SunPower Corporation (SPWR) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by. Welcome to SunPower Corporation's Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, today's program is being recorded. And now I'd like to introduce your host for today's program, Mike Weinstein, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

謝謝你的支持。歡迎來到 SunPower Corporation 2022 年第四季度收益結果電話會議。 （操作員說明）提醒一下，今天的節目正在錄製中。現在我想介紹一下今天節目的主持人，投資者關係副總裁 Mike Weinstein。請繼續，先生。

Good afternoon, and I'd like to welcome everyone to our fourth quarter 2022 earnings conference call. On the call today, we will begin with comments from Peter Faricy, CEO of SunPower, who'll provide an update with fourth quarter announcements and business highlights, followed by commentary on our 2022 accomplishments and our expectations for 2023, including specifics on our customer financing and new homes operations.

下午好，歡迎大家參加我們 2022 年第四季度的收益電話會議。在今天的電話會議上，我們將從 SunPower 首席執行官 Peter Faricy 的評論開始，他將提供最新的第四季度公告和業務亮點，然後評論我們 2022 年的成就和我們對 2023 年的期望，包括我們客戶的具體情況融資和新房運營。

Following Peter's comments, Guthrie Dundas, SunPower's Interim CFO, will then review our financial results and guidance for 2023. As a reminder, a replay of the call will be available later today on the Investor Relations page of our website. During today's call, we will make forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties that are described in the safe harbor slide of today's presentation, today's press release and our 2022 Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.

在 Peter 發表評論後，SunPower 的臨時首席財務官格思裡·鄧達斯 (Guthrie Dundas) 將審查我們 2023 年的財務業績和指導意見。提醒一下，今天晚些時候將在我們網站的投資者關係頁面上重播電話會議。在今天的電話會議上，我們將做出前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受到今天演示文稿的安全港幻燈片、今天的新聞稿和我們的 2022 10-K 表格以及 10-Q 表格季度報告中描述的各種風險和不確定性的影響。

Please see these documents for additional information regarding those factors that may affect these forward-looking statements. Also, we will reference certain non-GAAP metrics during today's call. Please refer to the appendix of our presentation as well as today's earnings press release for the appropriate GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations. Finally, to enhance this call, we've also posted a set of PowerPoint slides, which we will reference during the call on the Events and Presentations page of our Investor Relations website.

有關可能影響這些前瞻性陳述的因素的更多信息，請參閱這些文件。此外，我們將在今天的電話會議中參考某些非 GAAP 指標。請參閱我們演示文稿的附錄以及今天的收益新聞稿，了解適當的 GAAP 與非 GAAP 對賬。最後，為了加強此次電話會議，我們還發布了一組 PowerPoint 幻燈片，我們將在電話會議期間在投資者關係網站的“活動和演示”頁面上參考這些幻燈片。

In the same location, we have posted a supplemental data sheet detailing additional historical metrics. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Peter Faricy, CEO of SunPower. Peter?

在同一位置，我們發布了一份補充數據表，詳細說明了其他歷史指標。有了這個，我想把電話轉給 SunPower 的首席執行官 Peter Faricy。彼得？

Thanks, Mike, and good afternoon, everyone. At our Analyst Day last March, we rolled out a new long-term strategy focused on residential solar with 5 strategic pillars and a set of financial goals for 2025. 2022 was an important and highly successful first step on that journey.

謝謝，邁克，大家下午好。在去年 3 月的分析師日，我們推出了一項以住宅太陽能為重點的新長期戰略，其中包括 5 個戰略支柱和一系列 2025 年財務目標。2022 年是這一旅程中重要且非常成功的第一步。

I'm happy to share the progress we've made and our plans to execute on that vision going forward. In the fourth quarter, we continue to break records for customer growth, finishing the full year above the high end of our 2022 guidance. We reported $36 million of adjusted EBITDA this quarter, a 39% increase versus Q4 of 2021 to finish the year at $95 million.

我很高興分享我們取得的進展以及我們為實現這一願景而製定的計劃。在第四季度，我們繼續打破客戶增長記錄，全年完成時均高於我們 2022 年指導目標的上限。我們報告本季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 3600 萬美元，比 2021 年第四季度增長 39%，全年達到 9500 萬美元。

Business unit cash generation was a positive $41 million in the quarter, leaving us with $377 million cash on hand heading into 2023. To put this in perspective, SunPower's net debt at year-end was at the lowest level since we began issuing convertible debt after our IPO over 15 years ago. Our strong performance is due to the dedication of thousands of SunPower employees and hundreds of SunPower dealers.

本季度業務部門產生的現金為正 4100 萬美元，到 2023 年我們手頭的現金為 3.77 億美元。從這個角度來看，SunPower 年末的淨債務處於我們開始發行可轉換債券以來的最低水平我們 15 年前的首次公開募股。我們的強勁業績歸功於數千名SunPower員工和數百名SunPower經銷商的奉獻。

The SunPower team overcame unprecedented supply chain and inflationary challenges to deliver results for our customers and our shareholders. I want to acknowledge and thank everyone for their hard work and persistence last year. Looking ahead to 2023, I'm excited to share with you our plans to accelerate our investment in product, digital and financial platforms to keep SunPower's momentum building. These investments will ensure that we have the right tools in place to capture market share for many years to come.

SunPower 團隊克服了前所未有的供應鍊和通貨膨脹挑戰，為我們的客戶和股東帶來了成果。我要感謝大家去年的辛勤工作和堅持。展望 2023 年，我很高興與大家分享我們加快產品、數字和金融平台投資的計劃，以保持 SunPower 的發展勢頭。這些投資將確保我們擁有合適的工具來在未來許多年內奪取市場份額。

We are excited to enter this year with plans to build upon our best-in-class customer experience, to create the fastest-growing residential solar company in the world. Please turn to Slide #4. I'm pleased to report that customer demand continues to be strong and that we added 23,700 new customers in Q4. This is a 39% increase year-over-year that now includes the demand from Blue Raven solar in both comparative periods.

我們很高興進入今年，併計劃在我們一流的客戶體驗的基礎上打造世界上發展最快的住宅太陽能公司。請轉到幻燈片 #4。我很高興地報告，客戶需求持續強勁，我們在第四季度增加了 23,700 名新客戶。這是 39% 的同比增長，現在包括兩個比較期間 Blue Raven 太陽能的需求。

Revenue also grew at 42% year-over-year as price increases continue to offset the higher impact of product and installation costs. We continue to see strength across our sales channels with 109% year-over-year customer growth from the SunPower direct channel. Our backlog also ended the year strong with 19,000 retrofit customers and another 34,000 customers in the new homes channel.

由於價格上漲繼續抵消產品和安裝成本的較高影響，收入也同比增長 42%。我們繼續看到我們銷售渠道的實力，來自 SunPower 直接渠道的客戶同比增長 109%。我們的積壓訂單也以 19,000 名翻新客戶和新房渠道的另外 34,000 名客戶結束了這一年。

Adjusted EBITDA per customer grew to $2,300 before platform investment, allowing us to finish the full year at $2,100, a result that's well on track to achieve our target goal for $3,000 to $4,000 by 2025. SunVault Energy Storage System sales continued at a steady pace with a 17% bookings attach rate in the SunPower direct channel, unchanged versus Q3.

在平台投資之前，每個客戶的調整後 EBITDA 增長到 2,300 美元，使我們能夠以 2,100 美元的價格完成全年，這一結果有望實現我們到 2025 年 3,000 至 4,000 美元的目標。SunVault 儲能係統的銷售繼續穩步增長SunPower 直接渠道的預訂附加率為 17%，與第三季度相比沒有變化。

We also continue to be growing demand for customer lease products, which increased 55% year-over-year in the quarter. Further growth for leasing is expected in 2023 and beyond because of the new tax incentives under the Inflation Reduction act. SunPower Financial's low-risk origination model remains customer-centric, and agnostic towards lease or loan financing. We believe we are well prepared to serve ramping lease demand.

