US microinverter manufacturer Enphase Energy has started commercial shipments of its IQ8 microinverter made in a facility in Arlington, in the US state of Texas.
The company first launched the microinverter in November 2023, and is designed for use in commercial installations for small- and medium-sized businesses. While the product itself is not new, the fact that the inverters are now produced in the US – whereas they were produced overseas and shipped to the US last year – is an important step in the US’ push to relocate more of the upstream solar sector on American soil.
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“We’re excited to build systems for our small commercial customers with Enphase’s commercial microinverters coming from US manufacturing facilities,” said Gailan Wensil-Strow, director of solar operations at engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm American Design and Build. “Not only does Enphase offer a high-quality solution, but our customers also love to know that they are supporting the American economy.”
Enphase noted that the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the landmark piece of legislation that was introduced almost two years ago to offer tax credits for companies building new manufacturing capacity in the US, was crucial in enabling the construction and use of a new facility in Texas.
A report from the Rhodium Group and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that, between October 2022 and September 2023, the US invested a mammoth US$220 billion into clean energy, as the IRA has made such investments more financially attractive for would-be investors.
The same report found that for every dollar invested by the government, mostly in the form of tax credits, the private sector invested US$5.47, suggesting that the presence of supportive legislation, in the form of the IRA, has encouraged an exponential increase in private sector funding for clean energy technologies.
The news is a positive development for Enphase, which has endured a number of financial struggles in recent months. The company announced plans to lay off one-tenth of its workforce in December 2023, and posted a fall in quarterly revenues of around US$250 million in February of this year.
Much of this decline was attributed to its struggles to sell products in Europe, where a much-discussed oversupply of low-cost solar products made in China has made it difficult for suppliers from other markets to sell products, and the launch of commercial manufacturing in the US could indicate Enphase’s desire to shift its focus back to its home market.
