Burns & McDonnell partners with Gritt on robotic solar installation aids

Two companies, engineering firm Burns & McDonnell and robotics startup Gritt, have teamed up to test AI-powered robots on large, utility-scale solar farms — the kind of big power-plant installations that supply the electric grid, not rooftop systems. Gritt makes attachments for standard construction equipment that can handle repetitive, physically demanding jobs like lifting and placing solar panels, pouring concrete and laying rebar. Over the past year the two companies have already tested the technology at several solar construction sites.

The goal is to make large solar projects safer and more predictable to build, since workers currently lift 80-pound panels repeatedly during installation. Unlike robots built for factory floors, Gritt's systems are designed to work outdoors in varying terrain and weather, and they're meant to work alongside human crews rather than replace them.

This is part of a broader trend of automation showing up in solar construction, with other companies also building robotic installation aids for big solar farms. None of this involves home solar installation — it's aimed at the utility-scale projects that feed power into the grid. For a homeowner, the practical effect, if any, would be indirect: faster, cheaper construction of large solar farms could eventually influence electricity supply and costs in your area, but there's no rebate, product or program here that applies directly to your house.