Celebration of Growth in the Renewable Energy Sector
California-based Nextracker announced the construction of a new 160,000-square-foot factory in Sloan, Nevada, south of Las Vegas. The facility, dedicated to producing steel torque tubes for solar panels, marks the second Nextracker-dedicated manufacturing line opened by Unimacts, a Las Vegas-based group, in the past year. This expansion will support more than 2 GW of new solar power annually, coinciding with the Edison Electric Institute’s national conference in Las Vegas, which brings together executives from the U.S. electric utility sector.
Driving the Clean Energy Revolution
Nextracker continues its mission to reshore manufacturing to meet the increasing demand for solar and renewable energy. Since 2021, the company has opened or expanded more than 20 U.S. manufacturing facilities, including new or expanded dedicated production lines in Texas, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Tennessee, and Nevada. “In partnership with Nextracker and Unimacts, Copia Power is building a renewably powered future. The transition to clean energy in America can be built with American-made products and constructed with local tradespersons,” said Ryan Galeria, chief development officer for Copia Power, part of the Carlyle group of companies.
Boosting the Local Economy and Job Market
The new Sloan factory brings Nextracker’s annual domestic solar tracker capacity to more than 30 GW, furthering the company’s impact on the local economy and job market. “American manufacturing has quickly become the heartbeat of the clean energy revolution,” said Dan Shugar, founder and CEO of Nextracker. Alan Hayes, CEO of Unimacts, added, “The federal incentives allow us to confidently invest in U.S. manufacturing, provide manufacturing jobs in Nevada, and stimulate local economic growth.” Jason Grument, CEO of American Clean Power (ACP), emphasized that this expansion exemplifies the role of American technology in creating a clean, reliable, and affordable grid. ACP estimates that the Inflation Reduction Act will help create 550,000 new clean energy jobs, supporting a workforce of nearly one million Americans by 2030.
