Enphase’s IQ8 microinverter.
Microinverter manufacturer Enphase has announced plans to launch four to six manufacturing lines in the United States by the second half of 2023 to take advantage of manufacturing production tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Microinverters are eligible for up to 11¢/WAC in production tax credits in the IRA.
President and CEO Badri Kothandaraman said on an October 25 earnings call that Enphase has signed letters of intent with three contract manufacturing partners, one new and two the company is already working with. Kothandaraman said Enphase is growing so fast that new manufacturing lines are needed anyway, so it makes sense to site them in the United States.
“The logic is we are anyway growing fast as a company. We have to build extra lines somewhere. And therefore, these lines that I invest in, they’re not going to be wasted. They’re not going to be extra. They will probably be required. You can think about it as I’m accelerating them by a few months,” he said.
Enphase is still awaiting more clarification from the Dept. of the Treasury regarding requirements around domestic content makeup of inverters, but the company is working with industry partners to provide their input to the government.
“We are going to iron out those details, hopefully in the next three months, and things will be a lot clearer. But for now, we are investing in it,” Kothandaraman said.
““We are going to iron out those details, hopefully in the next three months, and things will be a lot clearer. But for now, we are investing in it,” Kothandaraman said.””
Don’t kid yourself on that one Kothandaraman, supply chain issues created by ‘outsourcing’ is one of the major problems right now. It looks like the IRA has allowed some chip manufacturers to push forward on new chip facilities in the U.S.. These are not overnight construction projects. IF ground has been broken in the U.S. now, it still may not be online until 2024 at the earliest. Interest rates on loans is rising and the clock on the ITC is ticking down every year.