AES Using AI-Powered “Maximo” Robot for Solar Installation
“Maximo” is an AI-powered robot that is helping The AES Corporation install solar panels more quickly and efficiently.
In July, The AES Corporation unveiled “Maximo,” a robot powered by artificial intelligence (AI) specifically designed to bolster the speed, efficiency, and safety associated with installing solar energy equipment.
Maximo can install solar panels at half the time and at half the cost of traditional crews, helping address a projected workforce shortage as interest in solar continues to accelerate. Generation from solar energy has increased almost 50 percent nationally during the past two years and is more than four times the generation total from 2016. By 2035, solar additions are expected to triple today’s metrics, according to the International Energy Agency.
“We are facing unprecedented increases in demand, driven in large part by the rise of AI and data centers,” said AES President and CEO Andrés Gluski. “Innovations like these will be fundamental for accelerating our ability to bring projects online faster and with greater efficiency.”
Maximo has already helped AES install nearly 10 megawatts (MW) of solar generation, enhancing safety and efficiency by automating the heavy lifting associated with installation. AES projects Maximo will help install 100 MW of solar capacity by 2025, including assisting with the 2-gigawatt Bellefield solar project in California—which stems from an AES partnership with Amazon and, upon completion, will be the largest solar-plus-storage facility in the United States.
“We’re excited to collaborate with renewable energy developers like AES that are prioritizing the use of AI technologies that can help us fast-forward to a carbon-free energy future,” Amazon Web Services Sustainability Director Chris Walker said in a statement.