Enphase just announced it will make solar microinverters in the United States through a contract manufacturing partnership.
Through a relationship with Flex, Enphase today unveiled a factory in West Columbia, South Carolina. The stateside manufacturing plans are a result of the Inflation Reduction Act’s incentives for American-made solar components.
Enphase and Flex will be hosting a kickoff event and tour on July 6 at Flex’s manufacturing facility. President Joe Biden will attend the event, along with other national and state government officials.
“We are pleased that President Biden is able to visit our manufacturing operations at Flex’s factory in South Carolina today, and we appreciate his support of U.S. companies investing in domestic manufacturing,” said Badri Kothandaraman, president and CEO of Enphase Energy. “Enphase is proud to be a leader in expanding the domestic manufacturing of clean energy products while bringing high-technology jobs and further economic development to the United States. We thank Flex for its commitment as a valuable partner globally over the past 15 years, and we are pleased to expand our partnership in the United States to better service our customers with local manufacturing.”
Enphase uses contract manufacturers around the world to serve different markets, with Flex’s Mexico manufacturing plant making all of its North American inverters up to now. Flex’s South Carolina plant will initially manufacture Enphase’s new IQ8 microinverter for the U.S. market.
The Flex facility is one of three U.S. manufacturing hubs set to come online for Enphase in 2023. When all operations are running, Enphase expects a capacity of 4.8- to 7.2-GWAC of U.S. microinverters per year.
Watch the livestream of President Biden’s remarks at Flex below at 1:15 p.m. ET on July 6.
Updated at 7:36 a.m. ET
“Bidenomics is ‘good’ for constituents.” A new debt ceiling and passing along what will sooner or later be higher taxes for the next generation, is NOT sustainable Government or good for the next generation to inherit this onerous debt. Once upon a time, this is what was called “pork spending programs”, which in the past have garnered an unused air port in Colorado, a bridge to nowhere in Alaska and has allowed egregiuos Military contracts with sensors that cost $300 for industrial applications to $20K for the same sensor for Military applications. It’s way past time to become a “responsible” government with taxpayer monies. There’s another narrative not being addressed. Jobs, during this whole time average acrossed the U.S. unemployment has been around 3.6% even during the pandemic and the supposed effect of the Ukrain conflict causing a reported 8.6% inflation rate. Ignoring folks who during the Pandemic actually (retired) from the workforce, so they are no longer counted as part of the attrition in the workplace.
Fallacy of inclusion, “bringing manufacturing jobs (back home).” After the Government subsidy is gone will these companies be able to compete on the World market? Supply chains, raw materials increasing the supply chain to trading partners, isn’t this were the U.S. got into trouble with China becoming one of the largest raw materials, refineries, foundries and finished components used around the World for all manufacturing? DO the same thing in this case label it the IRA, then end up running out of money and still have the same supply chain, local manufacturing problems only supports National Insecurity and is unacceptable. ASK entities like NERC on the state of grid electronics and components made in countries like Russia, China, Spain, Italy that are needed to KEEP the national grid in the U.S. online. The grid going down from coast to coast IS a National Security issue. There is (ONE) company in the U.S. that makes the more efficient ‘met-glass’ for electricity transformers that takes step up or step down efficiencies from around 3% loss per transformer to 1.5% to 1% loss per transformer. The U.S. grids nationwide need some serious love and are not getting it.