SolarEdge Struggles In Q1 2024

Optimizer, inverter, battery storage and EV charger manufacturer SolarEdge had another challenging quarter to kick off the year.

SolarEdge has had its ups and downs like most other players and the first quarter of this year proved to be the latter. According to its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024 released last week, revenues from the company’s solar segment were USD $190.1 million, down 33% from $282.4 million in the prior quarter and down 79% from $908.5 million in the same quarter last year.

Chief Executive Officer of SolarEdge Zvi Lando said the results “aligned with our expectations of inventory clearing and typical seasonality.” A more in-depth discussion of the “why” from SolarEdge’s viewpoint can be found in the earnings call transcript.

Recent Quarterly Shipment History

The following are quarterly shipment results going back to Q1 last year:

Cumulative totals to date indicate SolarEdge has shipped 126.2 million optimizers and 5.6 million inverters.

Value of the company’s shares took another dip on the results, and have taken quite a hammering over the last 9 months or so. SolarEdge shares (NASDAQ: SEDG) closed on May 10 at $49.47 – the lowest for at least 5 years and a far cry from a high of around $365 in late 2021.

Looking ahead, the company also provided guidance for the second quarter ending June 30, 2024. Things are little rosier, with SolarEdge estimating revenues from the solar segment to be within the range of $225 million to $255 million.

SolarEdge In Australia

SolarEdge was founded in 2006 in Israel and began manufacturing solar inverters with optimizers in 2010. The company’s inverters are different in that small devices called SolarEdge optimisers are required on every panel. Some of the advantages of the SolarEdge optimizer system include more flexibility in system design, panel level monitoring, mitigating the impact of a faulty or dirty panel on overall system output and rapid shutdown capabilities.

SolarEdge inverters and optimisers have been fairly popular Australia, although installers seem divided. Still, installer support was enough to see the firm score bronze in SolarQuotes’ Installers Choice Awards for the best inverters in 2024; in the “money no object” category. On the customer side of things, the company has achieved an average 4.7 stars based on 2,347 ratings in SolarEdge inverter reviews here on SQ, and 4.8 stars over the last 12 months.

Also available in Australia is the SolarEdge home battery, offering 9.7 kWh useable capacity. Up to three batteries can be “stacked” per inverter. An interesting safety feature of the product is an optional built-in fire-extinguisher triggered if the battery’s temperature sensors detect internals are getting too toasty. But prior to this, the system will send a message to SolarEdge and the owner flagging a problem and hopefully providing a bit of time to take action; avoiding the extinguisher making a mess.

SolarEdge home battery reviews here on SQ from Australian customers show a 4.8 star rating, based on 52 ratings at the time of writing. Installers appear to like them too, with the firm taking bronze in the Installers Choice Awards for the best home batteries in 2024; and also bronze in the support category.

The battery has been available in Australia since 2022 and SolarQuotes’ Jono had one installed at his place that year. You can read his review here.

In addition to inverters, optimizers and batteries; another SolarEdge product available in Australia is a home EV charger. You can see how this device stacks up against other brands/models on specs and estimated pricing on our EV charger comparison table.