我們對客戶租賃產品的需求也在持續增長，本季度同比增長 55%。由於通貨膨脹減少法案下的新稅收激勵措施，預計 2023 年及以後的租賃將進一步增長。 SunPower Financial 的低風險發起模式仍然以客戶為中心，並且與租賃或貸款融資無關。我們相信我們已做好充分準備來滿足不斷增長的租賃需求。

Please turn to Slide #5. In 2022, we saw steady and exceptional progress in our top line growth, exceeding the top end of our original 2022 guidance with 48% growth in new customers over the full year, including our highly successful late 2021 acquisition of Blue Raven Solar. Looking forward, we are investing heavily in the people, products and systems that will enable SunPower to continue to acquire market share in the years ahead.

請轉到幻燈片 #5。 2022 年，我們的收入增長取得了穩步和非凡的進展，全年新客戶增長 48%，超過了我們最初設定的 2022 年指導目標，包括我們在 2021 年底非常成功地收購了 Blue Raven Solar。展望未來，我們正在對人員、產品和系統進行大量投資，這將使 SunPower 在未來幾年繼續獲得市場份額。

The bottom line is despite higher interest rates and changing state incentive policies, the value of residential solar continues to grow. This value will be buoyed by another strong decade of federal incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act and the likelihood of rising utility bills.

底線是儘管利率上升和國家激勵政策不斷變化，住宅太陽能的價值仍在繼續增長。這一價值將受到根據《降低通貨膨脹法》實施的又一個強有力的十年聯邦激勵措施以及水電費上漲的可能性的提振。

Please turn to Slide #6. We finished 2022 with $95 million of adjusted EBITDA, a 26% improvement year-over-year, with steadily improving levels of EBITDA per customer throughout the year. We expect to see continued year-over-year improvement in 2023 as well, driven by higher pricing power, improved attachment rates for SunPower Financial and SunVault storage and a continuous effort to reduce customer acquisition costs.

請轉到幻燈片#6。到 2022 年，我們的調整後 EBITDA 為 9500 萬美元，同比增長 26%，全年每個客戶的 EBITDA 水平穩步提高。我們預計到 2023 年，在更高的定價能力、SunPower Financial 和 SunVault 存儲的附加率提高以及不斷努力降低客戶獲取成本的推動下，我們也將看到持續的同比改善。

Please turn to Slide #7. Next, I'd like to share some of the important progress we made in 2022 as we move forward with the 5 pillars of our long-term strategy. For customer experience, SunPower remain the #1 ranked home solar installer last year, and we continue to make meaningful progress, raising our Net Promoter Score by 29% in 2022. For products, we expanded and extended our contract with Maxeon for premium, high-efficiency solar modules through 2025.

請轉到幻燈片#7。接下來，我想分享我們在 2022 年在推進長期戰略的 5 個支柱方面取得的一些重要進展。在客戶體驗方面，SunPower 去年仍然是排名第一的家用太陽能安裝商，我們繼續取得有意義的進展，在 2022 年將我們的淨推薦值提高了 29%。在產品方面，我們擴大並延長了與 Maxeon 的合同，以獲得優質、高- 到 2025 年的高效太陽能組件。

We have also secured additional high-quality supplies for the mainstream market, including Hanwha Qcells from our Dalton, Georgia facility. We've also added multiple SunVault storage sizing options, including whole home backup and we have begun work on SunVault version 2.0. All of our products meet the well-known SunPower quality and reliability standards and carry the industry-leading SunPower complete confidence warranty to serve our residential customers across the U.S.

我們還為主流市場確保了額外的高質量供應，包括來自佐治亞州道爾頓工廠的 Hanwha Qcells。我們還添加了多個 SunVault 存儲大小調整選項，包括整個家庭備份，並且我們已經開始開發 SunVault 2.0 版。我們所有的產品都符合眾所周知的 SunPower 質量和可靠性標準，並擁有行業領先的 SunPower 完全信任保證，可為美國各地的住宅客戶提供服務。

For growth, we launched the dealer accelerator program to partner with our best dealers to expand into new territories and sell additional products. Our network expanded 28% in 2022 to more than 850 dealerships across the entire U.S. We launched an important collaboration with General Motors to be their exclusive supplier of solar systems in the coming years, and we are also their preferred EV charger installation partner.

為了實現增長，我們啟動了經銷商加速器計劃，與我們最好的經銷商合作，拓展新領域並銷售更多產品。我們的網絡在 2022 年擴大了 28%，在全美國擁有 850 多家經銷商。我們與通用汽車展開了重要合作，成為他們未來幾年的太陽能係統獨家供應商，我們也是他們首選的 EV 充電器安裝合作夥伴。

Additionally, we announced Home Solar with IKEA and an exclusive agreement with Toll Brothers in California markets as well as a national contract extension with KB Home. For digital, we continue to improve the customer experience, along with launching a new real-time data visualization tool for dealers and the initial build of our virtual power plant and demand response software that will ultimately allow our systems to communicate with interconnected utilities.

此外，我們還宣布了與宜家的 Home Solar 以及與 Toll Brothers 在加利福尼亞市場的獨家協議以及與 KB Home 的全國合同延期。對於數字化，我們繼續改善客戶體驗，同時為經銷商推出新的實時數據可視化工具，並初步構建我們的虛擬電廠和需求響應軟件，最終使我們的系統能夠與互連的公用事業公司進行通信。

And finally, SunPower Financial finished 2022 with leasing loan net bookings increasing 81% year-over-year, with lease contract bookings ramping up significantly in the second half of the year. We finished 2022 with a 39% financial bookings in tax rate, and we are on track to meet our long-term target to achieve a 65% to 75% attach rate by 2025.

最後，SunPower Financial 在 2022 年結束時租賃貸款淨預訂量同比增長 81%，下半年租賃合同預訂量大幅增加。到 2022 年，我們的財務預訂稅率為 39%，我們有望實現我們的長期目標，即到 2025 年實現 65% 至 75% 的附加稅率。

Please turn to Slide #8. Conventional electric utility rates have continued to rise sharply, over 11% year-over-year in November, despite the moderating cost of key fuels such as natural gas. 9 states continue to see increases greater than 20% year-over-year. As we've noted, these steep rises continue to elevate the value proposition of residential solar as one of the most powerful ways to stabilize home power bills.

請轉到幻燈片#8。儘管天然氣等主要燃料的成本有所下降，但傳統電力費率繼續大幅上漲，11 月份同比增長超過 11%。 9 個州的年增長率繼續超過 20%。正如我們所指出的，這些急劇上升繼續提升住宅太陽能的價值主張，將其作為穩定家庭電費的最有力方式之一。

Although fuel prices have declined in recent months, the Edison Electric Institute is projecting a 20% increase in electric utility capital investment from 2022 to 2024 over the previous 3 years. As these investments are recovered through electric bills, value of customer finance rooftop solar is likely to continue rising.

儘管最近幾個月燃料價格有所下降，但愛迪生電氣研究所預計，從 2022 年到 2024 年，電力公司的資本投資將比過去 3 年增加 20%。由於這些投資通過電費收回，客戶融資屋頂太陽能的價值可能會繼續上升。

Please turn to Slide #9. As most of you know, California regulators are preparing to implement new net energy metering rules on April 15. Until then, customers in the state are eligible to lock into the current NEM 2.0 rules as long as they submit an interconnection application before that date. We are currently investing heavily in our California sales and marketing effort as well as the interconnection application process to ensure that as many customers as possible take advantage of the current rules before the change.

