Array Technologies (ARRY) Risk Factors

We rely on transportation and logistics providers for the delivery of our products. We may also incur additional shipping costs when we need to accelerate delivery times. Our ability to deliver our products in a cost-efficient manner could be adversely impacted by shortages in available cargo capacity, changes by carriers and transportation companies in policies and practices, such as scheduling, pricing, payment terms and frequency of service or increases in the cost of fuel, taxes and labor, disruptions to shipping facilities as a result of the COVID-19 or other epidemics, and other factors not within our control. Disruptions to transportation and logistics, including increases in shipping costs, could adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations.

While we manufacture products at our principal manufacturing facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, we depend upon a number of vendors to manufacture certain components used in our products. Our reliance on these vendors makes us vulnerable to possible capacity constraints and reduced control over component availability, delivery schedules, manufacturing yields and costs. If any of our vendors were unable or unwilling to manufacture the components that we require for our products in sufficient volumes and at high quality levels or renew existing terms under supply agreements, we would have to manufacture at our principal manufacturing facility the components manufactured by our vendors or identify, qualify and select acceptable alternative vendors, if not already multi-sourced. Manufacturing at our principal manufacturing facility the components manufactured by our vendors may lower our cost efficiency, and an alternative vendor may not be available to us when needed or may not be in a position to satisfy our quality or production requirements on commercially reasonable terms, including price. Any significant interruption in manufacturing would require us to reduce our supply of products to our customers or increase our shipping costs to make up for delays in manufacturing, which in turn could reduce our revenues, harm our relationships with our customers and damage our reputation with local installers and potential end-users and cause us to forego potential revenue opportunities.

We have incurred and expect to continue to incur a number of non-recurring costs associated with the STI Acquisition, combining the operations of STI with ours and achieving desired synergies. These costs have been, and will continue to be, substantial and, in many cases, will be borne by us. A substantial majority of non-recurring expenses will consist of transaction costs and include, among others, fees paid to financial, legal, accounting and other advisors and employee retention, severance, and benefit costs. We will also incur costs related to formulating and implementing integration plans. Although we expect that the elimination of duplicative costs, as well as the realization of synergies and efficiencies related to the integration of STI's business, should allow us to offset these transaction costs over time, this net benefit may not be achieved in the near term or at all.

We are subject to risk from fluctuating market prices of certain commodity raw materials, including steel and aluminum, that are used in our products. Prices of these raw materials may be affected by supply restrictions or other market factors from time to time, and we do not enter into hedging arrangements to mitigate commodity risk. Significant price changes for these raw materials could reduce our operating margins if we are unable to recover such increases from our customers, and could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our competitors and other third parties hold numerous patents related to technology used in our industry, and may hold or obtain patents, copyrights, trademarks or other intellectual property rights that could prevent, limit, or interfere with our ability to make, use, develop, sell or market our products and services, which could make it more difficult for us to operate our business. From time to time, we may be subject to claims of infringement, misappropriation, or other violation of patents or other intellectual property rights and related litigation, and, if we gain greater recognition in the market, we face a higher risk of being the subject of these types of claims. Regardless of their merit, responding to such claims can be time consuming, can divert management's attention and resources, and may cause us to incur significant expenses in litigation or settlement, and we cannot be certain that we would be successful in defending against any such claims in litigation or other proceedings. If we do not successfully defend or settle an intellectual property claim, we could be liable for significant monetary damages and could be prohibited from continuing to use certain technology, business methods, content, or brands, and from making, selling or incorporating certain components or intellectual property into the products and services we offer. As a result, we could be forced to redesign our products and services, and/or to establish and maintain alternative branding for our products and services. To avoid litigation or being prohibited from marketing or selling the relevant products or services, we could seek a license from the applicable third-party, which could require us to pay significant royalties, licensing fees, or other payments, increasing our operating expenses. If a license is not available at all or not available on reasonable terms, we may be required to develop or license a non-violating alternative, either of which could be infeasible or require significant effort and expense. If we cannot license or develop a non-violating alternative, we would be forced to limit or stop sales of our offerings and may be unable to effectively compete. Moreover, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the price of our common stock. Any of these results would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Finally, any litigation or claims, whether or not valid, could result in substantial costs, negative publicity and diversion of resources and management attention, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

