What is going on with string inverters being out of production?

[solarix]

From what I hear from my vendors, virtually all the string inverter companies are dead in the water over not being able to get needed microchips. SMA is now saying 3rd qtr 2023! Fronius same.
Inventories are already cleaned out everywhere. And you know my attitude toward Enphase and SolarEdge. Is this really happening to the solar industry? Record sales going on because of the tax credit being renewed, but can't build them. Anybody go to SPI and hear different or a viable solution? There are some Chinese brands, but ....

[azdave]

I've read the same thing about SMA struggling to meet demand due to those chip shortages. Supply chain woes are far from fixed. Our company just took delivery of some raw material out of Asia that used to have a 45-day lead time but was ordered and paid for well over a year ago. We ran out of stock by December and it pretty much killed that product line for us. Now that we have materials again, we have to hope the business will return.

Is now a good time to sell my new spare inverter and retire off the proceeds?

[solardreamer]

From what I hear from my vendors, virtually all the string inverter companies are dead in the water over not being able to get needed microchips. SMA is now saying 3rd qtr 2023! Fronius same.
Inventories are already cleaned out everywhere. And you know my attitude toward Enphase and SolarEdge. Is this really happening to the solar industry? Record sales going on because of the tax credit being renewed, but can't build them. Anybody go to SPI and hear different or a viable solution? There are some Chinese brands, but ....

It's not just the solar industry. The power semiconductors used in many things (solar, cars, etc.) are in very short supply because the big mainstream (mostly European) manufacturers shutdown production capacity during the pandemic and it takes quite a while to restore the original production capacity. The Chinese semiconductor manufacturers have more availability at good price but that requires new design/test/cert cycle which is likely to take just as long. Some US/Japan semiconductor manufacturers also have availability but at much higher prices which is another issue in addition to new development delay. The Chinese inverters are probably the fastest economical alternatives. Many people seem to be satisfied with Growatt inverters but support is likely a weak point.

[foggysail]

GEES——- What if our Country has a national emergency? Time for our government to make manufacturing conditions attractive for companies. I wonder how 87,000 new IRS employees will help bring companies manufacturing back to the states

[SunEagle]

GEES——- What if our Country has a national emergency? Time for our government to make manufacturing conditions attractive for companies. I wonder how 87,000 new IRS employees will help bring companies manufacturing back to the states

Your political side is showing but you are correct it was an earlier administration that drove a lot of technology manufacturing off shore and now we are feeling the pain.

The big problem I see is the need to have a high minimum wage and still have companies make the profits their investors want to see. Sort of a double edge sword IMO.

[Mike 134]

Your political side is showing but you are correct it was an earlier administration that drove a lot of technology manufacturing off shore and now we are feeling the pain.

The big problem I see is the need to have a high minimum wage and still have companies make the profits their investors want to see. Sort of a double edge sword IMO.

Your correct. No way American companies can compete unless we put 10-year-old kids to work 12 hours a day and pay them $5 for the day. Oh and no safety concerns if they get hurt or die "next kid step up"!

[SunEagle]

Your correct. No way American companies can compete unless we put 10-year-old kids to work 12 hours a day and pay them $5 for the day. Oh and no safety concerns if they get hurt or die "next kid step up"!

That is the sword I was talking about. How do you manufacturer low cost products in the US and still pay a reasonable wage to adults?

[foggysail]

This is a complex topic that cannot be rightly answered with a few quick words.

Back in my teenage years there were hundreds of mills in Rhode Island and Massachusetts where families spent generations earning their livelihoods. One group of factories in New Bedford, MA is Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire Hathaway is known today for Warren Buffett one of the world's wealthiest men but his wealth did not come from the factories in New Bedford which are mostly empty today.

When I was in college I was taught in economics ''if a nation can make products better than any such as shoes for example, it should make shoes.'' But that was a simple answer for a complex nation that leads the world in technology development. Not everyone is a technologist, many can only make shoes and those jobs are gone. We are taking great risks by searching to save Nickles. Consider Taiwan where 90% of advanced semiconductors are made, Also consider China's intentions for one China along with the associated world dangers.

[solardreamer]

GEES——- What if our Country has a national emergency? Time for our government to make manufacturing conditions attractive for companies. ...

They did for semiconductors ... with the CHIPS Act https://www.semiconductors.org/chips/

[foggysail]

They did for semiconductors ... with the CHIPS Act https://www.semiconductors.org/chips/

Yes and more is needed. Congress passed and the President signed a tax law in 2017 intended to encourage companies to return manufacturing back to the States. Now that law is being criticized as a tax break for large corporations.

[Ampster]

TMC, the Taiwan based chip manufacturer, has been building a big chip manufacturing facility near Phoenix. However the Nano level chips used in many defense system will still be made in Taiwan.

[solardreamer]

Yes and more is needed. Congress passed and the President signed a tax law in 2017 intended to encourage companies to return manufacturing back to the States. Now that law is being criticized as a tax break for large corporations.

The CHIPS Act just passed in a few months ago so I would want to see the results before doing more for semiconductors. As for other industries, general tax breaks like the 2017 one are simply not effective. Most manufacturers, rightfully as for-profit companies and fiduciary in a capitalist system, just used the extra money for stock buybacks that quickly increase stock prices for shareholders instead of building out manufacturing that can take years to show results. Any government incentive for manufacturing needs to be very targeted to manufacturing specific investments by companies like the CHIPS Act to have a chance of working as intended.

[solarix]

Here is a nice explanation of the challenges going on in the semiconductor industry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJrOuBkYCMQ

[bcroe]

The whole problem comes down to greed. The locals get layed
off because it is cheaper to take advantage of distant labor that
gets tiny wages, no pension or other benefits. The whole thing
only works because world trade has become so efficient, but
anything interfering causes the the kind of crises we now see.

My solution to all this is simple. National law would not allow any
outside contracting unless the outside labor is receiving the same
level of benefits as the locals we just layed off.

Yes things would become more expensive, no longer riding on
the backs of those current poor workers, getting world labor more
on a par will be a huge deal. Bruce Roe

[SunEagle]

The whole problem comes down to greed. The locals get layed
off because it is cheaper to take advantage of distant labor that
gets tiny wages, no pension or other benefits. The whole thing
only works because world trade has become so efficient, but
anything interfering causes the the kind of crises we now see.

My solution to all this is simple. National law would not allow any
outside contracting unless the outside labor is receiving the same
level of benefits as the locals we just layed off.

Yes things would become more expensive, no longer riding on
the backs of those current poor workers, getting world labor more
on a par will be a huge deal. Bruce Roe

I feel the issue is caused by all of the investors (those that can change their 401k selections daily) want to see double digit returns or they will pull out and go to a different company. That makes the CEO of a company do whatever it can to make a large profit.

I think to fix the issue is to not allow any investor to pull out except maybe on a quarterly basis. This may allow a company to find ways to save money and keep their workforce. But then again I am a dreamer.