請轉到幻燈片#9。正如你們大多數人所知，加州監管機構正準備在 4 月 15 日實施新的淨能源計量規則。在此之前，該州的客戶只要在該日期之前提交互連申請，就有資格鎖定當前的 NEM 2.0 規則。我們目前正在加州的銷售和營銷工作以及互連申請流程中投入大量資金，以確保盡可能多的客戶在變更前利用當前規則。

I'm pleased to report that we are seeing a significant response in new bookings and backlog as a result of these efforts. Once the new NEM 3.0 rules take effect, we expect the value of battery storage systems to increase materially in California as customers may use their solar generation across more hours of the day by storing power in their battery.

我很高興地報告，由於這些努力，我們在新預訂和積壓訂單方面看到了顯著的反應。一旦新的 NEM 3.0 規則生效，我們預計加利福尼亞州電池存儲系統的價值將大幅增加，因為客戶可以通過在電池中存儲電力來在一天中的更多時間使用太陽能發電。

Our own analysis suggests that the nominal payback period for solar-only system under NEM 3.0 is 8 to 10 years, but this can be improved to 7 to 9 years when a storage system is added. We believe SunPower is well positioned to deliver SunVault storage systems to customers with inventory levels entering 2023 that we believe are sufficient to meet stronger demand for the year.

我們自己的分析表明，在 NEM 3.0 下，純太陽能係統的名義投資回收期為 8 至 10 年，但如果添加儲能係統，則可以提高到 7 至 9 年。我們相信 SunPower 能夠很好地向客戶提供 SunVault 存儲系統，其庫存水平將進入 2023 年，我們認為這足以滿足今年更強勁的需求。

Please turn to Slide #10. As you may recall from our second quarter presentation, we conveyed an expected sales slowdown for the New Home segment due to a slower economic environment affecting the broader homebuilding industry. Despite this, the New Homes segment reported an impressive Q4, 13% year-over-year growth rate for customers recognized, boosted by our nascent but fast-growing multifamily and national sales efforts beyond California.

請轉到幻燈片#10。您可能還記得我們第二季度的介紹，由於經濟環境放緩影響了更廣泛的住宅建築行業，我們傳達了新房部門的預期銷售放緩。儘管如此，新房部門在第四季度的業績令人印象深刻，認可客戶的同比增長率為 13%，這得益於我們在加州以外的新興但快速增長的多戶家庭和全國銷售工作的推動。

Our 2023 customer growth and adjusted EBITDA guidance assumes a 25% decline in overall new home sales versus last year, which includes the benefits of rapidly scaling non-California and multifamily sales. Overall, this is the equivalent to the assumption of a 500 basis point reduction in year-over-year customer growth for SunPower as a whole.

我們的 2023 年客戶增長和調整後的 EBITDA 指導假設新屋總銷量與去年相比下降 25%，其中包括快速擴大非加州和多戶住宅銷售的好處。總體而言，這相當於假設 SunPower 整體客戶同比增長減少 500 個基點。

Longer term, there's a widening need of nearly 6 million new homes to satisfy the growing demand for housing in the U.S. We continue to view the new home segment as an important long-term strategic asset where we intend to continue building on our already strong leadership position.

從長遠來看，為了滿足美國不斷增長的住房需求，對近 600 萬套新房的需求不斷擴大。我們繼續將新房部分視為一項重要的長期戰略資產，我們打算繼續鞏固我們已經強大的領導地位位置。

Please turn to Slide #11. The Inflation Reduction Act Congress passed in 2022 includes a 10-year extension of the 30% tax credit for solar in addition to a brand-new 30% tax credit for stand-alone battery storage. It also includes several, important bonus credits that apply to systems leased to customers. SunPower stands well positioned to monetize these benefits through a combination of stronger sales, increased pricing power and qualification for the bonus credits.

請轉到幻燈片 #11。國會於 2022 年通過的《降低通貨膨脹法案》包括將太陽能 30% 的稅收抵免延長 10 年，此外還為獨立電池儲能提供全新的 30% 稅收抵免。它還包括幾個重要的獎勵積分，適用於租給客戶的系統。 SunPower 處於有利地位，可以通過結合更強勁的銷售、更高的定價能力和獲得獎勵積分的資格來將這些好處貨幣化。

Number one, to increase the likelihood that we qualify for the 10% domestic content bonus credit, we are adding more domestically sourced PV modules to our supplies for '23, and we expect to bring on additional domestic suppliers in 2024 and beyond. Number two, for the 10% to 20% low-income bonus credit, SunPower is building new tools for dealers, activating SunPower Direct to sell lease and reconfiguring marketing operations to capture more qualifying customers.

第一，為了增加我們有資格獲得 10% 國內含量獎勵積分的可能性，我們在 23 年的供應中增加了更多國內採購的光伏組件，我們預計將在 2024 年及以後引入更多國內供應商。第二，對於 10% 至 20% 的低收入獎金信貸，SunPower 正在為經銷商構建新工具，激活 SunPower Direct 以出售租賃並重新配置營銷業務以吸引更多合格客戶。

And finally, number three, for energy community credit, we're mapping out these communities so that this bonus can be incorporated into our sales tools and made available to our customers.

最後，第三，對於能源社區信用，我們正在規劃這些社區，以便將這種獎金納入我們的銷售工具並提供給我們的客戶。

Please turn to Slide #12. As previously noted, our low-risk financing model is based on the off-balance sheet origination of loans and leases for customers. With similar origination fees for either loan or lease, we are agnostic and strive to act in the customer's best interest. As you can see here, our lease net bookings continued to grow robustly in the fourth quarter at a rate of 55%. We expect this trend to continue into 2023 as leases are projected to gain popularity in the coming years due to the bonus tax incentives on the IRA. To be clear, we welcome this development, and we are well prepared to competitively execute on it.

請轉到幻燈片#12。如前所述，我們的低風險融資模式是基於為客戶在資產負債表外發起貸款和租賃。由於貸款或租賃的發起費用相似，我們是不可知論者，並努力以客戶的最佳利益行事。正如您在這裡看到的，我們的租賃淨預訂量在第四季度繼續以 55% 的速度強勁增長。我們預計這一趨勢將持續到 2023 年，因為 IRA 的獎金稅收優惠預計在未來幾年內將越來越受歡迎。需要明確的是，我們歡迎這一發展，我們已做好充分準備以有競爭力的方式執行它。

Our all-in cost of capital per leasing remains below 6.5%, including tax equity with the added advantage of lower interest rate sensitivity across the full capital stack. We believe that this is at least equal to or better than our peers. We have ample facilities in place to finance a growing lease pool through 2023. Loan bookings also grew 35% in Q4 and were approximately 78% of the total net bookings in the quarter. We continue to benefit from more than $2 billion of low-cost, long-term private loan purchase facilities, which are now 300 to 400 basis points less expensive than the cost of capital provided through asset-backed securities market. The ABS market has been improving of late with spreads tightening 80 to 100 bps in Q1, and we remain well positioned to have this important source of capital in the future.

我們每次租賃的總資本成本保持在 6.5% 以下，包括稅收權益以及在整個資本堆棧中較低的利率敏感性的額外優勢。我們認為這至少等於或優於我們的同行。我們擁有充足的設施來為不斷增長的租賃池提供資金，直至 2023 年。貸款預訂量在第四季度也增長了 35%，約佔該季度總淨預訂量的 78%。我們繼續受益於超過 20 億美元的低成本、長期私人貸款購買便利，這些便利現在比通過資產支持證券市場提供的資本成本低 300 至 400 個基點。 ABS 市場最近一直在改善，第一季度利差收窄 80 至 100 個基點，我們仍然處於有利地位，可以在未來擁有這一重要的資本來源。

Please turn to Slide 13. Before I turn it over to Guthrie for the financials, I want to share some of the most important product investment efforts we are undertaking in 2023. As I mentioned earlier, we are very pleased to have recently extended and expanded our supply agreement for high-efficiency premium solar modules from Maxeon through 2025. We've also begun taking steps to build up a supply of high-quality modules suitable for the mainstream market, including Hanwha Qcells in their factory in Dalton, Georgia, that we hope to be positioned to qualify for the IRA bonus tax credit applicable to lease systems with domestic content.

