Swap Robotics Solar Vegetation Cutting Robots

Swap Robotics builds electric, autonomous robots for utility-scale solar sites. The company lists a legal address in Vancouver, Canada, and an office in Kitchener, Canada, and reports about 15 million USD raised from investors that include SOLV Energy, Array Technologies and SOSV. It targets the labour-intensive task of controlling vegetation under and between solar panels.

The robots are taught a route on site, then run it autonomously under remote guardian oversight, using depth-sensing cameras and proprietary obstacle detection. Cutting decks of 48 and 60 inches handle rough cuts and woody growth up to 2.5 inches, and the machines can work under panels with at least 18 inches of clearance. Swap pre-maps each site, charges batteries, and handles repairs and maintenance as a managed service.

• Teach-and-repeat autonomy: robots learn a site route once and then run it on their own with remote guardian oversight.
• Obstacle detection: proprietary technology combined with depth-sensing cameras.
• Safety stack: edge sensing, four mechanical emergency stops, a wireless e-stop, two-way audio and warning lights.
• Electric operation: 8 to 12 hour shifts, about 2.5 hour recharge, and a hybrid option for 40+ continuous hours.
• Cutting capability: 48 and 60 inch decks, 2 to 8 inch cut height, woody growth up to 2.5 inches.
• Managed service: Swap handles charging, repairs and maintenance on site.

Vegetation control at ground-mounted solar farms in Vietnam, such as plants in Ninh Thuan or Binh Thuan, where manual brush cutting is costly. O&M contractors can use robot-based mowing as an add-on service across several plants. Developers can pilot managed mowing during the early operating years of new plants.

Targets 10 to 20 percent cost savings from day one. Reduces dependence on scarce site labour. Sites can start within 30 days, and Swap commits to a replacement robot on site within 90 minutes if one stops working. Safety features include automatic slowing and stopping near people.

Utility-scale solar owners face rising operating costs and shortages of site labour for vegetation management, which pushes demand for autonomous electric mowing. The same pressure applies to fast-growing solar fleets in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, where vegetation growth under panels is rapid in humid climates.

Legal address in Vancouver, BC and office in Kitchener, Canada. About 15 million USD raised to date: 7 million seed (2023), 3 million from ARRAY (2024) and 3 million from Silicon Ranch (2025). Also offers module installation robots. Dozens of robots operate in the USA and Canada.