Optimizers & Inverters

Welcome to the pvMB. Today we also bring you ComEd’s success with a community microgrid on the South Side of Chicago, Montana State’s solar car.

Just two years after reaching 500,000 monitored PV systems, SolarEdge has doubled the mark; one million for anybody keeping score at home.

After announcing its entry into residential storage a week ago, the Munich-based multinational has now unveiled a plan to acquire inverter manufacturer Kaco. Siemens has not provided details about the value of the transaction.

Enphase noted $92 million in revenue in Q4’18, and over $106 million in cash on hand as the company reported quarterly and annual positive operating incomes – its first in years. Enphase is completely booked for all of Q1 and seemingly into the late spring months.

The French inverter maker is pulling out of the utility-scale segment to strengthen its profile in the residential and C&I space.

The president last night announced he is hoping to arrange a meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to bring an end to the long-running trade stand-off between the two nations, provided further progress can be made in negotiations.

The Chinese inverter maker expects to more than double its U.S. shipments this year – trade war be damned.

Enphase says its inverter lead times are ~13-15 weeks, even with dedicated manufacturing lines for components. Two new long term contracts expect to turn on in Q3 and Q4 ’19, lowering lead times to ~6-8 weeks.

While the Super Bowl victory parade rolled by, solar energy professionals shook hands, shared stories, made deals and visited more than 80 industry exhibitions on the floor in Boston, Massachusetts.

SolarEdge has recently purchased an Italian EV system manufacturer, a South Korean battery maker, an Israeli UPS producer, internally developed a virtual power plant grid service, and now they’re working with Google to integrate energy management tools into Google Assistant.