請轉到幻燈片 13。在我將其交給 Guthrie 財務之前，我想分享我們在 2023 年進行的一些最重要的產品投資工作。正如我之前提到的，我們很高興最近擴展和擴展了我們與 Maxeon 的高效優質太陽能組件供應協議到 2025 年。我們還開始採取措施建立適合主流市場的優質組件供應，包括 Hanwha Qcells 在佐治亞州道爾頓的工廠，我們希望有資格獲得適用於具有國內內容的租賃系統的 IRA 獎金稅收抵免。

Number two, we've already begun development work with General Motors on a Bi-Directional vehicle-to-home EV charging system with a limited release expected in Q4 of 2023. As mentioned earlier, GM has made SunPower its exclusive partner for solar and storage projects, and we're incredibly excited to be part of this important collaboration.

第二，我們已經開始與通用汽車合作開發雙向車對戶電動汽車充電系統，預計將於 2023 年第四季度限量發布。如前所述，通用汽車已將 SunPower 設為其在太陽能和存儲項目，我們非常高興能成為這一重要合作的一部分。

And finally, as I mentioned earlier, we've begun engineering and design work on the second version of our SunVault energy storage system. This too will include a complete platform upgrade with multiple new features, including integration with EV chargers and generators, control over multiple load configurations, next-generation monitoring and an easier, faster installation process. We are targeting a launch for the second half of 2024.

最後，正如我之前提到的，我們已經開始了第二版 SunVault 儲能係統的工程和設計工作。這也將包括具有多項新功能的完整平台升級，包括與 EV 充電器和發電機的集成、對多個負載配置的控制、下一代監控以及更簡單、更快速的安裝過程。我們的目標是在 2024 年下半年推出。

I'll now turn it over to Guthrie for more details on our Q4 results. Guthrie?

我現在將其轉交給 Guthrie，以獲取有關我們第四季度結果的更多詳細信息。格思裡？

Thank you, Peter. Please turn to Slide 15. As Peter mentioned earlier, strong 2022 customer demand and steadily increasing EBITDA per customer support achievement of our long-term target model for increasing market share and EBITDA per customer through 2025.

謝謝你，彼得。請轉到幻燈片 15。正如彼得之前提到的，強勁的 2022 年客戶需求和穩步增長的每位客戶 EBITDA 支持我們實現到 2025 年增加市場份額和每位客戶 EBITDA 的長期目標模型。

For the fourth quarter, we are reporting $36 million of adjusted EBITDA and $492 million of non-GAAP revenue, an increase of 42% year-over-year. We added 23,700 new customers in Q4, a 39% increase year-over-year that now includes Blue Raven Solar in both periods. Full year 2022 customer growth was 48%. Adjusted non-GAAP gross margin continued to remain above 20% as the cost of equipment, labor and shipping is passed along in pricing to customers.

第四季度，我們報告調整後 EBITDA 為 3600 萬美元，非 GAAP 收入為 4.92 億美元，同比增長 42%。我們在第四季度增加了 23,700 個新客戶，同比增長 39%，現在包括兩個時期的 Blue Raven Solar。 2022 年全年客戶增長率為 48%。調整後的非 GAAP 毛利率繼續保持在 20% 以上，因為設備、勞動力和運輸成本在定價中轉嫁給了客戶。

Adjusted EBITDA per customer before platform investments increased to $2,300 for the quarter and $2,100 for the full year as we benefit from a combination of higher pricing, growing origination fee volumes at SunPower Financial and the operational leverage gained from increasing sales. As we highlighted at the Analyst Day last year, platform investment of $18 million for the quarter and $76 million for the full year is primarily product, digital and corporate OpEx.

平台投資前每個客戶的調整後 EBITDA 本季度增加到 2,300 美元，全年增加到 2,100 美元，因為我們受益於更高的定價、SunPower Financial 不斷增長的發起費用量以及銷售增長帶來的運營槓桿。正如我們在去年的分析師日強調的那樣，本季度 1800 萬美元和全年 7600 萬美元的平台投資主要用於產品、數字和企業運營支出。

Our balance sheet is now the healthiest it's been in years. exiting 2022 with $377 million of cash on hand and only $48 million of net recourse debt. In January, we sold our last remaining 0.5 million shares of Enphase equity for approximately $120 million and paid down our entire $425 million convertible debt using $100 million from our term loan we arranged last year and cash on hand.

我們的資產負債表現在是多年來最健康的。到 2022 年，手頭現金為 3.77 億美元，淨追索權債務僅為 4800 萬美元。 1 月，我們以大約 1.2 億美元的價格出售了我們最後剩餘的 50 萬股 Enphase 股權，並使用我們去年安排的定期貸款中的 1 億美元和手頭現金償還了我們全部 4.25 億美元的可轉換債務。

We begin 2023 with ample liquidity to fund ongoing operations and continue investing in the business, including a $200 million revolver. We continue to value our ownership of lease renewal net retained value in SunStrong using a 6% discount rate. With growth in the portfolio, we now estimate the value of our stake at about $260 million.

從 2023 年開始，我們將擁有充足的流動資金來為正在進行的運營提供資金，並繼續投資於該業務，包括 2 億美元的左輪手槍。我們繼續使用 6% 的貼現率對我們在 SunStrong 的租賃續約淨保留價值的所有權進行估值。隨著投資組合的增長，我們現在估計我們的股份價值約為 2.6 億美元。

Please turn to Slide 16. As Peter mentioned earlier, we are initiating 2023 guidance today. We are guiding to $125 million to $155 million of adjusted EBITDA, driven by 90,000 to 110,000 incremental customers with adjusted EBITDA per customer before platform investment of $2,450 to $2,900. Platform investment continues to be primarily comprised of product, digital and corporate operating expense that are preparing the company for future growth and the expansion of EBITDA per customer.

請轉到幻燈片 16。正如彼得之前提到的，我們今天啟動了 2023 年指南。我們指導調整後的 EBITDA 達到 1.25 億美元至 1.55 億美元，這受到 90,000 至 110,000 名增量客戶的推動，每個客戶的調整後 EBITDA 在平台投資之前為 2,450 美元至 2,900 美元。平台投資仍然主要由產品、數字和企業運營費用組成，這些費用為公司未來的增長和每個客戶的 EBITDA 擴展做好準備。

On a per customer basis, platform investment is projected to peak in 2023 as we reinvest a portion of the significantly higher-than-expected proceeds from the sale of Enphase shares over the past year. We are making good progress towards achieving our Analyst Day target model, which includes growing our market share versus peers while also growing adjusted EBITDA per customer to a range of $3,000 to $4,000.

在每個客戶的基礎上，平台投資預計將在 2023 年達到頂峰，因為我們將過去一年出售 Enphase 股票的收益的一部分進行再投資，收益遠高於預期。我們在實現我們的分析師日目標模型方面取得了良好進展，其中包括增加我們相對於同行的市場份額，同時還將每個客戶的調整後 EBITDA 增加到 3,000 美元至 4,000 美元的範圍。

While we expect platform investment to continue increasing in future years, we expect us to grow below the rate of customer growth, so the rate per customer declines over time. As Peter noted earlier, our 2023 EBITDA guidance includes several important assumptions. These include: one, platform investment that is approximately $55 million above the Analyst Day target model; two, the impact of an approximate 500 basis point reduction to SunPower's overall customer growth from new homes; three, the impact of an additional approximate 500 basis point reduction in year-over-year SunPower customer growth from the transition to NEM 3.0 in California, which includes the impact of installations resulting from NEM 2.0 orders in Q1; and four, the continued growth for SunPower Financial and battery storage attach rates.

