We currently conduct our business operations in the U.S., Japan, U.K., Greece, Italy, and Australia, and as of April 14, 2023, we own and operate 17.51 MW of solar projects and have 12.04MW of solar projects under construction across the world. Our business is therefore subject to diverse and constantly changing economic, regulatory, social and political conditions in these markets.
Operating internationally exposes us to a number of risks globally and in each of the markets where we operate, including, without limitation:
- global economic and financial conditions, including the stability of credit markets, foreign currency exchange rates and their fluctuations; - the supply and prices of other energy products such as oil, coal and natural gas in the relevant markets; - changes in government regulations, policies, taxes and incentives, particularly those concerning the electric utility industry and the solar industry; - reconciling heterogeneous, complex or contradictory regulations across different jurisdictions, international trade policies, including trade restrictions, embargoes and local sourcing or service requirements; - political risks, including risks of expropriation and nationalization of assets, potential losses due to civil unrests, acts of terrorism and war, regional and global political or military tensions, strained or altered foreign relations;- compliance with diverse and complex local environmental, safety, health, labor and other laws and regulations, which can be onerous and costly, as the magnitude, complexity and continuous amendments to the laws and regulations are difficult to predict and liabilities, costs, obligations and requirements associated with these laws and regulations may be substantial; - dependence on local governments, utility companies and other entities for electricity, water, telecommunications, transportation and other utilities or infrastructure needs; - difficulties associated with local operating and market conditions, particularly regarding customs, taxation and labor; - difficulties for our senior management to effectively supervise local management teams in diverse locations; - increased difficulty in protecting our intellectual property rights and heightened risk of intellectual property disputes; - failure of our contractual counter-parties to honor their obligations to us, and potential disputes with regulatory authorities, customers, contractors, suppliers, local residents or communities; - obtaining fair access and legal remedies or benefits through local judicial or administrative bodies; and - failure to adapt to effectively to local competitive environments.
If economic recovery is slow in the markets where we operate, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. Moreover, as we expand into additional markets, we may face unfamiliar regulatory regimes, business practices, governmental policies and industry conditions. As a result, our experience and knowledge of our existing markets may not be applicable to new markets that we enter, requiring significant time and resources to adapt our business to these unfamiliar markets. To the extent that our diverse business operations are affected by unexpected and adverse economic, regulatory, social and political conditions, we may experience business disruptions, loss of assets and personnel and other indirect losses and our business, financial condition and results of operations both locally and internationally could be materially and adversely affected.