Enphase Energy Expands into Europe on Heels of Record Sales
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Enphase Energy, North America’s leader in solar microinverter systems, announced that it was expanding into Europe yesterday. The company is opening offices in Italy and France in order to capture a “growing share of the worldwide inverter market.”
In late January, Enphase, based out of Petaluma, California, announced that it had sold a record number of microinverters and had captured over 13% of the market share for California’s residential solar installations. It expects to triple production capacity in 2011.
Enphase’s Technology Advantage
Enphase has grown rapidly partly because of its unique approach to solar inverters. Using design and manufacturing approaches found to a much greater degree in the high-tech electronics field (such as inverters being digitally controlled by a custom semiconductor chip that also includes built-in monitoring and networking capabilities), it has rapidly climbed above its competitors.
Enphase now ships more inverters than any company in the world. It also actively monitors more of them, through its monitoring system, “Enlighten,” than any other company. “This is revolutionizing the way solar systems are being sold, installed and managed,” said Paul Nahi, CEO of Enphase Energy.
“By embracing similar manufacturing and supply chain practices, Enphase is in a position to benefit from the cost-reduction and high-volume manufacturing advantages also enjoyed by the world’s top electronics companies,” said Greg Sheppard, chief research officer for IHS iSuppli, a research firm tracking photovoltaic supply chain performance.
Enphase’s Expansion into Europe
With over 20,000 installations and 500,000 units shipped in North America now, the company is flying into Europe as the market for microinverters is expected to grow dramatically there this year.
“Enphase pioneered microinverters, and we have quickly become the market leader in North America by designing and manufacturing superior products, building a strong installer base and providing exceptional customer support,” Nahi said. “With our system designed to surpass the European standards for solar electrical equipment, now is the time to build a local sales and support team to educate, develop and commercialize this significant opportunity.”
France, Italy, and the Benelux region are a ripe solar market and these countries are expected to shift towards a much greater use of microinverters now due to their proven advantages over larger, centralized inverter systems.
Read more about Enphase’s expansion into Europe here: Enphase Energy Expands Globally with First European Offices [PDF].
Photo Credits: Enphase Energy; rockcohen
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