What happened
Shares of Enphase Energy (ENPH -0.14%) rose over 20% last month, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. There wasn't any company-specific news aside from a bevy of newly announced partnerships. The solar hardware developer has announced collaborations with seven different partners on at least three different continents since the beginning of 2020.
That serves as a reminder of the significant growth opportunity in utility-scale and small-scale solar installations, which helped Enphase Energy to achieve profitable operations for the first time ever in 2019. In fact, the business has been one of the hottest growth stocks on the market recently. Shares jumped 19.5% in December, 415% in 2019, and have now gained 713% since the beginning of 2019.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
As The Motley Fool's Travis Hoium recently noted, Enphase Energy announced at the end of 2019 that 700 different installers have tapped the company's IQ 7 microinverters for use in their own products. The momentum should continue for the foreseeable future.
The amount of electricity generated from solar panels in the United States eclipsed 100,000 gigawatt-hours in 2019 for the first time ever, according to data compiled by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. While much of the growth has been driven by utility-scale installations, about one-third of all electricity generated from solar panels is derived from small-scale installations, such as commercial and rooftop setups.
Now what
Whether solar panel manufacturers tap the company's microinverters in their own module systems or installers use the company's energy management systems to add convenience for customers, Enphase Energy has done an excellent job leveraging the strength of small-scale solar both in the United States and globally. New products, especially those in energy storage applications, should keep the growth engine humming along in 2020.
