United StatesEnergy and utilities2025 – ongoingAES
Maximo robots for solar module installation
AES's solar-installing robots placed 100 MW of panels at a California site, at about twice the regional crew rate
Problem
Utility-scale solar farms need large numbers of heavy modules lifted and placed by hand, which limits how fast power producers such as AES can build new capacity and depends on the availability of field crews.
Approach
AES incubated Maximo, a robot that drives along module rows on tracks and uses an arm to set panels on pre-assembled mounts. At AES's Bellefield complex in California the deployment grew from one robot to four version 3.0 units working alongside union technicians. Development used NVIDIA simulation tools to test capabilities before field updates and Amazon Web Services for computing and analysis of robot data.
Results
Takeaway
The robots worked with existing crews, whose jobs remained, and productivity was measured per crew member. The company did not disclose cost, reliability or error data in its March 2026 announcement.
Categories
- Size
- Large enterprise
- Industry
- Energy and utilities
- Business function
- Production and quality
- Innovation type
- Process innovation
- AI technology
- Robotics and automationComputer vision
- Adoption
- Built in-house
- Evidence
- Company's own claim
Sources
Source summaries
The robotics trade outlet reports the company's announcement that Maximo installed 100 MW at AES's Bellefield complex, moving from early testing to sustained production. It says the fleet grew from one to four version 3.0 robots, crews reached up to 24 modules per shift hour per person, nearly double traditional regional methods, and each unit exceeded one module per minute. It names NVIDIA and AWS as technology contributors.
eWeek reports that Maximo installed 100 MW and describes version 3.0 as the most capable so far, with reported use of NVIDIA tools and AWS support. It says the robots reached 100 MW sooner than comparable Southern California sites.
Full details are in the original sources.