We rely heavily on nondisclosure agreements to protect the unpatented know-how, technology, and other proprietary information on which we rely to maintain our competitive position. However, trade secrets and know-how can be difficult to protect. We cannot guarantee that we have entered into such agreements with each party that has or may have had access to our proprietary information, know-how, technology and trade secrets, including third-party manufacturers, other suppliers, customers, other stakeholders involved in solar projects, or other business partners or prospective partners. Moreover, no assurance can be given that these agreements will be effective in controlling access to, distribution, use, misuse, misappropriation or disclosure of our proprietary information, know-how and trade secrets. These agreements may be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for any such breach. Further, these agreements may not prevent our competitors from independently developing technologies that are substantially equivalent or superior to ours. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business and competitive position.

Federal, state, local and foreign government bodies provide incentives to owners, end users, distributors, system integrators and manufacturers of solar energy systems to promote solar electricity in the form of rebates, tax credits and other financial incentives. The range and duration of these incentives varies widely by jurisdiction. Our customers typically use our systems for grid-connected applications wherein solar power is sold under a power purchase agreement or into an organized electric market. This segment of the solar industry has historically depended in large part on the availability and size of government incentives supporting the use of renewable energy. Consequently, the reduction, elimination or expiration of government incentives for grid-connected solar electricity may negatively affect the competitiveness of solar electricity relative to conventional and non-solar renewable sources of electricity and could harm or halt the growth of the solar electricity industry and our business. These reductions, eliminations or expirations could occur without warning. Any changes to the existing framework of these incentives could cause fluctuation in our results of operations. The recently-enacted IRA makes significant changes to the tax credit regime that applies to solar facilities. As a result of changes made by the IRA, U.S. taxpayers generally will be entitled to a 30% ITC for projects placed in service after 2021, increased to 40% if certain "domestic content" requirements are satisfied, subject, in each case, to an 80% reduction if certain wage and apprenticeship requirements are not satisfied or deemed satisfied (either because the project has a net output of less than 1 megawatt or because construction begins before January 29, 2023, the date that is 60 days after the IRS released guidance relating to the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements). Generally speaking, to meet the domestic content requirements a qualified facility must show that the project incorporates domestically sourced iron, steel, and manufactured products. In addition, certain other incremental credits are potentially available for facilities located in "energy communities" or "low income communities" or that are part of "low-income benefit projects" or "low-income residential building projects." As a result of changes made by the IRA, U.S. taxpayers will generally also be allowed to elect to receive a PTC in lieu of the ITC for qualified solar facilities the construction of which begins before January 1, 2025 that are placed in service after 2021. The PTC is available for electricity produced and sold to unrelated persons in the ten years following a project's placement in service and is equal to an inflation-adjusted amount (currently 2.6 cents per kilowatt hour, assuming the prevailing wage requirements described above are satisfied or deemed satisfied, reduced by 80% if those requirements are not satisfied) for every kilowatt-hour of electricity produced by a facility. The available credit amount is increased by 10% if the domestic content requirements described above are satisfied. Certain additional incremental PTCs are also available similar to the incremental ITCs described above. In the case of projects placed in service after 2024, each of the ITC and PTC will be replaced by similar "technology neutral" tax credit incentives that mimic the ITC and PTC but also require that projects satisfy a "zero greenhouse gas emissions" standard (which solar does) in order to qualify for the credits. This new credit regime will continue to apply to projects that begin construction prior to the end of 2033 (and possibly later), at which point the credits will become subject to a phase-out schedule. While these changes are intended to encourage investments in new solar projects, the impact these changes will have on our results of operations is unclear. In particular, the tax credit regime in place prior to the IRA's enactment provided annual reductions in the applicable credit amount at the beginning of 2023 and 2024 and therefore encouraged customers to acquire our products prior to calendar year-end dates in order to qualify for a higher tax credit available for projects that commenced construction (within the meaning of IRS guidance) prior to those dates. As a result of the changes made by the IRA, while there may continue to be an incentive for taxpayers to commence construction on facilities before certain dates, the tax credits will not experience annual reductions similar to those that would have occurred at the end of 2022 and 2023 for at least ten years and therefore customer sales may not be as high as they otherwise would have been through 2023 with the prior ITC step-down schedule. This change could have an adverse impact on our results of operations in the near term, as we anticipated an increase in demand for our products in calendar years 2022 and 2023 (and our fiscal years 2023 and 2024) related to the prior ITC step-down