Planted, a startup that uses digital-twin software and robots to redesign and build solar farms, has raised $31.8 million led by Piva Capital and RA Capital Management Planetary Health, with backing from Google, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Gigascale Capital, and Khosla Ventures. The company's technology helped one St. Louis-area project cut land use by 40% while producing the same power output, resolving a zoning dispute that had stalled the development.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-15
Meteoric Technologies, founded by two Cambridge engineers, wants to deploy fleets of autonomous drones into low- and mid-altitude clouds above solar farms to alter water droplets and reduce cloud reflectivity without chemicals. The startup claims this could boost annual power generation from existing solar assets by 10-30%, though this figure comes from a computer model rather than field measurements at an actual solar farm. Its only public evidence so far is a claimed 13% dissipation of an artificial cloud in an undisclosed cloud-chamber test.
techspot.com
· 2026-08-24
Meteoric, a startup founded by two Cambridge engineers, is developing autonomous drone fleets designed to fly into low- and mid-altitude clouds above solar farms and physically alter water droplets to reduce cloud reflectivity. The company says this chemical-free approach could boost energy output from existing solar installations by 10-30%, costing an estimated $30-60 per hour to operate, far cheaper than traditional cloud-seeding aircraft.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-08-23
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