雖然我們預計未來幾年平台投資將繼續增加，但我們預計我們的增長速度將低於客戶增長率，因此每位客戶的增長率會隨著時間的推移而下降。正如彼得之前指出的那樣，我們的 2023 年 EBITDA 指南包括幾個重要假設。其中包括：一是平台投資，比 Analyst Day 目標模型高出約 5500 萬美元；第二，降息約 500 個基點對 SunPower 新房整體客戶增長的影響；第三，從加州過渡到 NEM 3.0，SunPower 客戶同比增長額外減少約 500 個基點的影響，其中包括第一季度 NEM 2.0 訂單帶來的安裝影響；第四，SunPower Financial 和電池存儲附加率的持續增長。

Looking beyond 2023, we see several very positive trends that are expected to help propel our business. These include: one, our financial recovery for the new home segment, but nevertheless assumes continued pressure on the homebuilder industry from higher mortgage rates; two, the IRA significantly improving solar value, potentially accelerating demand and EBITDA per customer; three, continued growth for SunPower Financial and battery storage attach rates; four, platform investments that improve the customer experience, help reduce customer acquisition costs and capture growing market share.

展望 2023 年以後，我們看到了幾個非常積極的趨勢，這些趨勢有望幫助推動我們的業務發展。其中包括：其一，我們對新房業務的財務復甦，但仍假設較高的抵押貸款利率對房屋建築行業造成持續壓力；第二，IRA 顯著提高了太陽能價值，可能會加速每個客戶的需求和 EBITDA；三、SunPower Financial 和電池儲能附加率的持續增長；第四，改善客戶體驗的平台投資，有助於降低客戶獲取成本並獲得不斷增長的市場份額。

We enter 2023 executing our strategy and on track towards the achievement of our long-term target model goals. With a strong balance sheet and a philosophy of continuous improvement, we are building a platform of assets that will continue to enhance our world-class #1 ranked total customer experience. With that, operator, I would like to turn the call over for questions.

我們進入 2023 年執行我們的戰略，並朝著實現我們的長期目標模型目標邁進。憑藉強大的資產負債表和持續改進的理念，我們正在構建一個資產平台，該平台將繼續提升我們世界一流的總體客戶體驗。有了這個，接線員，我想把電話轉過來提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Sean Morgan from Evercore ISI.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Evercore ISI 的 Sean Morgan。

So one of the things I've been wondering about recently is how domestic content is going to work in light of the fact that we're starting from heavily, heavily offshore sourced supply base of materials for resi. And so also is it going to be a situation where the domestic content adder for the ITC is based on the full value of the system? Or do you think the government is going to allow like certain components of a system to qualify and you could basically do piecemeal credits for like, say, items where maybe in some cases, there are no vendors that are really U.S.-based so that you could take credit for domestic content where available.

因此，我最近一直想知道的一件事是，鑑於我們從大量、大量離岸採購的 resi 材料供應基地開始，國內內容將如何運作。那麼，ITC 的國內內容添加器是否會基於系統的全部價值？或者你認為政府會允許系統的某些組件符合資格，你基本上可以為類似的項目做零碎的信用，在某些情況下，可能沒有真正基於美國的供應商，所以你可以將國內內容歸功於可用的地方。

Yes. Sean, we're super excited about the benefits of the IRA and in particular, the domestic content benefit you talked about. And the partnership we have with Hanwha for Qcells, we're cautiously optimistic that those panels will be examples of the kinds of products that would benefit from the IRA. It's our -- the final guidance hasn't come out yet on this, but it's our expectation that it will be the total system cost of the equipment and it will have to be above a certain threshold. I think the rumors I've heard are 40% domestic content for the total system hardware cost.

是的。肖恩，我們對 IRA 的好處感到非常興奮，尤其是您談到的國內內容的好處。以及我們與韓華的 Qcells 合作夥伴關係，我們對這些面板將成為受益於 IRA 的產品類型持謹慎樂觀態度。這是我們的 - 最終指南尚未出台，但我們預計這將是設備的總系統成本，並且必須高於某個閾值。我想我聽到的謠言是系統硬件總成本的 40% 是國產的。

And then if you qualify, it provides the benefit across the entire system cost, including installation and labor. So that's the current way we're modeling and thinking about it, but we're waiting for the final guidance. And once we achieve that final guidance, we'll act accordingly. I think the interesting thing to me is that you're going to see a growth in U.S. Clean Energy jobs out of this. There's no question about it. We have had a number of high-quality panel manufacturers interested in either expanding their U.S. operations or adding new U.S. operations.

然後，如果您符合條件，它會在整個系統成本（包括安裝和人工）中提供收益。這就是我們目前正在建模和思考的方式，但我們正在等待最終指南。一旦我們獲得最終指導，我們就會採取相應行動。我認為對我來說有趣的是，你會看到美國清潔能源工作崗位的增長。毫無疑問。我們有許多高質量的面板製造商有興趣擴大他們的美國業務或增加新的美國業務。

So I think it's stay tuned here. I think there'll be more opportunities for us to grow our domestic content, particularly on PV.

所以我認為它會繼續關注這裡。我認為我們將有更多機會發展我們的國內內容，尤其是在 PV 方面。

Okay. I mean Hanwha Qcells is maybe a good example or I'm guessing probably maybe not SunVault. But the Hanwha, if I'm understanding their process correctly, a lot of their materials -- supply chain starts kind of abroad and then the assembly is -- and correct me if I'm wrong, is kind of completed in Dalton, Georgia. So I guess maybe with some creative transfer pricing they could come up with a system where they're attributing most of the cost to the labor assembly here in the U.S. and then it would qualify. But how do you think the government is going to sort of treat material costs relative to, say, I guess, a finished product?

好的。我的意思是 Hanwha Qcells 可能是一個很好的例子，或者我猜可能不是 SunVault。但是韓華，如果我對他們的流程理解正確的話，他們的很多材料——供應鏈都是從國外開始的，然後是組裝——如果我錯了請糾正我，在佐治亞州道爾頓完成.所以我想也許通過一些創造性的轉讓定價，他們可以想出一個系統，在這個系統中，他們將大部分成本歸因於美國這裡的勞動力集會，然後它就有資格了。但是你認為政府將如何處理與成品相關的材料成本？

Yes. I think your thinking, Sean, is in line with our belief is how this will play out. I think if you want to create jobs here in the U.S., there's probably some process that maybe evolves over time. But certainly, given the way the supply chains are positioned today, it would make sense, in my opinion -- in our opinion, to qualify, I'll call it, value-added assembly, which is what Hanwha is doing in Dalton, Georgia. And I certainly think that, that makes sense.

是的。肖恩，我認為你的想法與我們對這將如何發展的信念是一致的。我認為如果你想在美國這裡創造就業機會，可能會有一些過程隨著時間的推移而演變。但可以肯定的是，考慮到當今供應鏈的定位方式，在我看來，這是有道理的——在我們看來，有資格，我稱之為增值裝配，這就是韓華在道爾頓所做的，喬治亞州。我當然認為，這是有道理的。

That certainly is U.S. jobs and they have an opportunity with the big announcement they made recently about their expansion to grow U.S. jobs. So it's our expectation that those types of products have a good opportunity to qualify under the IRA.

