US solar trading company Nextracker is now Nextpower, as it shifts from a supplier of solar tracking technology to a provider of all things structural and electrical for solar projects.
The company is now offering to supply all of the hardware and software needed to build and then maintain a solar project after it starts operations.
Nextpower CEO Dan Shugar says their customers want a more integrated offer, one that handles different elements of the solar value chain.
“The world is in an electricity super-cycle, and solar is the primary driver, adding more capacity than any other source, at lower cost,” Shugar said in a statement.
“As we expand into power conversion systems (PCS), robotics, and AI, we’re enabling customer solutions engineered for the scale, reliability, and complexity of today’s solar power plants.”
The company is one of a number which has secured an Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) grant to trial robotic and automated construction machinery in Australia, in this case a GPS-guided pile driver.
Non-tracker products and services are set to be the company’s biggest growth area, as it expects these to make up about a third of the projected $4.8 billion to $5.6 billion ($A7.3-8.5 billion) revenue for 2030.
The company confirmed a revenue outlook for FY2026 of $US3.4 billion during its capital market day, but also showed just how little growth it sees in the core tracking business.
In a presentation, Nextpower says tracker revenue is expected to reach $US3 billion in full year 2026, and grow only to $US3.6 billion in 2030.
The growth is expected to come from supplying foundations and solar module frames, new kit such as power conversion units for solar, electrical equipment such as cables, and management software.
Nextpower CFO Chuck Boynton expects revenue growth from the to continue and allow the company to fund its internal projects “while maintaining healthy margins and a fortress balance sheet”.
The move to offering a wider range of products comes as there is some debate over what will happen to the solar industry in the coming years.
Industry insiders are tipping a price rise of 1-2c a watt for solar panels next year, after China moved to consolidate the hyper competitive manufacturing sector at the same time as some facilities making older technologies close production lines, and as materials costs are rising.
However, not everyone is convinced: the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook yesterday was sceptical of China’s efforts yielding fruit, given the sheer size of the solar manufacturing juggernaut now.
It believes even more downward pressure on solar panels is coming, despite current pricing being unsustainable in some cases.
Nextpower however is pinning its future on the fact that solar is now the lowest-cost, fastest-growing source of new electricity generation – a fact backed by the IEA’s report.
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Rachel Williamson
Rachel Williamson is a science and business journalist, who focuses on climate change-related health and environmental issues.
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