Nextracker, a manufacturer supplying solar tracker and software solutions globally, and Unimacts, an industrial manufacturing and supply chain solutions provider, marked the grand opening of a Nextracker-dedicated manufacturing facility in Las Vegas.
The new facility, owned and operated by Unimacts, will produce steel components exclusively for Nextracker used in ground-mount solar projects in Nevada and the Southwestern. This is Nextracker’s sixth public dedication of a new manufacturing facility since 2022 and the 15th facility the company opened or expanded with suppliers in the U.S. in that time.
The Las Vegas facility is expected to create more than 100 new jobs currently, and over 200 expected by 2024. The plant includes Unimacts’ manufacturing machinery and equipment relocated from Mexico as well as new equipment.
“Unimacts is excited that our partnership with Nextracker will create new jobs and increase the amount of solar we can produce here in the US,” said Matt Arnold, CEO of Unimacts. “With the Nextracker dedicated line, we will be supporting gigawatts of utility-scale projects annually, powering homes and businesses across the Southwest and even as far east as Indiana and Kentucky.”
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), nearly 200 GW of solar manufacturing capacity have been announced or expanded since the Inflation Reduction Act passed last year.
“By partnering with Unimacts on this new production line, we’re bringing back American manufacturing jobs and building out America’s energy infrastructure to enhance energy security and de-risk the supply chain,” said Dan Shugar, founder and CEO of Nextracker. “This plant will support our customers with quick shipping and American-made products.”
Nextracker started reshoring its manufactuering operations in April of 2022 by opening the JM Steel factory in Sinton, Texas. Nextracker has continued to invest in solar manufacturing building out more than 25 GW of annual domestic solar tracker capacity with new dedicated production lines announced in Texas, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Tennessee and now in Nevada.
Nextracker and Unimacts held a dedication event to announce the new line at the Las Vegas facility, which also coincided with the solar industry’s largest trade show, RE+, taking place in Las Vegas that week.
“Nextracker and Unimact’s new facility is a shining example of how smart policy can uplift communities with jobs and local investment,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). “The United States is in the midst of a clean energy manufacturing renaissance, and investments like this are helping drive us toward an abundant, reliable, American-made clean energy future.”
News item from Nextracker