這當然是美國的就業機會，他們有機會通過最近宣布的關於擴大美國就業機會的重大聲明。因此，我們希望這些類型的產品有很好的機會符合 IRA 的條件。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from the line of Philip Shen from Roth.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Roth 的 Philip Shen。

Peter, thanks for sharing all that detail around the lease mix and that shift as we went through '22, ending Q4 with 55%. As you look through 2023, do you think we've capped out at that 55%? Do you think that can grow meaningfully higher? And then historically, years ago, I used to think and you guys used to talk about your business as being 1/3 cash, 1/3 lease, 1/3 loan, clearly, with the low cost of money over the past few years that changed.

彼得，感謝您分享有關租賃組合的所有細節以及我們在 22 年結束時的轉變，以 55% 結束了第四季度。當您展望 2023 年時，您認為我們已經達到了 55% 的上限嗎？你認為它可以有意義地增長更高嗎？然後從歷史上看，幾年前，我曾經認為，你們過去常常談論你們的業務是 1/3 現金，1/3 租賃，1/3 貸款，很明顯，過去幾年資金成本很低那改變了。

Do you think -- or can you share where you expect maybe the loan mix to be in '23? And then what do you think cash might be? And then finally, Blue Raven historically, my guess was mostly loans, have they had -- in that group had success shifting the financing to be leased as well?

你認為 - 或者你能分享你期望貸款組合在 23 年的位置嗎？然後你認為現金可能是什麼？最後，Blue Raven 從歷史上看，我的猜測主要是貸款，他們有沒有 - 在那個集團中也成功地將融資轉移為租賃？

Yes. Thanks, Phil. On the -- on your first question about lease, where do we think lease will come out in 2023. It's our expectation that as the IRA benefits get defined, all of those adders that we talked about in our opening comments are tied to lease. So it's our expectation that, that will make lease even more attractive as we go. And so I would expect that 55% to accelerate at some point as we go throughout the year.

是的。謝謝，菲爾。關於 - 關於您關於租賃的第一個問題，我們認為租賃將在 2023 年出現在哪裡。我們期望隨著 IRA 福利的定義，我們在開場評論中談到的所有這些加法器都與租賃相關。所以我們期望，隨著我們的發展，這將使租賃更具吸引力。因此，我預計隨著全年的進行，55% 的速度會在某個時候加速。

In terms of our mix, for color, I think we've sort of said it's roughly 20% cash, 80% financing. And last year, it was the beginning of the year, 80/20 loan, let's call it. I would anticipate that at some point as the IRA benefits are clear and we're at full scale that it will be probably closer to 50-50, and that may even happen this year. And that's why we feel like we're particularly well positioned is that we're really agnostic.

就我們的組合而言，對於顏色，我想我們已經說過它大約是 20% 的現金，80% 的融資。去年是年初，我們稱之為 80/20 貸款。我預計在某個時候，由於 IRA 的好處很明顯，而且我們已經全面展開，它可能會接近 50-50，甚至可能在今年發生。這就是為什麼我們覺得我們處於特別有利的位置是因為我們真的是不可知論者。

We want to do for each individual customer what's best for them. And we're the only residential solar company with the philosophy of really looking out what's in the best long-term interest for the customer and offering them the right financing package for them if they choose to finance the product.

我們想為每個客戶做最適合他們的事情。我們是唯一一家秉承真正為客戶尋找最長遠利益的理念的住宅太陽能公司，如果他們選擇為產品融資，我們會為他們提供合適的融資方案。

And then, Phil, you are correct to point out that Blue Raven has been historically -- they've had a little bit of cash, but they're mostly loan. And I'm happy to report that we anticipated the need to move over to do more lease business in time, and we're working behind the scenes to help the Blue Raven team be ready to sell lease products and I anticipate us launching that at some point this year. So we'll share more details on that as we get closer.

然後，菲爾，你指出 Blue Raven 在歷史上一直是正確的——他們有一點現金，但他們主要是貸款。我很高興地報告，我們預計需要及時轉移以開展更多租賃業務，我們正在幕後工作以幫助 Blue Raven 團隊準備好銷售租賃產品，我預計我們將在今年的某個時候。因此，當我們接近時，我們將分享更多細節。

But I think it certainly makes sense given the part of the United States that they're serving, I think there's going to be a great opportunity to grow our footprint in those states by having a lease offering as well.

但我認為，考慮到他們所服務的美國部分地區，這當然是有道理的，我認為這將是一個很好的機會，可以通過提供租賃服務來擴大我們在這些州的足跡。

Great. Thanks, Peter. And then in terms of your Maxeon expansion of the relationship, congrats on that and the additional supply that comes with that. I think on the Q3 call, you guys talked about how Maxeon can account for maybe half of your total module supply in '23. My guess is that's going to be higher this -- now with the additional supply, I was wondering if you might be able to talk through what that could be now?

偉大的。謝謝，彼得。然後就你們 Maxeon 的關係擴展而言，祝賀這一點以及隨之而來的額外供應。我想在第三季度的電話會議上，你們談到了 Maxeon 如何在 23 年佔你們總模塊供應量的一半。我的猜測是這會更高——現在有了額外的供應，我想知道你是否可以談談現在的情況？

And then as it relates to Hanwha, can you get into how much they might be able to supply in '23? And then in terms of the other vendors, I think we've written about how (inaudible) might be another vendor. Just wondering if you could talk through more about where other module vendors might come in? And ultimately, with your ability to grow through this more challenging time for the rest of the loan market. Could we see some meaningful -- we're kind of backing into maybe 440 megawatts of Maxeon in '22. And so that would suggest maybe you guys could do 900 megawatts in '23, which is substantially higher than your official '23 guidance now. And so how does that gap get bridged. And ultimately, I know your guidance is your guidance, but my sense is there could be some conservatism in that guide.

然後關於韓華，你能知道他們在 23 年可以提供多少嗎？然後就其他供應商而言，我認為我們已經寫過（聽不清）如何成為另一個供應商。只是想知道您是否可以更多地討論其他模塊供應商可能會從哪裡進來？最終，您有能力在這個更具挑戰性的時期為貸款市場的其餘部分成長。我們能否看到一些有意義的東西——我們在 22 年支持 440 兆瓦的 Maxeon。因此，這表明你們可能會在 23 年達到 900 兆瓦，這大大高於你們現在的 23 年官方指導。那麼這個差距是如何彌合的。最後，我知道你的指導就是你的指導，但我的感覺是該指南中可能存在一些保守主義。

Yes. Thanks, Phil. So just to rewind back for context for everybody on the call, when we redid our supply agreement with Maxeon almost at this time last year, one of the big benefits for SunPower was the ability for the first time in our history to seek sourcing from panel partners across the world, which has been a terrific opportunity.

是的。謝謝，菲爾。因此，回顧一下通話中每個人的背景，當我們幾乎在去年的這個時候與 Maxeon 重新簽訂供應協議時，SunPower 的一大好處是我們歷史上第一次能夠從面板尋求採購世界各地的合作夥伴，這是一個極好的機會。

Having said that, we're still pleased to have extended our partnership with Maxeon. They make the best premium panels in the world. We're really happy to be partnering with them and expanding and extending that agreement is wonderful for both parties, and we hope to be able to work with Maxeon in the premium space for many, many years to come. So we're pleased with that.

話雖如此，我們仍然很高興延長與 Maxeon 的合作夥伴關係。他們生產世界上最好的優質面板。我們真的很高興與他們合作，擴大和擴展該協議對雙方來說都是美好的，我們希望能夠在未來許多年內與 Maxeon 在高端領域合作。所以我們對此感到滿意。

In terms of how we're thinking about supply, last year was challenging. When the Department of Commerce investigation came out and there was investigation in the AD/CVD really the supply dried up across the world, and it was very difficult for us to get new supply on board as quickly as we wanted to. And I'm happy to report that not only has that changed, but we've put ourselves in a position where we have sufficient supply to growth.

