5B Australia

About

5B manufactures the Maverick prefabricated, pre-wired modular solar array and develops automated deployment and factory assembly systems for rapid, relocatable utility-scale solar installations.

Mission

5B develops the prefabricated, modular Maverick solar system to enable ultra-low-cost, rapid utility-scale solar deployment. The company has deployed over 50 MW across more than 100 sites on five continents and reports an order book of more than 100 MW and a customer base of over 50 customers. 5B set a deployment speed record of 1.1 MW in a single day with a 10‑person crew at AES’s Andes Solar II B facility in Chile. The AUD30 million Series B first close will support local and international market expansion, supply and delivery chain development, and execution of its technology and product roadmap. 5B plans to apply automation and advanced manufacturing to increase speed and capacity, reduce costs, and target breaking through its first gigawatt of sales. The company has launched into the United States, Latin America, Europe and India and is building a global supply chain and deployment ecosystem to support growth. 5B’s flagship product, the 5B Maverick, is a modular, prefabricated solar array that can be built and pre-wired in a factory and rapidly deployed in the field. The Maverick was launched in 2017; 5B has completed 52 projects totaling over 32 MW across Australia, the United States, Latin America and India and serves more than 50 customers via a global network of ecosystem partners. The company recently introduced a higher-capacity 50 kWDC Maverick optimised for the 550 W module class and is developing a GPS Guided Deployment (GGD) field robotic system to automate deployment and improve speed, reliability and safety. With support from ARENA, 5B’s $33.4 million project will design a high-volume, scalable and predominantly automated manufacturing line at its Mascot, Sydney headquarters. ARENA has announced $14 million in funding to accelerate automation of the 5B Maverick as part of that project. 5B forecasts a 35% reduction in overall solar farm capital costs by 2023 and a 70% reduction by 2030 to 30 cents per watt, aiming to enable ultra-low-cost solar and support green hydrogen and decarbonisation pathways. 5B, founded in 2013 and headquartered in Sydney, develops MAVERICK, a pre-wired, prefabricated solar solution that is folded, shipped and deployed to speed project delivery. MAVERICK is designed to enable customers to add solar three times faster and produce up to twice the energy within the same footprint as traditional ground-mounted facilities. The design streamlines engineering, procurement and construction, removes barriers such as land availability and ground penetration, and can be relocated in some applications. 5B conducts technology development and pilot production at its Sydney headquarters and works with assembly partner IXL Solar in Adelaide; it also has a presence in the US, South Africa, Germany and China. The company participated in a US $8.6 million investment round that included a strategic investment from AES. Through its partnership with AES, 5B’s technology is being deployed on projects including a 2 MW AES Panama project and 10 MW at AES Gener’s Los Andes expansion in Chile.

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