859\/","url_meta":{"origin":73198,"position":5},"title":"Australia-ASEAN Power Link A Step Closer","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"January 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The Northern Territory Government and Sun Cable yesterday inked an agreement bringing the world's largest solar farm and battery storage facility closer to reality. Sun Cable is proposing to build a $22 billion 13.1GW solar farm across 12,000 hectares in the Northern Territory, along with 33 gigawatt hours of energy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Australia-ASEAN Power Link - Sun Cable","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/sun-cable-aapl.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/sun-cable-aapl.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/sun-cable-aapl.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/sun-cable-aapl.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/sun-cable-aapl.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73198"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73203,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73198\/revisions\/73203"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}