Ben Brayford, CEO of Solar Energy Robotics Takes 5
With a background in commercialising robotics for the resources sector, Ben Brayford has recently moved to the renewable sector with the purpose to help accelerate Australia’s energy transition by using autonomous robotic solutions for maintenance of solar installations.
Ahead of his upcoming Tech Talk with METS Ignited where we will explore ‘The need for autonomous robotic technologies to support the planned rapid growth of solar installations in Australia’s desert regions’, alongside Kylah Morrison, GM of SA and WA for METS Ignited, Ben took 5 with CORE.
1. What does your role entail within the business and what will your key focus be in the coming months?
Solar Energy Robotics is a specialist robotics division of IES. IES is an experienced and high quality electrical contracting business servicing major mining operators in Australia’s mining sector.
As CEO of SER, my primary role is to execute strategies for technology commercialisation, including manufacture of robotics; and to drive sales primarily targeting the Australian mining sector and the planned ultra large utilities scale solar farms that are planned for northern Australia.
My focus to execute these strategies is to build strong networks and promote collaboration with key stakeholders in robotics, government, research, Australian suppliers; and the renewable and mining market sectors.
We need to work together to build solutions to install and maintain a massive demand in solar installations to reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2025 and to achieve ‘net-zero’ emissions by 2050
2. What are 2-3 industry challenges you are facing/coming across?
Immaturity and lack of knowledge of the challenges associated with Australia’s solar market, in particular in the mining sector.
Lack of data, collaboration and information sharing in the Australian solar and mining sectors.
A recent study between Curtin University ICP program (funded by METS Ignited) identified a lack of data specific to Australia’s solar industries. SER are working with Curtin University and industry to circulate an industry survey to better understand the challenges and to build a network of key stakeholders that we hope could attend collaboration events and share information.
3. What are your thoughts around the pace of technological change in the resources sector?
The oil and gas and mining sectors are high-risk industries and are incredibly risk adverse to uptake of new approaches and new technologies. This is partly driven by higher margins and the urgency to keep the production running without disruptions of using new approaches
The solar energy market has an appetite and need for new technologies to drive efficiencies in the energy production.
4. What does innovation mean to you?
Innovation is keeping options open to new ideas and approaches to drive improvements. Innovation requires an appetite to take considered risks, being prepared for non-favourable outcomes, while being flexible to optimise any successes.
Innovation is not isolated to a particular unit or sector but should be across an entire business from support services, finance, technology management, operations and corporate governance.
5. What are you most excited about covering in your upcoming session?
I’m most excited about sharing what I have learnt since joining Solar Energy Robotics months ago, about Australia’s potential to be a major energy exporter and how we can optimise this opportunity, and meet our emission reduction commitments, by using autonomous robotic technologies that are designed and manufactured in Australia.
Join Ben for Tech Talks as he discusses:
Australia’s opportunity to become a major global supplier of green energy
Unique challenges associated with solar installations in Australian desert regions and the mining sector.
Reliable autonomous robotics are a solution to reduce maintenance costs for solar and improve the value proposition for green energy
Project experience of 4 years operating autonomous robotic cleaners of solar panels in the Pilbara mining sector.