Nextracker

Last updated
Nextracker
Company typePublic company
Revenue US$2,500 million (2024)
US$587 million (2023)
US$306 million (2023)
Total assets US$2,520 million (2023)
Total equity US$992 million (2023)
Number of employees
1,050
Website nextracker.com
Footnotes /references
[1]

Nextracker (NXT) is an American solar tracker manufacturing company based in Fremont, California. [2]

Contents

History

In 2014, Solaria Corporation spun off their tracker technology to create Nextracker, with Dan Shugar as the CEO. [3]

Flextronics purchased Nextracker in 2015 for $330 million. [4] Nextracker expanded in more than 20 U.S. manufacturing lines in Texas, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Tennessee, and Nevada between January 2021 and August 2024. [5] As of March 31,2024, the company’s total global manufacturing capacity was approximately 1,000 MW per week, supporting up to 50 GW of annual shipments. [6]

In February 2023, the company raised $638 million in a U.S. initial public offering, selling 26.6 million shares of Class A common stock at $24 per share, resulting in a corporate valuation of more than $3.5 billion. It debuted on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on February 9, 2023, under the ticker symbol, NXT. [7] [8]

Technology

As of March 31, 2024, Nextracker had more than 600 patents related to solar tracking hardware systems, including innovations that increase energy yields, reduce costs, and expand tracking system applications. [9] [6]

Solar trackers

The company pioneered decentralized, single-axis trackers that connect each row of solar panels to its own motor and control system. This design allows each solar panel row to move independently to position the panels toward the sun, maximizing energy yield for the entire fleet. [9]

The company’s terrain-following trackers adapt to a site’s natural contours, reducing grading requirements, minimizing environmental impact, and expanding the viability of solar projects on landscapes with extreme terrain. [10]

In 2024, Nextracker introduced tracker technology that uses weather-forecasting data and AI to automatically adjust solar panel angles into a stow mode ahead of hailstorms to avoid direct hits. [11] [12] The product was developed to mitigate the rising cost of insuring solar arrays from hail and other weather-related damage. [13] The same technology is also used to stow panels during grid outages without operator intervention. [10]

Software, controls & training

The company’s integrated software serves as the brain for a solar tracking system. It monitors weather conditions, checks for blind spots, and directs the position of individual rows of solar panels to optimize energy yield. [9] A new tracking function added in 2023 adjusts trackers to variations in cloud cover across an entire power plant, enabling plants to chase clouds for added gains without compromising tracking performance during clear sky conditions [10]

PowerworX Academy

The company’s PowerworX Academy provide operators of utility-scale solar power plants from around the world with training in tracker installation, commissioning, operations and maintenance. Graduates receive professional development credits from the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners. [14]

Sustainability and legacy

In April 2024, Nextracker introduced a solar tracker system with a carbon footprint that is up to 35% lower than traditional trackers. The low-carbon tracker system, which is produced with an electric arc furnace manufacturing process and uses recycled steel, received the Carbon TrustProduct Carbon Footprint Label certification. [15] [16]

In 2023 and 2024, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) teamed with Nextracker to advance PV tracker reliability during severe weather events. The company built two self-powered PV tracking systems that were deployed at the NREL’s National Wind Technology Center in Golden, Colorado for a large-scale study on the impact of severe weather on the equipment. [17]

In 2023, Nextracker partnered with Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled to install solar PV systems at Government Primary Health Centres in Kondapur and Atmakur, both located in Sangareddy district of India. These 6kW PV systems donated by Nextracker help bring healthcare services to 50,000 underserved residents in the region. [18]

In 2022, Nextracker partnered with Flex Instituto de Tecnologia to launch the Brazil Center for Solar Excellence, South America’s largest solar tracker research and development facility. Located in Sorocaba, Brazil, the research center, test lab, and training facility addresses every stage of a solar tracker system’s lifecycle. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renewable energy</span> Energy collected from renewable resources

Renewable energy is energy from renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind power, and hydropower. Bioenergy and geothermal power are also significant in some countries. Some also consider nuclear power a renewable power source, although this is controversial. Renewable energy installations can be large or small and are suited for both urban and rural areas. Renewable energy is often deployed together with further electrification. This has several benefits: electricity can move heat and vehicles efficiently and is clean at the point of consumption. Variable renewable energy sources are those that have a fluctuating nature, such as wind power and solar power. In contrast, controllable renewable energy sources include dammed hydroelectricity, bioenergy, or geothermal power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar energy</span> Radiant light and heat from the Sun, harnessed with technology

