Flex to manufacture Enphase Energy’s microinverters in Romania; Array to supply trackers for Gemini Solar & Storage Project; Canadian company wants solar for uranium in Virginia; SEIA launches survey to assess impacts of Auxin Solar petition on the solar industry.
Enphase adds production capability in Romania: US based solar PV microinverter supplier Enphase Energy, Inc has announced Romania as the location to expand its manufacturing footprint. Global OEM company Flex will begin manufacturing Enphase microinverters at its Romanian fab in Timisoara from Q1/2023. The products will be manufactured for the European market. Enphase said these products will address the region’s rapid growth and demand for residential solar due to rising prices and increased adoption of electric vehicles (EV) along with heat pump technology. Enphase currently uses Flex to manufacture its products in China and Mexico, and Salcomp in India. With the Romanian fab, Enphase said it will improve delivery times for its European customers.
While Enphase does not specify the capacity of the Romanian fab, back in February 2022 the management had said it was looking to start a new contract manufacturing facility for microinverters in Europe with a capacity of about 750,000 devices a quarter (see Enphase Ships 1.1 GW In Q4/2021).
Array gets 1 GW order for Gemini project: Array Technologies has landed itself an order to supply 1 GW of its DuraTrack HZ v3 single-axis solar trackers for the Gemini Solar Project in the US. Being touted to be the largest operational solar and storage site in the US by developer Primergy Solar, the facility is located on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land in Overton. Array will start delivery of its trackers in Q2/2022 for the facility that’s contracted to supply power to Nevada Energy. Equipped with Maxeon Solar Technologies’ high efficiency bifacial Performance line solar modules, the project is expected to store over 1.4 GWh of solar power. Recently Primergy announced Kiewit Power Constructors as the EPC service provider for the project (see North America PV News Snippets).
VUI exploring solar for uranium production: Canada based uranium developer and exploration company Virginia Energy Resources, listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) as VUI, wants to have a solar power plant on some 1,000 acres of land it owns. The proposed project is planned for Pittsylvania County in the state of Virginia, US. The company has signed an unidentified solar development company to evaluate the feasibility of such a plan under an option agreement. It said the solar project demonstrates responsible steps towards the development of Coles Hill Uranium Project from where the uranium produced will be supplied for nuclear energy industry in the US. The solar power generation facility will provide the company with an onsite source of low carbon power which will also be used for further processing facilities of the plant. In the meantime, it explained, the project will supply clean energy to the local region while providing future cash flow contributions for sustaining general and administrative costs. VUI said the project aligns with its ESG and net-zero carbon goals.
SEIA survey for tariff petition impacts: The US Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has launched a survey seeking responses for possible impacts from Auxin Solar’s Tariff petition which led to the US Department of Commerce to confirm it will launch an AC investigation (see US To Take Up Circumvention Tariff Probe). Responses, it explained, will enable the association to get a holistic and qualitative sense of how the anti-circumvention investigation will impact their businesses and workforce. SEIA will then assess and document the expected ‘damage’ to the solar industry. It is open to companies of all sizes in the US solar or storage industries in any market segment. Details on SEIA’s website.
