Steel line workers are seen during a tour of the newly opened Unimacts, a solar tracker manufacturing facility in Las Vegas Monday Sept. 11, 2023.
Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023 | 2 a.m.
A Las Vegas factory producing solar energy components announced plans Monday to start building equipment that can boost the efficiency of solar power plants by 30% or more.
The factory soon will start building Nextracker’s torque tube adapters, which automatically turn the panels toward the sun throughout the day.
The Unimacts facility on West Tompkins Avenue in Las Vegas produces metal poles that can support four to six solar panels each, depending on their size.
The tracking poles can help solar power systems produce at least 30% more energy, Nextracker CEO Dan Shugar said.
The demand for solar power continues to increase, Shugar said, adding they’re building projects in Nevada, Utah, Arizona and the surrounding states.
Unimacts, in conjunction with Nextracker, has been making solar panel supports in Las Vegas since January.
Unimacts CEO Matt Arnold said the company’s goal was to produce 150,000 solar panel supports of all types per year at the Las Vegas site.
The factory serves clients within a 400-mile radius, but the new tracking poles will be distributed more widely because there aren’t as many manufacturers, Arnold said.
Unimacts started working with Nextracker six years ago at a factory in Mexico. Last year, Shugar asked the company to start manufacturing its products in the western United States.
“We ended up picking Vegas,” Arnold said. “We’re out here training, developing, growing, building new skill sets in the state.”
Solar Energy Industries Association President Abby Ross Hopper said 59 new solar manufacturing facilities have been announced in the past year.
“I can’t imagine a couple of years ago sitting here and talking about exporting solar technology,” she said. “That was not a conversation we were having.”
