Enphase and Lumio expand U.S. microinverter, storage partnership

Enphase Energy, a consumer microinverter and energy storage supplier, announced an expansion of its partnership with Lumio to deliver the Enphase IQ8 microinverters and IQ batteries to Lumio customers across the U.S.

The Enphase Energy Systems platform offers homeowners even greater power resilience than ever before. The company’s strategic relationship with Lumio will amplify the impact and distribution of Enphase Energy Systems, providing homeowners more access to reliable, sustainable, and grid-independent power sources.

Currently there are no sizing restrictions on pairing Enphase IQ Batteries with IQ8 Microinverters for homeowners who want battery backup. The Sunlight Jump Start feature can restart a home energy system—switching to sunlight-only after prolonged grid outages that may result in a fully depleted battery. This eliminates the need for a manual restart of the system and gives homeowners greater energy resilience.

Enphase IQ8 solar microinverters are built to last and come with a 25-year limited warranty.

“We are excited about Enphase’s full suite of products including microinverters, batteries, and EV chargers that can provide customers best-in-class home energy management solutions,” said Greg Butterfield, chief executive officer at Lumio. “Additionally, the Enphase digital platform from lead generation to permitting to ongoing operations and maintenance services offers a unique ability for Lumio to increase efficiencies and reduce costs.”

Lumio is a Lehi, Utah-based full-stack residential solar installation company founded in December 2020 by Greg Butterfield, former chief executive officer of Vivint Solar, a residential solar company acquired in 2020 by Sunrun.

In a recent Roth Capital Partners webinar, Enphase chief executive officer Badri Kothandaraman said the company will be adding four to six microinverter manufacturing lines in the U.S. this year. The new lines are expected to add between 4.8 GW to 7.2 GW of new capacity, producing up to 18 million microinverters annually. 

Kothandaraman said his firm believes it will be able to keep a majority of the $0.11 per Watt production tax credit (PTC) released under the Inflation Reduction Act, though uncertainty remains on how these credits will be paid out. He said that Enphase will not make a significant investment in U.S. manufacturing unless Enphase can secure a significant return on investment and retain 50% or more of the PTC value. 

Enphase said it plans to work with three contract manufacturers on the new capacity, two of which are current partners. Kothandaraman said his company will commit to at least three lines regardless of the PTC credit results to meet expected growth. 

Enphase expects steady growth in the U.S. residential sector, while the EU region has “hyper growth.” He expects that 2022 EU growth will more than double year-over-year, after already doubling in 2021. Roth Capital said there remains potential for another doubling in 2023, though Enphase’s management has set more conservative guidance. 

Enphase will be attending Intersolar North America and Energy Storage 2023, held Feb. 14 – 16 in Long Beach, Calif.

Q4 2022 Results

On February 7, Enphase reported Q4 2022 revenue of $724.7 million, a 14% increase over Q3 2022, shipping 4.87 million microinverters, or about 1.95 GW DC, and 122.1 MWh of Enphase IQ Batteries.

The company provided guidance of generating $700 million to $740 million of Q1 2023 revenue, which includes shipments of 100 to 120 MWh of IQ Batteries.

In addition to expanding capacity in the U.S., Enphase started manufacturing electric vehicle (EV) chargers at a contract manufacturing facility in Mexico. The company expects to introduce IQ smart EV chargers in the U.S. in the first half of 2023.