The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced up to $4.96 million in funding for Nextracker to deploy its proprietary solar tracker and integrated foundation technologies at several large-scale solar farms, including the Goulburn River Solar Farm in New South Wales.
Delivered in collaboration with leading solar developers and EPC contractors, the project represents a major step toward automating large-scale solar construction, with the goal of reducing installation risks, costs, and timelines across the renewable energy sector.
ARENA CEO Darren Miller said the initiative reinforces the agency’s mission to advance innovation that drives down the cost of solar deployment.
“Ultra low-cost solar is not the solar we know today,” Miller said. “Current PV technology is mature, but to decarbonise industries and enable green exports, we must achieve much cheaper solar. Projects like this bring us closer to that goal.”
The project marks the Australian debut of Nextracker’s NX Earth Truss foundation system, an advanced solar tracker technology designed to simplify and accelerate foundation installation.
Peter Wheale, Vice President and General Manager of Nextracker Australia, said the system represents a breakthrough in the most labour-intensive phase of solar farm construction.
“Simplifying and optimising foundation installation for any soil or terrain condition is a real game-changer,” Wheale said. “With over 10 GW of solar trackers already deployed in Australia, we’re proud to introduce technology that cuts costs, shortens build times, and enables projects on sites previously too complex or costly to develop.”
Unlike traditional piling methods that require multiple installation steps, NX Earth Truss foundations are installed in a single pass, significantly reducing labour, equipment needs, and ground disturbance. The technology enables faster, more sustainable project delivery, even on hard soils and challenging terrain.
The initiative aligns directly with ARENA’s Ultra Low-Cost Solar (ULCS) strategy, which focuses on driving down balance-of-plant costs through automation and advanced construction techniques. By demonstrating NX Earth Truss in Australian conditions, the project aims to provide critical performance data and establish best practices to support wider industry adoption.
