6. Enphase Ships 500,000, Then 1M Microinverters
Early in 2011, Enphase Energy announced that it had shipped out 500,000 microinverters and expected to triple its capacity in 2011.
Fast-forward to October and Enphase had shipped its millionth microinverter. The announcement in October also coincided with the announcement that the U.S. had installed a cumulative total of one gigawatt of solar panels.
The news of the half-million sold was of even more interest to our readers than the next half-million shipped in just nine months. Perhaps the latter was a foregone conclusion to some GTM fans, or the news fell during the solar trade wars and Solyndra downfall -- and positive news just doesn’t have the same power as bad news. There is a reason for the journalism adage, 'If it bleeds, it leads.’
But every now and again, it’s important to let good news rise to the top. Not only did Enphase ship its millionth microinverter, it also delivered on its 2011 plans to hop across the pond and move into markets in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Although Enphase, with an anticipated IPO, is putting up big numbers, it is still playing in a small portion of the solar inverter market, according to GTM Research.
