SMA Solar sees strong business in United States- CEO

SMA Solar, Germany’s largest solar company, continues to see strong demand for its inverters in the United States, its chief executive said, banking on an extension of local tax benefits for renewable energy.

Last week, U.S. Congress voted in favor of a five-year extension of tax breaks to boost solar and wind power as part of a $1.8 trillion government spending and tax relief bill.

“The business environment is good,” SMA Solar Chief Executive Pierre-Pascal Urbon told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. “Business in the United States is going very, very well.”

SMA Solar — the world’s largest maker of solar inverters, which turn direct current into alternating current and feed it to the grid — makes more than 40 percent of its sales in the Americas region.

Strong international demand and deep cost cuts led the company to raise its outlook three times this year, most recently in November. Urbon confirmed the company expects earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of 10-30 million euros ($11-33 million) on sales of 925-975 million.

It shares, which were up 1 percent at 1234 GMT, have more than tripled since the beginning of the year.

“At the end of January, no one believed we could quickly lower our fixed costs by 40 percent,” Urbon said. “But we did it.”