The future of U.S. renewable energy rests on Nextpower—the backbone of the growing solar sector
Expansion mode While the Trump administration has attacked renewable energy— especially offshore wind —solar power is still the fastest-growing source of power in the U.S.
Key points
- In July, Nextpower acquired the Prevalon Energy battery storage business for up to $365 million, as well as the Spain-based power inverter business, Zigor, including its U.S.
- In October, Nextpower completed its $378 million purchase of Germany’s Zimmermann PV-Steel Group to further expand its solar business in Europe.
- solar tracker market—and about 30% globally—the company has gone on a buying spree of late to enter the battery business and expand its solar portfolio to cover essentially everything except the actual solar cells.
Nextpower specializes in solar trackers, the arrays and devices that operate in slow motion to keep solar panels oriented toward the sun, maximizing the solar panels’ energy production each day.
Nextpower is now an investment in the battery energy storage industry and not just solar power, so the diversification is a big bonus, Dumoulin-Smith added.
Additional details
- The rise in tariffs last year and the spike in diesel prices this year are relatively muted for Nextpower because so much of the manufacturing is domestic and spread throughout the country, he said.
- Solar power can operate more closely to non-stop baseload power with batteries because the battery systems can deploy their stored electricity at night when the sun is no longer shining.
- The advances in the solar tracker industry also make solar power more efficient in areas with land constraints and harsh terrains, increasing the potential geography of the business.
- solar sector—and increasingly worldwide—by literally lifting the solar panels toward the sun.
- Nextpower also picked up Origami Solar and its solar panel frame business for $53 million.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
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