Enphase Energy Set To Install 4.5 MW Solar Plant In India

Enphase Energy (NASDAQ:ENPH) recently announced that it has joined hands with Waaree Energies for installing a 4.5 mega watt (MW) solar power plant, in Hosapet, India. On completion, the plant will emerge as Enphase Energy’s largest microinverter-based solar plant installation, across the world.

Details of the Deal

Waaree Energies’ solar AC photovoltaic (PV) modules will be installed in the aforementioned power plant, which possess the ability to generate solar power in low and diffused light condition. In fact, Enphase Energy selected Waaree Energies’ AC modules for these attributes, since these features allow the modules to maximize energy harvest in India’s harsh and dusty environment.

The solar plant, on completion, is expected to provide more than 7,500 megawatt-hour (MWh) of clean power to Bangalore based businesses and the state of Karnataka on a whole, through a mix of short and long-term power purchase agreements.

Per management, Waaree’s high quality mono-crystalline solar PV modules along with Enphase Energy’s Micro inverters will lead to quicker installation of 13,235 solar modules compared to other conventional solar system components. The plant is expected to get commissioned in July 2018.

The partnership agreement represents Enphase Energy’s entry into India’s expanding utility scale PV segment.

Prospects in India’s Solar Energy Market

With an increasing need to develop renewable energy in response to stringent environmental regulations, countries worldwide are relying on the most-affordable solar energy for generating electricity.

Per a report by Allied Market Research, the global solar energy industry is expected to reach $422 billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 24.2% from 2016 to 2022. This growth is complimented by the increase in environmental pollution, provision of favorable governmental policies and government incentives along with tax rebates to install solar panels.

In the context of India, solar Energy is all poised to become a pivotal component of the nation’s renewable energy portfolio in the next decade. With the U.S. administration’s walk out from Paris agreement and imposition of 30% import tariff, the focus has shifted from the U.S. solar market to Asia-Pacific nations, India being one of the forerunners.

As India is on the brink of achieving 20 giga watt (GW) of installed solar power generation capacity by the end of 2018, the government revised solar energy capacity targets from 20GW to 100GW by 2022. As per a report published by International Energy Agency (IEA), India with its expected growth rate would equal the United States, thereby becoming the joint second-largest growth market after China.

No doubt, such growth projections offer attractive opportunities for solar modules and equipment providers like Enphase Energy to set foot and thereafter expand in India’s solar market. The latest power plant installation makes this more evident.

Price Movement

Enphase Energy’s stock has massively rallied 719.7% in a year compared with the broader industry’s gain of 54.6%. The outperformance may have been led by the robust balance sheet maintained by the company.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Enphase Energy currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A few better-ranked stocks in the same space are Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) , Hanwha Q CELLS Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ:HQCL) and SolarEdge Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SEDG) . All of them carrying a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Canadian Solar delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 29.35% in the last four quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2018 earnings has risen by 47.1% to $2.06 in the last 90 days.

Hanwha Q CELLS came up with an average positive earnings surprise of 132.86% in the last four quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2018 earnings has risen by 72.7% to 38 cents in the last 90 days.

SolarEdge Technologies Holdings delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 29.11% in the last four quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2018 earnings has risen by 8.17% to $3.31 in the last 90 days.

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