Solar energy is the radiant energy from the Sun's light and heat, which can be harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar electricity, solar thermal energy and solar architecture. It is an essential source of renewable energy, and its technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on how they capture and distribute solar energy or convert it into solar power. Active solar techniques include the use of photovoltaic systems, concentrated solar power, and solar water heating to harness the energy. Passive solar techniques include designing a building for better daylighting, selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or light-dispersing properties, and organize spaces that naturally circulate air.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Photovoltaics</span> Method to produce electricity from solar radiation

Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially used for electricity generation and as photosensors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Renewable Energy Laboratory</span> United States national laboratory

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the US specializes in the research and development of renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy systems integration, and sustainable transportation. NREL is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Department of Energy and operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, a joint venture between MRIGlobal and Battelle. Located in Golden, Colorado, NREL is home to the National Center for Photovoltaics, the National Bioenergy Center, and the National Wind Technology Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar panel</span> Assembly of photovoltaic cells used to generate electricity

A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. The electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct current (DC) electricity, which can be used to power various devices or be stored in batteries. Solar panels are also known as solar cell panels, solar electric panels, or PV modules.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar power in Australia</span>

Solar power is a major contributor to electricity supply in Australia. As of September 2024, Australia's over 3.92 million solar PV installations had a combined capacity of 37.8 GW photovoltaic (PV) solar power. In 2019, 59 solar PV projects with a combined capacity of 2,881 MW were either under construction, constructed or due to start construction having reached financial closure. Solar accounted for 12.4% of Australia's total electrical energy production in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar power in Germany</span>

Solar power accounted for an estimated 12.2% of electricity production in Germany in 2023, up from 1.9% in 2010 and less than 0.1% in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renewable energy in the United States</span>

According to data from the US Energy Information Administration, renewable energy accounted for 8.4% of total primary energy production and 21% of total utility-scale electricity generation in the United States in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar power in the United Kingdom</span>

Solar power has a small but growing role in electricity production in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renewable energy in China</span>

China is the world's leader in electricity production from renewable energy sources, with over triple the generation of the second-ranking country, the United States. China's renewable energy sector is growing faster than its fossil fuels and nuclear power capacity, and is expected to contribute 43% of global renewable capacity growth. China's total renewable energy capacity exceeded 1,000 GW in 2021, accounting for 43.5 per cent of the country's total power generation capacity, 10.2 percentage points higher than in 2015. The country aims to have 80 per cent of its total energy mix come from non-fossil fuel sources by 2060, and achieve a combined 1,200 GW of solar and wind capacity by 2030. In 2023, it was reported that China was on track to reach 1,371 gigawatts of wind and solar by 2025, five years ahead of target due to new renewables installations breaking records. In 2024, it was reported that China would reach its target by the end of July 2024, six years ahead of target.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar power</span> Conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity

Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to convert light into an electric current. Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and solar tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight to a hot spot, often to drive a steam turbine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar power in the United States</span>

Solar power includes solar farms as well as local distributed generation, mostly on rooftops and increasingly from community solar arrays. In 2023, utility-scale solar power generated 164.5 terawatt-hours (TWh), or 3.9% of electricity in the United States. Total solar generation that year, including estimated small-scale photovoltaic generation, was 238 TWh.

A photovoltaic system, also called a PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity, a solar inverter to convert the output from direct to alternating current, as well as mounting, cabling, and other electrical accessories to set up a working system. Many utility-scale PV systems use tracking systems that follow the sun's daily path across the sky to generate more electricity than fixed-mounted systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cadmium telluride photovoltaics</span> Type of solar power cell

Cadmium telluride (CdTe) photovoltaics is a photovoltaic (PV) technology based on the use of cadmium telluride in a thin semiconductor layer designed to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity. Cadmium telluride PV is the only thin film technology with lower costs than conventional solar cells made of crystalline silicon in multi-kilowatt systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Growth of photovoltaics</span> Worldwide growth of photovoltaics

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Amonix, Inc. was a solar power system developer based in Seal Beach, California. The company manufactured concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) products designed for installation in sunny and dry climates. CPV products convert sunlight into electrical energy in the same way that conventional solar photovoltaic technology does, except that they use optics to focus the solar radiation before the light is absorbed by solar cells. According to a comparative study of energy production of solar technologies, CPV systems require no water for energy production and produce more energy per megawatt (MW) installed than traditional PV systems. Amonix had nearly 70 megawatts of CPV solar power systems deployed globally, including Southwestern U.S. and Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rooftop solar power</span> Type of photovoltaic system

A rooftop solar power system, or rooftop PV system, is a photovoltaic (PV) system that has its electricity-generating solar panels mounted on the rooftop of a residential or commercial building or structure. The various components of such a system include photovoltaic modules, mounting systems, cables, solar inverters battery storage systems, charge controllers, monitoring systems, racking and mounting systems, energy management systems, net metering systems, disconnect switches, grounding equipment, protective devices, combiner boxes, weatherproof enclosures and other electrical accessories.

