Enphae Energy Inc. ENPH recently announced the launch of its IQ 7A microinverters in Australia and Europe. With this launch, this seventh-generation microinverter will be able to support solar modules of up to 465 watts, targeting high-power residential and commercial solar applications.

Benefits of IQ 7A

Enphase’s high-powered smart grid-ready IQ 7A microinverters dramatically simplify the installation process while achieving the highest system efficiency for systems with 60-cell and 72-cell modules. Moreover, providing 96.5% EU efficiency, Enphase IQ 7A microinverters can generate up to 14% more power than any previous Enphase IQ microinverters.

Consequently, pairing of IQ 7A microinverters with high-power modules allows solar installers to reduce the number of modules required for a given system output, thereby enabling them to optimize their overall system cost and performance.

Solar Growth in Australia & Europe

The solar market in Australia is gaining momentum, courtesy of tumbling installation costs along with improved technology. Notably, per a report by Australia’s Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, the nation registered the maximum uptake of solar energy globally with 21% of homes installing rooftop solar PV. As of May 31, 2020, more than 2.43 million rooftop solar power systems and 1.23 million solar water heaters were installed across the nation.

On the other hand, the European solar market is also thriving lately. SolarPower Europe’s first EU Market Outlook for Solar Power shows that 2019 was one of the best years for solar on record for the European Union, with 16.7 GW of installations in the region, representing 104% increase over 8.2 GW added in 2018. This made 2019 the strongest growth year for solar in the EU-28 since 2010.

Being a prominent microinverter supplier in the global solar space, Enphase has been expanding its footprint in the aforementioned locationsthrough varied initiatives, the latest product launch being one of them. For instance, in August, the company signed a supply deal for its microinverters with Australia-based solar energy provider, Solargain. Per the terms of the deal, Enphasemicroinverters will be used as the premium inverter solution for Solargain’s turnkey retail solar offerings in Australia.

In July 2020, it partnered with REA Global to combine its IQ 7+ microinverters with the latter’s proprietary high efficiency, high-density cell solar modules. This pair is projected to produce greater solar power from a smaller space for both residential and commercial customers across Australia.

Within Europe, the company has been making distributor gains in new markets, such as Germany, Poland and Spain as well as existing markets of Netherlands and Belgium lately. Further, to enhance its customer base, the company is expanding its sales force in all key regions of Europe. In August, Enphase and European solar module manufacturer, Sonnenstromfabrik (CS Wismar GmbH) entered into a strategic partnership to develop Enphase Energized AC modules (ACM).

Moreover, the company added online stores in Europe and Australia insecond-quarter 2020 to better serve its installers and homeowners with quick cycle times.

Global Solar Boom

While Australia and Europe remain lucrative markets for solar players, the global solar market as a whole has been rallying over the past decade. Per a report by Fortune Business Insights, global solar power market size is projected to reach 4766.8 MW in 2026 from 2019, exhibiting a CAGR of 30.7%.

To reap the benefits ofthis expanding global solar market, Enphase Energy and other solar players are making every possible effort. As of Jun 30, 2020, the company shipped more than 28 million microinverters worldwide. It is also launching IQ 8 PV, a grid-agnostic microinverter on the roof, which should expand its market share.

First Solar FSLR ended 2019 with net bookings of 6.1 gigawatts and current contracted backlog of 12.4 gigawatts. Given the growing demand for solar modules, First Solar expects to increase its nameplate Series 6 manufacturing capacity to 6 GW by 2020 and 8 GW by year-end 2021.

In 2019, JinkoSolar JKS reported record high solar module shipment of 14.3 GW. For 2020, it projects total solar module shipments of 18-20 GW, indicating an improvement of 35% year over year.

During 2019, ReneSola SOL connected about 60 MW of projects. It expects project pipeline in core markets to reach 1 GW by the end of 2020.

Price Performance & Zacks Rank

In a year’s time, shares of Enphase have gained 160.3% compared with the industry’s rise of 100.9%.

The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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