Microinverter supplier Enphase Energy has inaugurated a new manufacturing facility in Columbia, South Carolina in partnership with international manufacturing company Flex. It is the first of up to six planned US facilities, Enphase has said.
Later today, President Biden will tour the facility as part of his trip to South Carolina to shore up his economic policies.
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Revathi Advaithi, CEO of Flex said of the facility opening: ““Enphase shares our commitment to accelerating the world’s transition to clean energy through advanced technology and strategic regional manufacturing. We thank Enphase for their 15-year partnership to deliver their IQ Microinverters to market faster and at scale globally with reliable, sustainable business practices.”
Enphase and Flex already have a partnership in Romania, where Flex manufactures Enphase’s microinverters in a similar setup to the South Carolina facility. The US is Enphase’s dominant market – it represented around two thirds of revenue in Q4 2022 – but it has said that it is looking to expand its European operations.
The company said that the facility was made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which includes financial incentives for domestic clean energy manufacturing. The US Treasury recently released guidance on the domestic content levels required for solar arrays to gain an extra 10% investment tax credit (ITC) under the IRA. Electrical components like inverters and trackers are included in the requirements.
A release from the President’s office ahead of his visit to the factory said that the IRA had spurred US$11 billion of clean energy and manufacturing investments in South Carolina. The release also emphasised that the sitting Republican state representatives had voted against the bill last year.
In March Hounen Solar America – the US arm of Chinese company Zhejiang Haoneng Optoelectric Co – announced plans for a 1GW module assembly plant in Orangeburg County, South Carolina, which will represent US$33 million in investment.
The White House cited Enphase’s factory as an example of the positive impact of “Bidenomics”, which it said focuses on job creation and building the economy ‘from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down’.
Badri Kothandaraman, president and CEO of Enphase Energy said: “We are pleased that President Biden is able to visit our manufacturing operations at Flex’s factory in South Carolina today, and we appreciate his support of U.S. companies investing in domestic manufacturing.
“Enphase is proud to be a leader in expanding the domestic manufacturing of clean energy products while bringing back high-technology jobs and supporting the growth of our business.”