Physical AI and robotics platform for utility-scale solar construction delivering speed to power for the terawatt era

BERKELEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Terabase Energy, a leader in digital and automation solutions for utility-scale solar power, today announced that its next-generation Terafab® automated construction platform has completed field testing and is ready for commercial shipment. Building on the success of the first-generation Terafab, which has been deployed across five power plant projects, Terafab version 2 (V2) brings physical AI and autonomous robotics to an industry facing unprecedented demand for new generation.

Speed to power

The United States is entering a period of sustained electricity demand growth not seen in decades, driven by primarily by the rapid expansion of data center infrastructure by hyperscale cloud providers and AI companies. Utility-scale solar, paired with battery storage, represents the fastest and most cost-competitive form of new electricity generation available today. These massive solar farms often span thousands of acres, requiring the installation of millions of solar panels and tracker components still heavily relying on manual labor, exposing projects to workforce shortages, schedule risk, and rising costs at precisely the moment the market demands faster deployment. Terafab addresses this challenge by automating solar construction with integrated quality control, safety, compressing timelines and accelerating the path from groundbreaking to grid connection.

"We built the technology that deploys the safest, fastest and lowest cost solar. Terafab is physical AI applied to one of the largest infrastructure buildouts in history," said Matt Campbell, CEO and co-founder of Terabase Energy. "Every week we shave off a construction schedule means earlier revenue for project owners, lower financing costs, and faster delivery of clean electrons to the grid. That's the speed-to-power advantage."

A generational leap

Factory automation has been widely demonstrated indoors, where conditions are controlled and predictable. Terafab operates in an entirely different outdoor environment. Terabase has invested years of R&D into engineering a system that delivers factory-grade precision and throughput year-round in the uncontrolled conditions of active construction sites, from fine desert dust and triple-digit heat to wind, rain, and mud. That depth of field-hardened engineering is what separates Terafab from conventional approaches to construction automation.

Terafab V2 is a physical AI system that uses advanced robotics, real-time decision-making, and autonomous operation to build at a pace manual crews cannot match. A single line achieves 2-minute cycle times that, running 24/7 around the clock, translate to more than 20 megawatts installed per week, or roughly 1 gigawatt per factory per year.

Bringing the factory to the field

In conventional solar construction, steel torque tubes are installed in the field first, and workers then manually attach hundreds of thousands of heavy glass solar panels to them one by one. Terafab inverts that process: modules are pre-assembled onto tracker torque tubes with in-line quality control verifying every unit, so defects are caught immediately. The system eliminates manual lifting of heavy steel and glass components, improving jobsite safety and enabling sustained operations in extreme heat.

Once each unit is assembled, a fleet of purpose-built rovers delivers the pre-assembled components to their final installation points, completing the last mile of construction. Terabase expects those rovers to operate fully autonomously soon. Behind it all, Terafab's Manufacturing Execution System (MES) uses AI to actively manage and optimize the construction process of the full PV plant.

Demand is building

Leading utility-scale solar developers and EPC contractors who deployed the first-generation Terafab on commercial projects have seen the productivity, safety, and build quality gains firsthand. For EPCs, Terafab's increased productivity means they can take on more project volume without being constrained by skilled labor shortages, one of the largest bottlenecks to scaling solar deployment today.

Commercial scale-up

Over the next 12 months, Terabase is building factory capacity at its Northern California facility capable of installing up to 10 GW per year. Designed and manufactured in the United States, Terafab represents a significant investment in American manufacturing and clean energy infrastructure.

"The companies building the AI-powered future need electricity at a scale and speed that the construction industry has never delivered before," Campbell said. "We've developed Terafab to close that gap."

About Terabase Energy

Terabase Energy is transforming utility-scale solar construction through robotics, AI, and software. Its products span the full project lifecycle: PlantPredict® for energy modeling, Terafab® for automated construction, Construct for construction management, and SCADA and plant controls. Headquartered in Berkeley, California, Terabase is backed by more than $200 million in funding from investors including SoftBank, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Prelude Ventures. To learn more, visit www.terabase.energy.

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Source: Terabase Energy