Planted raises $31.8M to scale robotic solar construction

Planted has raised $31.8 million to expand its field-robot fleet and launch Sage, its next-generation solar construction robot.

The Oakland company combines planning software, terrain-following solar hardware and field robots into one deployment system. Designs generated in software are passed directly to the machines installing the array, rather than treating robotic construction as a separate step after engineering.

The round was co-led by Piva Capital and RA Capital Planetary Health, with Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Gigascale Capital, Google and Khosla Ventures participating. Planted says its existing robot fleet is already fully committed through 2027, with new deployment capacity added as additional machines are manufactured and fielded.

Sage is scheduled to enter the field in late 2026. Planted says the new robot will deliver more than 2× the field productivity of its current machines and forms part of a longer-term target to increase crew output by 10×.

CEO Eric Brown told Latitude Media in June that each existing robot can install around 2 MW per week, with projects typically running four machines in parallel. Planted had installed 42 MW over the previous six months, including a 28 MW behind-the-meter project for a data center that went from first contact to completed array in ten months.

The company is targeting roughly 100 MW of deployment in 2026, up from more than 10 MW in 2025. It has also outlined a path toward as much as 1 GW in 2027, supported by a project pipeline above 20 GW. Planted CEO Eric Brown has described the broader plan as a move toward “power at manufacturing speed.”

Planted’s next robot generation is also intended to reduce the need for skilled machine operators. The company previously said its next machines would navigate uneven terrain autonomously, follow a project’s digital twin without an operator in the cab and coordinate as a fleet. Latitude Media reported that contractor-built tracked platforms are fitted with Planted’s own robotics and control systems.

Planted’s arrays are designed to follow slopes of up to 27% with limited grading, while its software links site design directly to construction. The company says this allows denser layouts and reduces the amount of land and steel required compared with conventional tracker systems.

The approach is already being used on commercial projects. Planted completed the 11 MW Bowes Solar project in Illinois, described in its launch announcement, and is supplying its platform for Aligned Climate Capital’s 7.3 MW Armoracia project, where the project footprint was reduced to 16 acres after an earlier layout faced local opposition.

Planted was founded in 2020 and launched publicly in 2024 with $20 million in Series A funding from Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Khosla Ventures. It added another $12 million in 2025 as it expanded its software, hardware and robotic installation system, according to its 2025 financing announcement.

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