SolarEdge Technologies is implementing a substantial workforce reduction, impacting approximately 16 per cent of its global employees, as a key element of the company’s overarching plan to optimise operational expenses.
This comprehensive strategy involves ceasing manufacturing operations in Mexico, scaling down manufacturing capacity in China, and concluding its light commercial vehicle e-mobility initiative. The objective is to realign SolarEdge’s cost structure with the evolving dynamics of the market.
SolarEdge Technologies created a special inverter system and the company was the first to make Power Optimisers, a device that helps get the most power from each solar panel. This device then sends the electricity to an inverter. The company was founded in 2006 and has changed how solar energy works by introducing new ideas that make it more efficient and produce more power.
The company reported Q3 2023 revenues of $725.3 million, reflecting a 27 per cent decrease from the previous quarter and a 13 per cent decrease from the same quarter last year. Revenues from the solar segment were $676.4 million, down 29 per cent from the prior quarter and 14 per cent from the same quarter last year. The gross margin also declined to 19.7 per cent, compared to 32.0 per cent in the prior quarter and 26.5 per cent in the same quarter last year.
The solar industry’s growth in Europe has slowed due to excess inventories and declining demand over the past year. Additionally, in the US, factors such as higher interest rates and a metering reform in California, the largest solar market in the country, have contributed to a decrease in demand for solar products.