就我們如何看待供應而言，去年充滿挑戰。當商務部調查出來並且對 AD/CVD 進行調查時，全世界的供應確實枯竭了，我們很難像我們想要的那樣迅速獲得新的供應。我很高興地報告，不僅這種情況發生了變化，而且我們已經使自己處於一個有足夠增長供應的位置。

And our guidance this year is meant to be conservative. I think there's some uncertainty in the economy, and we recognized that. But we've preserved the opportunity to grow faster by having enough supply and flexible supply agreements to serve that. Right now, we're just prepared to talk about our agreement with Maxeon in QCells, but we have other agreements in the works, and I look forward to sharing more details on that with all of you in the months to come.

我們今年的指導意見是保守的。我認為經濟中存在一些不確定性，我們認識到了這一點。但我們保留了通過足夠的供應和靈活的供應協議來實現更快增長的機會。現在，我們正準備討論我們與 Maxeon 在 QCells 方面的協議，但我們還有其他協議正在製定中，我期待在未來幾個月與大家分享更多相關細節。

One last quick one. NEM 3.0, are you seeing the originations picked up now from maybe December lows. They were really weak kind of the first 3 weeks of January. We're well past that now. And so is the acceleration there in a nice way? Or is it okay, but it could be better? What are you seeing thus far in the NEM 3.0 transition?

最後一個快速。 NEM 3.0，你是否看到起源從 12 月的低點開始回升。他們在 1 月的前 3 週真的很虛弱。我們現在已經過去了。那麼那裡的加速度是否很好？還是還可以，但還可以更好？到目前為止，您在 NEM 3.0 過渡中看到了什麼？

So you're right. I think the only time last year where things slowed down on the bookings front was sort of that mid-November to mid-December time period. It was hard to know if that's because of the election cycle, the economy, the holidays, there's a lot of potential reasons in there.

所以你是對的。我認為去年唯一一次在預訂方面放緩的時間是 11 月中旬到 12 月中旬的時間段。很難知道這是不是因為選舉週期、經濟、假期，那裡有很多潛在的原因。

We've been paying very, very close attention to the first 6 weeks so far this year to get a read on where things are at. And we're very pleased with what demand has looked like really across the country, but in particular, California. We had pretty ambitious plans for how much we thought we could grow California in Q1 because we figured that many consumers would want to try to qualify for NEM 2.0, and I would say we're exceeding those expectations so far.

今年到目前為止，我們一直非常、非常密切地關注前 6 週，以了解情況。我們對全國各地，尤其是加利福尼亞州的需求情況感到非常滿意。我們制定了非常雄心勃勃的計劃，因為我們認為許多消費者希望獲得 NEM 2.0 的資格，而我想說我們到目前為止超出了這些預期。

What's been interesting is that it's been a build week by week. So Week 1 was good, Week 2 was better, Week 3 was better. And so even if you go through last week, Week 6 for us, it's been building so far and we haven't peaked yet. So I'm interested to see how we finished the quarter, but I would describe us so far on both California NEM and frankly, the overall residential solar environment as cautiously optimistic, recognizing that 6 weeks is not long enough to judge this and it's early in the year. But so far, we're very pleased with demand.

有趣的是，它每週都在構建。所以第 1 週很好，第 2 週更好，第 3 週更好。因此，即使你經歷了上週，對我們來說是第 6 週，它一直在建設，我們還沒有達到頂峰。所以我很想知道我們如何完成本季度，但我會在加州 NEM 和坦率地描述我們到目前為止，整體住宅太陽能環境謹慎樂觀，認識到 6 週的時間不足以判斷這一點，而且現在還為時過早在這一年。但到目前為止，我們對需求非常滿意。

(Operator Instructions) And our next question comes from the line of Kashy Harrison from Piper Sandler.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Piper Sandler 的 Kashy Harrison。

So first 1 for me was -- my first question is around the customer account. You expect to add 100,000 this year. What proportion of the 100,000 is expected to be from California? And then can you speak to how many of these customers have been locked in today under NEM 2.0?

所以對我來說，第一個問題是——我的第一個問題是關於客戶賬戶的。您預計今年將增加 100,000 個。預計這 100,000 人中有多少來自加利福尼亞？然後你能談談今天在 NEM 2.0 下有多少客戶被鎖定了嗎？

Yes. So total customer accounts for the year are at midpoint of 100,000, Think of it as just to provide some color. The easy way to think about it would be 50% California, 50% rest of the country. That's roughly the split we're expecting. I think the actual numbers will be determined, frankly, by how much business gets pulled into Q1 bookings that we have a chance to install obviously throughout Q2, Q3, Q4. So that will determine how that percent evolves throughout the year. And then -- I'm sorry, could you repeat your second question again?

是的。因此，今年的客戶總數處於 100,000 的中點，可以將其視為只是提供一些顏色。考慮它的簡單方法是 50% 的加利福尼亞州，50% 的國家其他地區。這大致是我們預期的分裂。坦率地說，我認為實際數字將取決於我們有機會在整個第二季度、第三季度和第四季度明顯安裝的第一季度預訂中有多少業務。因此，這將決定這一百分比在全年的變化情況。然後-- 對不起，你能再重複你的第二個問題嗎？

I was -- you may have already answered it. I was just wondering what proportion of California has been locked in today under NEM 2.0 before the April 14.

我是——你可能已經回答過了。我只是想知道在 4 月 14 日之前，今天有多少加利福尼亞州在 NEM 2.0 下被鎖定。

Sorry, yes. So we have about -- the backlog I talked about in the opening comments that really carries us. Think of it as through Q2 and the beginning of Q3. So all the customers that we're booking now are just adding either additional customers, if we get them done faster to Q2 or helping us fill out our operations pipeline in Q3.

對不起，是的。所以我們有關於 - 我在開場評論中談到的積壓確實讓我們受益匪淺。把它想像成通過第二季度和第三季度的開始。因此，我們現在預訂的所有客戶都只是在增加額外的客戶，如果我們在第二季度更快地完成這些客戶，或者幫助我們在第三季度填寫我們的運營渠道。

But from a California perspective, I would say one of the things we've seen with NEM previously is that there is a buildup before the change. And then after the change takes place, things do slow down for a quarter, maybe a quarter or 2. And so one of the reasons we're investing heavily in Q1 to take advantage of this is it just makes sense. That's a good business practice to build up a big backlog here in California and sort of smooth out our California business over the course of the whole year.

但從加州的角度來看，我想說我們之前在 NEM 上看到的一件事是在改變之前有一個積累。然後在發生變化之後，事情確實會放緩一個季度，也許是一個季度或兩個季度。因此，我們在第一季度大量投資以利用這一點的原因之一就是它是有道理的。這是一個很好的商業實踐，可以在加利福尼亞這裡建立大量積壓工作，並在全年的過程中使我們的加利福尼亞業務順利進行。

It's our expectation by the time we get back to the fourth quarter that will resume more normal growth rates and things will be back on track, particularly as Californians take advantage of both the offer for PV plus solar battery.

我們預計，當我們回到第四季度時，將恢復更正常的增長率，事情將重回正軌，特別是當加利福尼亞人同時利用光伏和太陽能電池的優惠時。

And then my follow-up question, I was just looking at Slide 12, and you indicated here that you have a cost of capital that's 300 to 400 basis points below what we saw in the ABS in Q4 and then, I guess, in January. Can you walk us through why -- or refresh us on why exactly your cost of capital is so much lower for SunPower Financial.

然後是我的後續問題，我只是在看幻燈片 12，你在這裡表示你的資本成本比我們在第四季度和 ABS 中看到的低 300 到 400 個基點，然後，我猜，在 1 月份.您能否向我們介紹一下原因——或者讓我們了解一下為什麼 SunPower Financial 的資本成本要低得多。

And then how do you think about -- about the cost of alternative sources of capital once that $2 billion you indicated -- once you originate enough customers to run through that $2 billion?

