The Solar Industry Has A Frame Problem

By Jenya Meydbray, General Manager, Advanced Module Frames, Nextpower

Over the last five years, solar modules have gotten larger, thinner, and cheaper.

That's great—until reality gets involved. Having spent much of my career investigating why modules fail, I see a troubling trend emerging. As modules get larger and thinner, the industry's margin for structural error is shrinking. Modules are spontaneously breaking in the field at increasing rates, and laboratory testing is revealing the same trend. The just-published 2026 Kiwa PVEL PV Module Scorecard showed:

• 30% of BOMs experienced one or more failures during mechanical stress (MSS) testing.

• 26% of BOMs experienced at least one broken module during MSS testing

• 62% of broken modules in MSS showed evidence of pinched glass via front glass breakage.

These are all increases from the 2025 Scorecard – which reported increases from the 2024 Scorecard. Point being: These issues are steadily getting worse.

Luckily, there is a drop-in structural solution to address these challenges: steel module frames. Steel delivers greater stiffness than aluminum, helping reduce module flexing and deformation under load. It supports larger module formats, improves durability, and creates new opportunities for localized manufacturing and domestic content strategies.

To explain in greater detail, the Nextpower steel frames team has published a new white paper: Steel Frame Advantages: Closing Solar's Reliability Gap.

The paper explores:

• Why larger modules are creating new structural challenges

• The growing trend of module breakage and reliability concerns

• How steel frames improve strength and durability

• Domestic content and supply chain advantages

• Sustainability and long-term performance considerations

If you're involved in financing, developing, engineering, insuring, manufacturing, or operating solar projects, I encourage you to download the paper and join the conversation.

How Nextpower Is Addressing the Challenge

At Nextpower, we've been working to accelerate this transition to steel frames. Following Nextpower's acquisition of Origami Solar, we have focused on scaling steel frame manufacturing and bringing the technology to leading module manufacturers. Now branded as NX CoreFrame™, our steel frame serves as a foundational, structural element of Nextpower’s expanding energy infrastructure ecosystem, combining proven frame innovation with Nextpower’s manufacturing, deployment, and supply chain expertise.

NX CoreFrame is a drop-in, universal steel module frame designed for compatibility with leading module architectures, assembly lines, and utility-scale installation requirements. The NX CoreFrame is already being adopted by leading module manufacturers including T1 Energy, Jinko Solar, Goldi America, and Thornova Solar, with 30 mm and 35 mm configurations in early stages of production.

NX CoreFrame is engineered with high-strength steel and a patented roll-formed design, that can double static mechanical load capacity. But there are advantages beyond strength.

NX CoreFrame also advances Nextpower’s sustainability strategy through responsible sourcing and the use of lower-emission steel compared to conventional aluminum extrusion used to produce imported frames.

From Component to Infrastructure

The industry's challenge is not that modules are becoming larger. Larger modules help lower the cost of solar energy and should continue to evolve. The challenge is ensuring that supporting components evolve alongside them.

The good news is that strengthening module BOMs with steel frames can be done quickly and at scale. Beyond improving structural durability, steel frames also offer meaningful supply chain advantages. Unlike aluminum frames, which rely heavily on overseas supply chains, steel frames can leverage the extensive domestic steel manufacturing base across the United States. This creates opportunities to regionalize production, shorten lead times, and increase supply chain resilience.

For decades, module frames were treated as a commodity component. As modules become larger and more structurally demanding, the frame increasingly influences long-term reliability, manufacturability, and project execution. Steel frames offer a practical, drop-in solution that addresses these challenges today. The question is how quickly the industry chooses to adopt them.