Enphase Energy, Inc. is a US-based technology company focused on the solar power industry. It was founded in 2006 by Martin Fornage and partner Raghu Belur after inspiration from Fornage. The company’s goal is to help residential consumers harness the sun for daily use and provide the ability to sell excess production back to the grid.
Mr. Fornage noticed a low-performance problem with a solar array at his ranch. The array was linked to a central inverter, as most are still to this day which poses a problem. When linked together, the DC current generated by an array of solar panels is limited to the weakest output. To solve this issue, Fornage and the company will develop proprietary microinverters and install one on the back of each panel of an array, an arrangement that increases output and total efficiency. The solar inverter is important because solar panels generate DC current which is not compatible with the electric grid, it converts the DC to AC and is a necessary component of all solar power generating facilities.
The company launched its first product, the M175, following a capital raise in 2007. The follow-up product, the M190, sold about 400,000 units in its first year alone and helped the company secure 13% of the residential market share by 2010. Enphase went public in 2012 and then decided to enter the battery-storage industry as well. The company will continue growing through 2020, releasing new products and entering new markets. By the end of 2020, Enphase has 48% of the US residential inverter market which is more than 70% of the world microinverter market but less than 2% of the total inverter market.
The post-2020 period is focused on new acquisitions and building out an SaaS network for home power generation and storage. By the end of 2022, the company had sold more than 50 million inverters, expanding its offerings and deepening its penetration. Part of the strategy is to branch out into services, including microinverter solutions for small businesses.
Today, Enphase Energy operates through a network of subsidiaries. The company is in business designing and developing solar power and alternative energy solutions for the residential market. It manufactures and sells semiconductor-based home energy solutions including microinverters, batteries, solar leads and software solutions to help operate and maintain the systems. Total revenue in 2021 topped $1.38 billion.
Among the many products now offered are EV charging stations. The Clipper Creek subsidiary is the leader in home EV charging solutions and will install a model best suited for each consumer's make and model vehicle. Chargers are compatible with all models sold in the US and come with a 25-foot charging cable for ultimate flexibility.
Enphase is helping to accelerate the shift to solar power by making solar power generation and storage more accessible and affordable for residential consumers. The future of renewable energy is broad networks of micro-generating facilities, such as homes and small businesses, that are backed up by battery storage capacity.