ARENA is offering up to AUD 250 million in its third Solar Sunshot funding round
This round targets technologies that can improve the cost and speed of utility-scale solar deployment
Expressions of interest will open on November 2, 2026, following an information webinar on October 26, 2026
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is offering up to AUD 250 million to support Australia’s domestic solar PV industry under the third round of its flagship Solar Sunshot program.
This round focuses on technologies that can make large-scale solar projects cheaper and faster to build. It is open to Australian and international companies incorporated in the country and looking to establish or expand manufacturing there.
Under the latest call, ARENA will accept proposals for technologies such as solar tracking systems, robotics, advanced automation and prefabrication. Other eligible technologies include those that can reduce the cost of constructing and operating a PV facility.
It will accept applications for technologies that involve the commercial-scale manufacturing of solar PV technologies at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 8 and Commercial Readiness Index (CRI) 3 when manufacturing begins. The idea is to bring commercially mature technologies into local manufacturing.
“Australia is already a world leader in deploying solar. The next challenge is to reduce the cost and complexity of building projects at much greater scale,” said ARENA CEO Darren Miller. He said the call is open to companies with commercially mature technologies that can manufacture at scale in Australia.
ARENA issued the call for Round 3 on October 15, 2026. Expressions of interest will open on November 2, 2026. Applicants will then be invited by the agency to submit a full application. Details are available on its website.
It will hold an information webinar on October 26, 2026, to help prospective applicants understand the funding round.
Recently, ARENA announced up to AUD 31.3 million in funding to support two solar robotics manufacturing facilities under Solar Sunshot round 2 (see Australia Funds Solar Robotics Manufacturing With AUD 31.3M).
