A Unimacts manufacturing worker makes Nextracker steel components for utility-scale solar plants. (Photo courtesy Nextracker)
The new facility, owned and operated by Unimacts, will produce critical steel components exclusively for Nextracker.
FREMONT, Calif.—A new Las Vegas manufacturing facility owned and operated by Unimacts (UNX) will produce—exclusively for Nextracker—critical steel components used in ground-mount solar power generation plants. The new facility will primarily serve projects in Nevada and southwestern states, the companies said in a release.
Nextracker, a provider of intelligent, integrated solar tracker and software products, and Unimacts, a provider of industrial manufacturing and supply chain services, announced the grand opening of the Nextracker-dedicated manufacturing facility in September. The event marked Nextracker’s sixth public dedication of a new manufacturing facility since 2022 and the 15th facility the company has opened or expanded with key suppliers in the U.S. during that time, according to the release.
“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), in the release. “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.”
The Las Vegas facility provides expanded production capacity and is generating more than 100 new jobs, with more than 200 expected by 2024. The plant includes Unimacts’ manufacturing machinery and equipment that has been relocated from Mexico, as well as new equipment.
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), nearly 200 gigawatts 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, in the release. ”This plant will support our customers with quick shipping and American-made products.”
Nextracker said it 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 Nevada.
“Unimacts is excited that our partnership with Nextracker will create new jobs and increase the amount of solar we can produce here in the U.S.,” said Matt Arnold, CEO of Unimacts, in the release. ”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.”
Unimacts is a global contract manufacturing and supply chain solutions company that focuses on renewable energy, as well as construction equipment and industrial products. The company supplies highly specified mechanical products and provides complementary logistics support, design for manufacturing, inventory management, and near-customer warehousing.
In addition to solar tracker components (torque tubes, solar piles, drives), products supplied by Unimacts include wind turbine components (fabrications, castings, fiber-reinforced plastics), and other industrial products (electro-mechanical assemblies, castings, fabrications), the company said.