A Carnegie Mellon founded startup promises to transform hectic solar construction sites with adaptable robotic systems that dramatically boost installation rates and safety.
As mentioned by Techcrunch
One of the most important trends today is the active deployment of solar energy and storage systems, aimed at reducing dependence on traditional energy sources and mitigating the impact of climate change. However, the global market is facing a shortage of labor for installing solar installations. In response to this, robotics- and AI-based solutions are emerging that can operate in open and chaotic conditions on construction sites. This is exactly the concept Gritt, a startup founded by two Carnegie Mellon graduates: CEO Puneet Puri and CTO Vishal Dugar. The company came out of stealth with a $26 million Series A round led by Obvious Ventures with the participation of Union Square Ventures and Active Impact Investment; total funding stands at $34 million after the previous round.
Our thesis is that if we truly want to accelerate construction, we need intelligence that can operate in open, chaotic conditions on these sites, and it must be generalized enough to function in different environments.
– Puneet Puri
Gritt uses off-the-shelf equipment: rented manipulators and workers from manufacturers, including Kawasaki, which augment their AI models. The first tasks of the systems are unloading large glass panels, carrying them to frames, and placing them on them with micron-level precision so that workers can secure the panels.
These guys belong to the second camp – a special breed of entrepreneur with technical know-how, artificial intelligence, and machine-vision skills to make this work.
– Andrew Beebe
Andrew Beebe, a partner at Obvious Ventures, emphasized that Gritt combines technical expertise with real-world on-site experience on construction sites under harsh conditions.
Currently, two systems are in operation in the field, and according to the company they are collecting data to improve the performance of their services. According to Puri, a typical eight-person crew can install about 800 panels per day, while with Gritt systems it ranges from 3,000 to 4,000 panels per day.
The company says it has contracts to assist with the installation of 2.8 gigawatts of solar panels over 18 months; among its clients are three of the ten leading American construction companies in the energy sector. They plan to deploy 48 systems within six months.
Among the advantages are improved safety at remote sites and reduced injury risk due to lowering the need to repeatedly lift heavy panels.
In the market, Gritt competes with Luminous Robotics, Cosmic, and Trinabot, which are developing their own equipment. Gritt’s differentiator lies in focusing on using ready-made base platforms rather than developing a full system from scratch, which can impact the speed of scaling and cost in a growing demand.
The company plans to broaden the range of tasks: quick panel fastening, drilling posts, and assembling the frames on which they are mounted. Looking ahead, other labor-intensive operations, such as tying rebar before pouring concrete, are also being considered.
The founders believe that developing new AI models enables applying one base platform to different tasks, increasing efficiency. For example, training a system to lay brick blocks took weeks, whereas tying rebar on the same platform took only a day.
Sensors and intelligent modules can support site management and decision-making: the system can detect dangerous situations, warn of flood risk, and track inventory.
Overall, Gritt positions itself as a layer of physical AI that performs heavy manual work while simultaneously strengthening the management of construction processes, helping make on-site decisions and boosting productivity in an industry where demand for solar projects is rising.

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