Silicon Ranch Makes Strategic Investment in Swap Robotics

National Post

2 days ago

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Investment bolsters Silicon Ranch's agribusiness and land stewardship program while enabling Swap Robotics to expand operations and product development across the solar sector
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. & KITCHENER, Ontario — Silicon Ranch, the developer, owner, and operator of one of the nation's largest fleets of solar facilities, today announced a strategic investment in Swap Robotics, a pioneer in utility-scale solar robotic operations through its leading solar robotics platform. As part of the investment, Silicon Ranch Co-Founder and CEO Reagan Farr will join the board of directors at Swap Robotics.
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Silicon Ranch is an industry leader that specializes in solar energy, agrivoltaics, and carbon solutions and employs a full-stack approach from development to long-term ownership and operation of its energy infrastructure projects, including the underlying real estate. The company is uniquely committed to land stewardship practices that restore and preserve the land beneath and around its arrays, and through its wholly-owned agribusiness, Regenerative Energy®, Silicon Ranch integrates regenerative ranching and other land stewardship practices that restore soil health, promote biodiversity, and improve water quality at its sites. Swap Robotics' 100% electric, autonomous robots align seamlessly with Silicon Ranch's high standards for land management, innovation, and environmental stewardship.
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'As part of Silicon Ranch's commitment to asset ownership and economic development, we own our land rather than lease it, and accordingly we embrace our responsibilities as land stewards through our agribusiness Regenerative Energy®,' said Silicon Ranch Co-Founder and CEO Reagan Farr. 'For the past couple of years, our team has explored several options to complement the managed livestock grazing activities of our shepherds and our company-owned flock of sheep. Following a successful pilot of Swap Robotics' technology, we determined that the mission, operational model, and strong leadership team at Swap Robotics align well with our vision of innovatively scaling a fully integrated agrivoltaics program that can be deployed across our fleet from coast to coast. We are pleased to make this strategic investment in Swap Robotics to help expand its business for the benefit of our entire industry.'
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The investment from Silicon Ranch follows previous significant investments in Swap Robotics, including a $7 million investment round led by SOLV Energy in February 2023 and a $3 million investment from Array Technologies (NASDAQ: ARRY) in November 2024. This additional investment from Silicon Ranch will help propel Swap's momentum as it seeks to expand further within the North American solar sector, having already maintained thousands of acres of solar sites through dozens of robots deployed.
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'Soon after our founding in 2019, we set out to be the category creator of a solar robotics platform,' said Swap Robotics Founder and CEO Tim Lichti. 'This latest investment recognizes our position as a leader in the category and allows us to continue innovating and expanding in what is still an early and rapidly growing industry in North America. It's also a tremendous vote of confidence coming from Silicon Ranch, a respected pioneer and leader in solar development, operations, and sustainable land management.'
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Silicon Ranch currently owns approximately 50,000 acres of land—a number that will more than double in the next few years—and its Asset Management team was impressed by Swap's innovative, purpose-built robots that combine efficiency with advanced autonomous technology. The robots can be quickly deployed across large sites, complementing Silicon Ranch's own flock of sheep for vegetation management. Additionally, Swap's battery-powered robots can operate both during the day and at night, and they are significantly quieter compared to conventional mowers.
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Founded in 2011, Silicon Ranch is a fully integrated provider of customized solar energy, battery storage, and carbon solutions. The company is one of the largest independent power producers in the U.S., with a portfolio that includes more than seven gigawatts of solar and battery storage systems that are contracted, under construction, or operating across the U.S. and Canada. Silicon Ranch owns and operates every project in its portfolio and has maintained an unrivalled track record of project execution. Silicon Ranch has the largest wholly-owned agrivoltaics portfolio in the country under Regenerative Energy®, its nationally recognized agribusiness and holistic approach to project design, construction, and land stewardship. This model incorporates regenerative ranching and other regenerative land stewardship practices to restore soil health, promote biodiversity, and improve water quality. Silicon Ranch's carbon solutions platform, Clearloop®, helps businesses of all sizes reclaim their carbon footprint by commissioning new solar projects in American communities where significant economic and environmental benefits can be achieved. Follow Silicon Ranch on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
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Swap Robotics is a leading robotics company for utility-scale solar construction, operations and maintenance. Swap Robotics is the category creator of solar robotics platforms. In the O&M phase, Swap robots address what can be the single largest line-item expense for utility-scale solar sites: managing the vegetation. Both the hardware and software of Swap's 100% electric robotics platform is designed and built in-house. Having pioneered the world's first 100% electric 'rough cut' and offsettable cutting decks, Swap robots cut the vegetation on thousands of acres of solar sites. The Swap Robotics platform can also address the single biggest labor expense in the EPC phase: laying solar panels. Additionally, the solar robotics platform can perform robotic materials movement on solar sites, such as staging i-beams, torque tubes and pallets of solar panels. Swap's practical approach is the result of Swap staff and robots having worked on solar sites for years. Swap Robotics has investments from several global leaders in the solar industry, including the world's largest solar EPC and O&M, the world's second largest solar tracking company, and some of USA's largest solar asset owners and solar vegetation management companies. Swap's ten-year goal is to be the clear world leader in utility-scale solar robotics. Swap is on a mission to speed the clean energy transition through becoming the leading outdoor work robotics platform. Follow Swap Robotics on LinkedIn.
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