23 May, 2022

5B, a pioneer in prefabricated, rapidly deployed utility-scale solar, today announced a new speed record of 1.1 megawatt deployed in a single day with a total crew of 10 people at AES’ Andes Solar II B facility in the Atacama Desert, Chile.

The crew achieved a deployment rate of 110kW per day, per person.

The deployment was carried out by 5B’s Latin American deployment partner SolarMovil. SolarMovil deployed 22 next generation 5B Maverick arrays in a single day as part of a larger deployment of 219 5B Mavericks with a total generation capacity of over 10MWp.

“This is a massive milestone not just for 5B and our ecosystem of partners but for the renewable energy sector globally, and utility-scale solar specifically,” 5B Co-Founder and Chief Executive, Chris McGrath said.

“It sets a new benchmark for how quickly engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors can stand up utility-scale solar projects in remote locations with the most efficient use of resources,” he said.

In an address to the Smart Energy Conference in Sydney today, Mr McGrath said 5B’s new speed record goes to the crux of the global energy transition challenge, which is the deployment and integration of photovoltaics on a massive scale at breakneck pace.

“We need to radically reduce emissions by at least 50 billion tonnes per annum by 2050. This means electrifying almost everything with clean energy, and deploying an additional 40 terrawatts to 80 terrawatts of renewable energy generation capacity by 2050. Rapid deployment and efficient use of resources - be it land, labor or financial capital - is central to that ambition,” McGrath said.

Watch the video here

Media contact

Bernadette Jolley
+61 404 311 044
bernadette.jolley@5b.com.au