Dan Shugar

Dan Shugar is an American business executive and renewable energy pioneer. He is the co-founder and CEO of Nextracker.^[1][2][3]

Dan Shugar
Education	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (BSc) Golden Gate University (MBA)
Occupation(s)	Renewable energy entrepreneur, business executive
Years active	1987–present
Title	Co-founder and CEO of Nextracker
Website	nextracker.com

Early life and education

Shugar grew up in New Jersey. He graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. He later received an MBA from Golden Gate University.^[3][4]

Career

Shugar began his career in the late 1980s in the research and development department at Pacific Gas and Electric Company.^[2][3][5]

In 1996, Shugar joined Tom Dinwoodie, who invented a lightweight solar roof system, as co-founder of PowerLight Corporation^[3][6][7]

Shugar and Dinwoodie worked together on existing intellectual property to commercialize single-axis solar trackers and received certification for their use in the U.S. and Europe.^[1][8][9] Other innovations included a "solar inverter in a container" for its use at solar power plants, an integrated residential solar roof system and carport solutions.^[1][8][9]

In 2007, SunPower Corp. purchased PowerLight for $332 million.^[6][10] Shugar was later named president of SunPower.^[6][11][12] Under Shugar's leadership, PowerLight and SunPower grew from less than $1 million to $830 million in annual revenues, with Shugar overseeing the completion of more than 500 commercial, industrial, and utility solar projects worldwide.^[6][11][12]

In 2010, Shugar became CEO of a solar panel startup named Solaria.^[10][11]

At Nextracker

In 2013, Shugar co-founded Nextracker while working at Solaria to develop a new generation of solar-tracking systems for utility-scale solar power plants.^[3][13] The following year, Nextracker was spun off from Solaria after which Shugar became the CEO of Nextracker.^[8][13]

In 2016, Shugar orchestrated Nextracker's acquisition of BrightBox Technologies, Inc., which develops predictive modeling software and machine-learning technologies.^[14][15]

After Covid, Shugar led efforts to reshore solar tracker manufacturing to the U.S. following disruption of global supply chains.^[16][17] In December 2024, Nextracker shipped the first U.S.-manufactured solar trackers with 100% domestic content.^[18][19][20]

Under Shugar, Nextracker made its debut on the Nasdaq Global Select Market in 2023.^[21][22] As of March 31, 2024, Nextracker had shipped solar tracking systems for more than 100 gigawatts (GW) of capacity to 40 countries across six continents.^[23][24]

Awards and recognition

• 2023 S&P Platts Global Energy Awards – Shugar received the Chief Trailblazer of the Year award for energy industry leadership and innovation.^[25][26]
• 2023 Hoyt Clarke Hottel Award – he received this annual award from the American Solar Energy Society for his contributions to the energy sector.^[27][28]