Enphase guides Q4 lower, Western Australia drafts plug-in solar rules

Enphase guides to a smaller fourth quarter

Enphase Energy expects fourth-quarter 2026 revenue of $225.0 million to $255.0 million, down from the $293.3 million it reported for the third quarter on October 27, 2026. The outlook assumes sell-through falls 10% from the third quarter and includes about $51.2 million of safe harbor revenue and 100 to 120 MWh of IQ Battery shipments, down from 129.9 MWh in the third quarter. A year earlier, third-quarter revenue was $410.4 million.

Weakness ran on both sides of the Atlantic. European sell-through fell 12% from the second quarter, which Enphase puts down to seasonality and softer demand, particularly in France. In its core US residential market, sell-through rose 5% from the second quarter but fell 35% year over year, which Enphase calls "broadly in line with third-party reports of U.S. residential solar market trends," and the company cites higher interest rates and the expiration of the Section 25D federal tax credit. That credit's end is the same one SEIA and Wood Mackenzie tied to the 12% year-over-year drop in second-quarter residential solar installations. A microinverter company's quarterly highlights open with a 13.8 kV solid-state transformer for AI data centers; Enphase says it remains on track for customer pilots in 2027.

SunPower buys into Texas and adds a VPP financier

SunPower is expanding in Texas by acquiring "prime project assets" from Houston installer Greenlight Solar, and through a partnership with Fort Worth financier SOLRITE Energy meant to accelerate its virtual power plant business, the company said on October 27, 2026. The release gives no price. Greenlight CEO James Garrett now leads SunPower's US installation group, according to SunPower CEO T. J. Rodgers.

The business model is the battery. Rodgers says SOLRITE sources projects for SunPower and funds "innovative systems with large batteries connected to a VPP, enabling power sales into the open market," with the VPP income shared with homeowners and EPC contractors. Kapil Rai, SunPower's executive vice president of Direct, called building the VPP business "a key part of SunPower's growth strategy going forward."

LADWP pauses residential shutoffs after a hot summer's bills

The Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners on October 27, 2026 adopted a resolution suspending residential water and electricity disconnections for non-payment through the rest of 2026, without limiting safety shutoffs, LADWP said. Median customer electricity use rose 15% to 20% in the latest bimonthly billing periods compared with the same summer months of 2025. The resolution says record-high summer and fall temperatures added air-conditioning use, and LADWP's electric rates rose 7% from 2025 levels, driven mainly by reliability investments that the utility credits with a sharp drop in outages since 2024.

The resolution also puts the rate structure itself on the table: LADWP is to review its electric rate ordinance (rate factors, levels, tiers and seasonality) and examine alternative rate structures, including possible City Charter amendments, related to limits imposed by Proposition 26. It is also to review its EZ-SAVE Low Income and Lifeline discounts, expand outreach on bill-management tools such as Level Pay, offer eligible customers the Power Savers smart thermostat program, and tell customers about rates and tiered usage before summer, no later than June 1 each year. Mayor Karen Bass asked the board on October 20 to pause residential disconnections, and on Monday, October 26 called for an independent audit of LADWP rates, which Board President Allan Marks welcomed.

Western Australia drafts rules to legalize plug-in solar and batteries

Western Australia's government said on October 28, 2026 that it is moving to legalize plug-in solar panels and batteries so renters and apartment residents can cut their power bills. It says the change would make WA the first Australian state or territory to allow the systems. The government estimates a typical plug-in solar system could save a household around A$240 a year on its electricity bill, or around A$500 paired with a battery.

The draft starts from Germany's rulebook and adds batteries. The proposed pathway would allow solar panel combinations up to 2 kW (DC) and inverters up to 800 watts (AC), with no upper limit on storage capacity; the draft Technical Bridging Standard states the inverter limit as 800 VA. The standard is modelled on Germany's plug-in solar standard, with additions to allow battery storage. New Jersey and California, which cleared the devices in September, cap qualifying devices at 1,200 watts, California's per dwelling. Submissions on the WA draft close at 5:00pm AWST on December 9, 2026.

Micron puts $2.5 million toward geothermal heat for Boise affordable housing

Micron Technology gave $2.5 million in gap funding on October 27, 2026 to the Lusk Housing District, a J. Fisher Co. development with the City of Boise's Housing Land Trust Program, advancing plans to bring geothermal heat to more than 300 new affordable homes, the city said. The city calls the development the first effort by a US city to use geothermal heat to serve multifamily affordable housing.

The gift joins $1 million the city received from the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge earlier in 2026 to pilot this expansion of its geothermal system. Other project funding includes tax credits and private activity bonds through the Idaho Housing and Finance Association, plus investments from the city, the Capital City Development Corporation and J. Fisher Co. Ten percent of the homes are to be designated for people exiting homelessness, and groundbreaking is expected in spring 2027.