Enphase 'doubling down on Europe' with solar component production in Romania

Responding to rising demand for residential solar arrays in Europe, California-based Enphase Energy Inc. is expanding its manufacturing partnership with Flex Ltd. to produce solar panel power electronics in Romania, the companies announced April 4.

"It was almost a no-brainer," Raghu Belur, Enphase co-founder and chief product officer, said in an interview. "Basically, we're doubling down on Europe."

Flex will begin producing Enphase's power electronics, known as microinverters, in the first quarter of 2023 at a factory in Timisoara, Romania, with a quarterly capacity of about 750,000 units, Belur said. That builds on Enphase's existing contract manufacturing capacity of roughly 5.25 million microinverters per quarter across Flex factories in China and Mexico, and with another contract manufacturer in India.

Enphase last year doubled its revenues in Europe. The decision to expand production to Romania comes amid spiking energy prices related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which is driving efforts in Europe to slash imports of Russian gas.

"That's catalyzing this strong drive toward energy security," Belur said.

Enphase's growing footprint in Europe also comes as the region strives to reinvigorate its domestic production of solar power modules and components.

"This is a transformational moment for clean energy in Europe and across the globe," Enphase President and CEO Badri Kothandaraman added in a statement. "Policymakers are setting ambitious new targets to help accelerate the transition to a more electrified future, and we expect to help meet the growing demand with our leading solar, battery, and [electric vehicle] charging solutions."

Enphase was already experiencing heightened demand for its solar microinverters and energy storage systems in Europe before the "geopolitical issue," supplying products into major markets like Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, Belur said.

"Now with manufacturing in Romania, it makes ... logistics much simpler," the executive said.

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