California-based Enphase Energy, a company known for its solar power and electric vehicle (EV) charging technology, announced it is laying off about 500 workers. The company in a Nov. 8 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said a challenging economy for the solar power industry requires reduced spending.

The cuts come less than a year after Enphase cut about 10% of its workforce. The company in December 2023 said regulatory changes and low consumer demand for solar power technology were impacting its business.

“The ongoing challenges from a tough 2023 solar market have continued to impact us and our industry partners throughout 2024,” CEO Badri Kothandaraman said in a message to Enphase employees. The cuts announced Friday impact about 17% of the company’s global workforce.

Kothandaraman said the layoffs would help the company “manage the continued economic challenges in the solar industry.” The CEO said the decision to cut staff was not related to the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president, an outcome seen as worrisome to renewable energy because of the Republican Party’s support of fossil fuels.

Consolidate Manufacturing

Enphase in the SEC filing said it would continue to consolidate its manufacturing business. The company in reducing its workforce last December closed facilities in Wisconsin and Romania, and now plans to pull contracted manufacturing operations out of Guadalajara, Mexico. The company said, though, it will not cut its microinverter manufacturing. Microinverters transform the electrical current generated by solar panels into usable electricity. Enphase has said the company shipped more than 73 million microinverters this year.

“We are decreasing spending in every department by reducing headcount, non-people related expenditures, or both,” Kothandaraman wrote in the SEC filing. “These actions are not a reflection of poor employee performance, but we believe they are necessary in the current market environment.” Kothandaraman said Enphase as part of its cost-cutting would integrate more automation and artificial intelligence tools across its operations, and would reduce reliance on external contractors.

Enphase in an October financial report said the company had about $1.8 billion in cash and marketable securities. It reported a profit of $45 million in its most recent quarter, though that was down from $114 million in the year-ago period. The company also is valued at about $8.6 billion, but its stock price is down 80% from its late 2022 high.

Support for VPPs

Enphase also in October said it had extended its support for virtual power plant (VPP) services to three new regions—North Carolina, New Hampshire, and San Diego in California—and across a total of 12 states. The company as part of those programs is making batteries available to homeowners and increasing flexible distributed energy resource capacity to support grid reliability.

Analysts have cited several factors creating challenges for the solar power industry, notably higher interest rates. Solar power companies often borrow money to cover expenses, expecting to sell electricity to pay back debt. While equipment costs have come down, the debt is more expensive.

SunPower, a solar, storage, and energy services provider headquartered in San Jose, California, filed for bankruptcy in August of this year, citing the impact of policy changes and high interest rates on its business. California’s policy change, known as NEM 3.0, adjusted net metering rates and made it less economical for homeowners to get solar panels. The change had an impact beyond California for the solar industry, because California is by far the biggest market for residential solar, with several companies active there.

—Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER (@POWERmagazine).