What happened
Shares of solar power microinverter-maker Enphase Energy (ENPH 3.80%) are up 5.9% as of 11 a.m. EDT Monday. Partly, one imagines, this is because investors are weighing President Donald Trump's performance in last week's debate, and his hospitalization for COVID-19, and gauging that the chances for a Joe Biden presidency and a Green New Deal have just increased.
But partly, it's because of something Enphase Energy itself just said.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
In a press release out this morning, Enphase announced its new project to equip the Shelburne, New Hampshire, town hall with a 16.8 kW solar array in cooperation with local energy company 603 Solar. As Enphase explains, the new solar system that includes 42 of Enphase's microinverters will "offset 100% of the building's energy needs" by producing up to 18,174 kWh of power per year and will "offset approximately 12.8 metric tons of CO2 per year."
How big of a deal is this for Enphase? The company didn't disclose the contract price for its part of the project, but here's a bit of context for you: According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the average American automobile produces "about 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year."
So Enphase's big renewable energy project in New Hampshire is worth... about three cars' worth of CO2.
Now what
Viewed in that context, this really doesn't look like that big of a deal at all. On its own, it's certainly not worth enough to justify adding $605 million to Enphase's market capitalization this morning.