Solar power in France including overseas territories reached an installed capacity figure of 11.2 GW in 2020, and rose further to 17.1 GW at the end of 2022. Government plans announced in 2022 foresee solar PV capacity in France rising to 100 GW by 2050.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar power in Alabama</span> Overview of solar power in the U.S. state of Alabama

Solar power in Alabama on rooftops could theoretically provide 29.8% of all electricity used in Alabama, with 20,400 MW of solar panels potentially installed on rooftops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Floating solar</span> Systems of solar cell panels installed on a structure that floats on a body of water

Floating solar or floating photovoltaics (FPV), sometimes called floatovoltaics, are solar panels mounted on a structure that floats. The structures that hold the solar panels usually consist of plastic buoys and cables. They are then placed on a body of water. Typically, these bodies of water are reservoirs, quarry lakes, irrigation canals or remediation and tailing ponds.

References

  1. ↑ "Annual Reports". nextracker.com.
  2. ↑ Deffenbaugh, Ryan (2024-02-01). "NXT Stock: Why Solar Stock Nextracker Is Surging Today". Investor's Business Daily. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
  3. ↑ Weirich, Tom (22 September 2022). We Took the Risk: The Stories Behind the Early Risk Takers in the U.S. Renewable Energy Industry and the Leadership Traits that Made Them a Success. Potomac, Maryland: New Degree Press. pp. 235–246. ISBN   979-8885046398.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  4. ↑ "Flextronics Buys NEXTracker for $330 Million". Greentech Media. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  5. ↑ Linder, Lauren (2024-04-26). "JM Steel announces expansion in Pittsburgh area as demand for solar energy increases - CBS Pittsburgh". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  6. 1 2 "2024 Nextracker Annual Report". nextracker.com. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  7. ↑ "Nextracker Jumps Up to 29% After Upsized $638 Million US IPO". Bloomberg. 2023-02-09. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  8. ↑ "Solar tech firm Nextracker raises $638 mln in upsized U.S. IPO". Reuters. 8 February 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 "Nextracker Is the Market Leader in the Growing Solar-Tracking Industry". Morningstar. 16 September 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  10. 1 2 3 Jacobo, Jonathan Tourino (2023-09-07). "Nextracker Unveils Next Generation Tech Suite to Address Hail, Undulating Terrain, and Rapidly Changing Atmospheric Conditions". PV-Tech. Retrieved 2024-10-23.
  11. ↑ Gearino, Dan. "Extreme Hail Storms Are Wrecking Solar Farms—but Defending Them May Be Easier Than It Seems". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  12. ↑ Dvorak, Phred (29 July 2024). "The Rush to Shore Up the Power Grid Against Hurricanes, Heat and Hail". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  13. ↑ Vandewege, Renny. "Reducing Hail Risk Can Save Millions For Solar Industry". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  14. ↑ Pickerel, Kelly (2018-09-25). "NEXTracker has successfully trained 500 installers in its global tracker program". Solar Power World. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  15. ↑ "Nextracker cuts solar tracker carbon by 35% with recycled steel and electric furnaces". pv magazine USA. 2024-04-23. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  16. ↑ "Nextracker Launches Industry's First Low Carbon Solar Tracker Solution". Yahoo Finance. 2024-04-23. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  17. ↑ "Nextracker and NREL Partnership Inspires New Look at PV Tracker Industry Design Standards". National Renewable Energy Laboratory. 29 August 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  18. ↑ Jaffer, Askari (2023-09-05). "Nextracker Donates to Public Health Centers in Telangana, Uplifting 50,000 Lives with Sustainable Solar Solutions". www.thehansindia.com. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  19. ↑ magazine, pv (2022-08-17). "Nextracker and FIT Institute of Technology Launch Brazil Center for Solar Excellence". pv magazine International. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
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