SolarEdge Q4 inverter shipments drop by 76% quarterly

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
SolarEdge expects its revenues for Q1 2024 to be within the range of US$175 million-US$215 million. Image: Business Wire

Israel-headquartered solar inverter supplier SolarEdge has reported a steep decline in shipments in the fourth quarter of 2023 due to a slowdown in demand.

In its latest financial result announcement, SolarEdge only shipped 901MWac of inverters and 133MWh of batteries in Q4 2023. This was a 76.5% quarter-on-quarter decrease over Q3, when the company shipped 3,841MWac of inverters. For FY 2023, it shipped 12.6GWac of inverters and 744MWh of batteries.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Ronen Faier, chief financial officer of SolarEdge, commented: “Our inventory level increased significantly due to the abrupt slowdown in demand. Our inventory days increased from 169 days in Q3 to 386 days in Q4. We expect a slight increase in inventory levels in the first quarter as we ramp our US manufacturing, which, along with the lower guided revenues will result in higher inventory days.”

Graph showing a decline in SolarEdge shipments. Credit: PV Tech

Aside from shipments, SolarEdge’s revenues from the solar segment were only US$282.4 million in Q4 2023, decreasing by 58% from US$676.9 million in the previous quarter and by 66% from US$837.0 million in the same quarter last year.

For FY 2023, revenues from the solar segment were US$2.8 billion, down only 4% from US$2.9 billion in the prior year.

The company’s business worsened in H2 2023, as its net loss was US$162.4 million in Q4 2023, compared to the net loss of US$61.2 million in Q3 2023 and net income of US$20.8 million in Q4 2022. For FY 2023, SolarEdge recorded a net income of US$34.3 million, down 63% from US$93.8 million.

“The first half of 2023 included record installations and expectations for continued growth, with a shift in the second half of the year to a weaker market due to higher interest rates and lower power prices, which resulted in an inventory buildup that slowed our shipments,” said Zvi Lando, SolarEdge CEO.

Looking ahead, SolarEdge expected its revenues for Q1 2024 to be within the range of US$175 million to US$215 million, down by 32-44.6% quarter-on-quarter. Revenues from the solar segment will be within the range of US$160 million to US$200 million, decreasing by 29.2-43.3% quarter-to-quarter.

“The trend of increased inventory days is expected to begin to reverse in the second quarter of 2024 once revenues return to growth and as we manufacture fewer products,” said Faier.

In January, SolarEdge announced that it laid off 900 employees to reduce operating expenses. The company said the workforce reduction would impact about 16% of its global workforce. Of the employees who are going to be laid off, 500 are from the company’s several manufacturing sites.

Lando said the company had implemented several measures to align the company’s cost structure with a projected business outlook, including closure or capacity reductions across its manufacturing base and exiting from certain lines of business, in addition to the 16% reduction in workforce.

“Through these actions, we made sure not to impact our R&D activities in the development of future products that will enable us to maintain our strong position in this market,” he added.

24 October 2024
4pm BST
FREE WEBINAR - Recent changes in legislation around the world have spurred a new wave of factory building globally with new factories in the U.S., Europe and Southeast Asia. Increased ESG requirements in Europe mean that module buyers are applying new criteria to their module selection process and will be considering PV modules from new suppliers and manufacturers located outside of China. This creates new challenges for testing and inspection of PV Modules as they consider new module suppliers and update their due diligence processes.
23 April 2025
Dallas, Texas USA
To bring buyers and sellers of power together, the Renewable Energy Revenues Summit USA will cover strategies to optimize renewable energy trading, procurement, and offtake structures across U.S. markets.
17 June 2025
Napa, USA
PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 17-18 June 2025, will be our fourth PV ModulelTech conference dedicated to the U.S. utility scale solar sector. The event will gather the key stakeholders from solar developers, solar asset owners and investors, PV manufacturing, policy-making and and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out the PV module supply channels to the U.S. out to 2026 and beyond.

Read Next

October 11, 2024
Danish renewable energy company Ørsted and US utility Salt River Project (SRP) have confirmed that their 300MW solar-plus-storage project in Pinal County, Arizona, has commenced operations.
October 10, 2024
They relate to the tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon)solar cells used in Runergy and Adani’s products sold in the US and the manufacturing processes for those cells.
October 10, 2024
DNV's report shows that 2024 is a landmark year, but the energy transition still faces financial and political headwinds.
October 10, 2024
Vietnamese solar manufacturer Boviet Solar has started construction on its 2GW TOPCon module assembly plant in North Carolina, US, with the solar cell plant to follow suit.
October 9, 2024
This is the first operational renewable project for the IPP in the US, and is part of a 1.8GW development portfolio in the country.
October 9, 2024
BayWa r.e. has completed the construction of a 200MW solar project in Nevada, US, alongside a 54.1MW project in Lazio, Italy.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
October 15, 2024
Santiago, Chile
Solar Media Events
October 22, 2024
New York, USA
Solar Media Events
November 12, 2024
San Diego, USA