5B appointed to deploy folding PV modules at hybrid Australian lithium mine

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
5B Maverick modules are prefabricated and deployed at project sites in concertina-style folding blocks, which speeds up deployment times. Image: 5B.

Australian solar equipment manufacturer 5B has been appointed to supply its Maverick module technology to a 95MW hybrid power station in Western Australia.

The project, developed and constructed by Zenith Energy, will feature a 16MWp solar installation from 5B to support the operation of a battery metals mine, the Kathleen Valley Lithium Project. Once complete, it will operate on 60% renewable energy and is expected to be Australia’s largest off-grid renewable energy hybrid power station.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Zenith will deploy 342 of 5B’S Maverick array systems beginning in June 2023, and the entire project is expected to begin production in mid-2024.

Zenith Energy’s managing director and CEO Hamish Moffat said: “5B has demonstrated that it has the potential to get the Kathleen Valley site to full solar PV generation capacity three months ahead of conventional single access tracker solutions with the potential to save more than sixty percent of the man hours required on site. This is creating a faster pathway to market for solar PV renewable energy generation assets.”

5B creates rapid-deployment, accordion-style folding solar module deployment units that mount low to the ground in an east-west configuration. The technology is prefabricated in the factory and then shipped to a project site to be deployed.

Last week, PV Tech Premium published an interview with 5B founder and CEO Chris McGrath, discussing the company’s approach to rethinking the way that solar modules are deployed as prices come down and land use becomes more of a concern.

Late last year the Australian science agency published a roadmap for achieving an integrated domestic renewable energy supply chain, as the country has vast reserves of raw materials but little manufacturing infrastructure in place to employ them.

Read Next

June 30, 2025
Voting on the US tax reconciliation bill is expected to begin in the Senate today, following a draft published on Friday that hit clean energy tax credits hard.
June 30, 2025
Australian module manufacturer Tindo Solar has secured a 30MW solar module supply agreement to power Australia's first "net zero pipeline”.
June 27, 2025
Indian solar manufacturer Premier Energies has commissioned its 1.2GW TOPCon solar cell manufacturing line at Fab City, Hyderabad, Telangana.
June 27, 2025
Renewables investment platform Nexwell Power has signed a round of power purchase agreements (PPAs) with “one of the largest” US tech companies for solar PV capacity to be built in Spain.
Premium
June 27, 2025
PV Talk: '2024 was a transformational year in terms of energy policy,' says Monika Paplaczyk ahead of this year's Clean Power 2030 Summits.
June 26, 2025
A group of minority shareholders in Norwegian silicon firm REC Silicon has triggered an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the closure of the company’s US polysilicon production site.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Webinars
June 30, 2025
10am PST / 6pm BST
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Media Partners, Solar Media Events
July 2, 2025
Bangkok, Thailand
Media Partners, Solar Media Events
September 2, 2025
Mexico City, Mexico