Nextracker Enters Solar Panel Frame Market with Acquisition of Origami Solar for USD 53 Million
Nextracker has acquired Origami Solar for USD 53 million to enter the solar panel frame market with innovative steel-based frame technology.
September 09, 2025. By Mrinmoy Dey
Steel frames offer a high-performance alternative to traditional extruded aluminium frames, delivering superior strength and durability, competitive cost, a robust localised supply chain, and significantly lower carbon footprint. The use of steel as a frame material also has the potential to unlock innovation around new solar panel mounting approaches, including robotic assembly, with related improvements in mounting speed and labour cost, the company said in a statement.
It further added that Origami’s frame designs are the result of four years of dedicated development and refinement, including extensive third-party laboratory testing. Engineered as a drop-in replacement for conventional aluminium frames, Origami’s frames mirror standard industry form factors, allowing seamless integration into existing manufacturing lines and helping to facilitate broad and rapid adoption of steel frame technology. Origami’s frames have been tested and qualified by leading panel manufacturers, and with US-based fabrication capacity in place, Nextracker is well-positioned to support rapid scaling.
Nextracker brings significant long-term experience and engineering expertise related to the critical panel-tracker interface. The acquisition of Origami Solar brings dedicated panel frame design and engineering talent to Nextracker to drive continued innovation around optimised panel-tracker solutions.
Commenting on the development, Dan Shugar, Founder and CEO of Nextracker, said, “Solar panel frame technology has been relatively unchanged for over 45 years. During that time, the size and dynamic wind loads on solar panels have increased dramatically, especially in utility-scale tracking applications. From a structural engineering perspective, the shift from aluminium to steel is compelling — steel offers greater strength at competitive cost and significantly reduced carbon intensity.”
He further added, “Most importantly, it helps to unlock opportunities for localised manufacturing from steel coil through final fabrication, while delivering real customer benefits like faster panel installation and improved long-term system performance. And with an estimated total addressable market (TAM) in excess of USD 750 million in the US alone, we see this as a substantial new business opportunity for Nextracker.”
Gregg Patterson, CEO of Origami Solar, remarked, “Origami Solar was founded to drive the commercialisation of steel frame technology and to realise the customer value and benefits this new technology can offer. Our team has solved key challenges around design, performance, and high-volume production. By joining forces with Nextracker, we have a great opportunity to scale this innovation faster with their global supply chain ecosystem and deep customer relationships and to commercialise a solution that makes a real impact.”
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