schedule. In addition, if we are unable to meet the domestic content requirements necessary for customers using our tracker products to qualify for the incremental domestic content bonus credit and our competitors are able to do so, we might experience a decline in sales for U.S. projects. The timing and nature of implementing regulations clarifying the domestic content requirements as applied to our products remain uncertain. Depending on the criteria set forth in those regulations, we may not have an adequate supply of tracker products satisfying the requirements. In addition, compliance with this requirement may increase our production costs. As a result of these risks, the domestic content requirement may have a material adverse impact on our U.S. sales, business and results of operations. Finally, if our customers are unable to satisfy the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements described above, the credits available to them will be lower than the credits available to them under prior law. Satisfaction of these requirements is outside of our control. If a significant portion of our customers is unable to satisfy these requirements, demand for our tracker products may be adversely impacted by the reduced credits available relative to current law. Federal, state, local and foreign government bodies have implemented various policies that are intended to promote renewable electricity generally or solar electricity in particular. Chief among these policies is the renewable portfolio standard ("RPS"). Currently, 30 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and three U.S. territories have implemented some form of RPS, which mandates that a certain portion of electricity delivered by regulated utilities to customers come from a set of eligible renewable energy resources, including utility-scale solar power generation facilities, by a certain compliance date. RPSs vary widely by jurisdiction. In some areas, requirements have been satisfied and utilities must only prevent reductions in qualifying energy purchases and sales, while other jurisdictions' RPSs continue to require substantial increases, up to 100 percent renewable electric generation, with final compliance dates typically 20 or more years out. While the recent trend has been for jurisdictions with RPSs to maintain or expand them, there have been certain exceptions and there can be no assurances that RPSs or other policies supporting renewable energy will continue. Proposals to extend compliance deadlines, reduce renewable requirements or solar set-asides, or entirely repeal RPSs emerge from time to time in various jurisdictions. Reduction or elimination of RPSs, as well as changes to other renewable-energy and solar-energy policies, could reduce the potential growth of the solar energy industry and materially and adversely affect our business. Moreover, policies of the U.S. presidential administration may create regulatory uncertainty in the renewable energy industry, including the solar energy industry, and adversely affect our business. For example, in June 2017, the then U.S. President announced that the U.S. would withdraw from participation in the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation. President Biden has not yet proposed a rule to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, and it is uncertain whether new regulations would promote solar energy development. In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on June 30, 2022 in West Virginia v. EPA, holding that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") exceeded its authority in enacting a subsequently repealed rule that would have allowed electric utility generation facility owners to reduce emissions with "outside the fence measures," may limit EPA's ability to address greenhouse gas emissions comprehensively without specific authorization from Congress. The international markets in which we operate or may operate in the future may have or may put in place policies to promote renewable energy, including solar. These incentives and mechanisms vary from country to country. In seeking to achieve growth internationally, we may make investments that, to some extent, rely on governmental incentives and support in a new market. There is no assurance that these governments will continue to provide sufficient incentives and support to the solar industry and that the industry in any particular country will not suffer significant downturns in the future as the result of changes in public policies or government interest in renewable energy, any of which would adversely affect demand for our solar products. Furthermore, corporate social responsibility efforts, such as net zero emission pledges, have fostered private sector investment in solar energy systems in recent years. To the extent that these corporate policies are redirected away from renewable energy in general or solar energy in particular, the demand for our solar products would be adversely affected. Finally, the solar industry has in past years experienced periodic downturns due to, among other things, changes in subsidies and incentives, as well as other policies and regulations, which, as noted above, may affect the demand for equipment that we manufacture. Although the solar industry has recovered from these downturns, there is no assurance that the solar industry will not suffer significant downturns in the future, which will adversely affect demand for our solar products.

Our solution is utilized in large-scale ground-mounted solar energy projects. As a result, our future success depends on continued demand for solar energy solutions and the ability of solar equipment vendors to meet this demand. The solar industry is an evolving industry that has experienced substantial changes in recent years, and we cannot be certain that consumers and businesses will adopt solar energy as an alternative energy source at levels sufficient to grow our business. If demand for solar energy fails to develop sufficiently, demand for our products will decrease, which would have an adverse impact on our ability to increase our revenue and grow our business.