Robot-built solar is here, and cheaper, and faster | Eric Brown, CEO of Planted

Climate Positive · Oct 29, 2026 · 41m

Solar panel prices have fallen roughly 95% since the mid-2000s. They are now the cheapest energy equipment available. The constraint, though, has moved downstream, to everything that happens after the panels show up: land, zoning, interconnection, and the field labor to physically assemble a power plant. The US builds enough solar to cover around 220,000 acres a year, or around 40 gigawatts. But we still need to deploy multiples more and at a faster pace to meet energy affordability and climate goals. Meanwhile, skilled crews building solar farms are being bid away by data center…