然後你如何考慮 - 一旦你指出了 20 億美元，你如何考慮替代資本來源的成本 - 一旦你產生足夠的客戶來運行這 20 億美元？

Sure. Guthrie, do you want to take that?

當然。格思裡，你想接受嗎？

Yes. So we're very happy with our sources of the capital for both lease and loan. I think we're very competitive on both. I think your question is mostly around loan. But on the lease side, I'm very happy to have capital to serve essentially all of this year's demand, most of which comes with fixed income or fixed rates. So it's much less sensitive to rate exposure.

是的。因此，我們對租賃和貸款的資金來源感到非常滿意。我認為我們在這兩方面都非常有競爭力。我認為你的問題主要是關於貸款的。但在租賃方面，我很高興有資金來滿足今年基本上所有的需求，其中大部分來自固定收入或固定利率。所以它對利率敞口的敏感度要低得多。

On the loan side, we've -- part of our partnerships involve different forms of capital, and that's an area that we intend to grow and diversify and include additional forms of capital via direct ABS market, institutional investors, the banking market, things like that. So we certainly hope to and plan to expand the sources of capital, not only from number of institutions, but types of capital, which will certainly impact what our cost of capital looks like going forward.

在貸款方面，我們的部分合作夥伴關係涉及不同形式的資本，這是我們打算發展和多元化的領域，包括通過直接 ABS 市場、機構投資者、銀行市場等其他形式的資本像那樣。因此，我們當然希望併計劃擴大資本來源，不僅來自機構數量，還來自資本類型，這肯定會影響我們未來的資本成本。

(Operator Instructions) And our next question comes from the line of Joseph Osha from Guggenheim.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自古根海姆的 Joseph Osha。

I wanted to go back to some of the comments that you made on the additional tax credits. I was looking at the guidance that was released earlier this week on energy communities, which I think might best be described as obtuse. And I'm wondering, as you look at that and think about the process, how long is it going to take you think before you have your dealers and yourselves really fully equipped to claim these credits and apply for them and handle that whole process?

我想回到你對額外稅收抵免的一些評論。我正在查看本週早些時候發布的關於能源社區的指南，我認為最好將其描述為遲鈍。我想知道，當你看到並思考這個過程時，你需要多長時間才能讓你的經銷商和你自己真正完全準備好申請這些積分併申請它們並處理整個過程？

That's a great question, Joseph. As you might imagine, as an inpatient business leader, we want it done yesterday. And I think to be fair to the Department of Treasury, I think they're trying to sort out how to provide guidance and meet the needs of many constituents. But the guidance that came out earlier for both low income and energy communities, we do believe needs more clarity and needs to be better defined and needs to be more specific.

這是一個很好的問題，約瑟夫。正如您想像的那樣，作為住院業務的領導者，我們希望它在昨天完成。我認為，為了對財政部公平起見，我認為他們正在努力弄清楚如何提供指導並滿足許多選民的需求。但是，我們確實認為，較早針對低收入和能源社區發布的指南需要更加清晰，需要更好地定義，需要更加具體。

When I have met with the Department of Energy, I know how passionate they are about serving low-income consumers and U.S. citizens in these energy communities. So I know the intentions are good, but it will be difficult for businesses to act upon without more clarity, and that's what we're working on with the Department of Treasury right now.

當我與能源部會面時，我知道他們對為這些能源社區的低收入消費者和美國公民提供服務有多麼熱情。所以我知道意圖是好的，但如果不更加明確，企業將很難採取行動，這就是我們目前正在與財政部合作的事情。

So I still remain cautiously optimistic. I know that they care about this and they want to get this right. To answer your question as directly as I can, I would say we'll probably take another quarter before the clarity is there, and it's built in the tools, and it's kind of a regular business practice. And if we can make that happen sooner, that would certainly be our preference.

所以我還是保持謹慎樂觀。我知道他們關心這個，他們想把這件事做好。為了盡可能直接地回答你的問題，我想說我們可能還需要四分之一的時間才能清晰明了，它是內置在工具中的，這是一種常規的業務實踐。如果我們能盡快實現這一點，那肯定是我們的首選。

Okay. And then to the second question, return to what Kashy was asking really more on the lease side. You've got -- or you're saying enough financing in place to cover this year. But as you pointed out, the industry seems to be shifting more to third-party ownership on a longer-term basis. So as you think about that, is there some, perhaps, special way that you might come at that given your relationship with Hannon? Or might we see you out there in the ABS market with lease PPA securitizations alongside your competitors?

好的。然後回到第二個問題，回到 Kashy 在租賃方面真正提出的更多要求。你已經 - 或者你說有足夠的資金來支付今年的費用。但正如您所指出的，從長遠來看，該行業似乎正在更多地轉向第三方所有權。所以當你考慮這個問題時，考慮到你與漢農的關係，你是否有一些特殊的方式可以做到這一點？或者我們是否會在 ABS 市場上看到您與競爭對手一起進行租賃 PPA 證券化？

Sure. Guthrie, do you want to cover that?

當然。格思裡，你想報導嗎？

Of course. So I'd say we are -- we have discussions going and are quite confident in our ability to bring in additional partners across the capital stack should we need them. Tax equity debt -- senior debt market as well as potential other sources of subordinated capital. Hannon is a wonderful partner, and probably we have a lot of runway to continue working with them to partner with them to bring in all of the capital.

當然。所以我想說我們是——我們正在進行討論，並且對我們在需要時能夠在整個資本體系中引入更多合作夥伴的能力充滿信心。稅收股權債務——高級債務市場以及次級資本的其他潛在來源。漢農是一個很棒的合作夥伴，我們可能有很多跑道可以繼續與他們合作，與他們合作以引入所有資本。

So I think we continue to evaluate all of the various ways that we can most efficiently monetize our lease business, and that could include direct securitization market and could include other forms as well, but we're confident in our ability to -- with efficient capital and to raise it very efficiently.

因此，我認為我們將繼續評估我們可以最有效地將租賃業務貨幣化的所有各種方式，其中可能包括直接證券化市場，也可能包括其他形式，但我們對我們的能力充滿信心 - 高效資本並非常有效地籌集資金。

So we could see you in the ABS market at some point on the lease side. That's one of the -- at least one of the potential outcomes.

所以我們可以在租賃方面的某個時候在 ABS 市場上看到你。這是其中之一——至少是潛在結果之一。

Certainly, one of the potential outcomes for sure.

當然，這是肯定的潛在結果之一。

(Operator Instructions) and our next question comes from the line of Corinne Blanchard from Deutsche Bank.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Corinne Blanchard。

The first one, if you could try to give us maybe the cadence that we could expect quarter-after-quarter for the EBITDA, maybe like your rough commentary? And then second question would be what is baked in the EBITDA guidance? Like the key input for the low range of the guidance and the high range?

第一個，如果你能試著給我們一個節奏，我們可以預期每個季度的 EBITDA，也許就像你的粗略評論一樣？然後第二個問題是 EBITDA 指南中包含什麼？像指南低頻和高頻的按鍵輸入？

Yes. Thank you, Corinne. So let me go back to 2022. actually, I'll start actually with Analyst Day. I think part of what we laid out over this vision between now and 2025 was heavy investment years in '22 and '23 and gaining more business leverage in '24 and '25, and we're well on track, both from a customer standpoint and EBITDA standpoint and EBITDA per customer standpoint.

是的。謝謝你，科琳。所以讓我回到 2022 年。實際上，我將從分析師日開始。我認為，從現在到 2025 年，我們為這一願景制定的部分內容是在 22 年和 23 年進行大量投資，並在 24 年和 25 年獲得更多的業務影響力，從客戶的角度來看，我們都在走上正軌和 EBITDA 的立場和 EBITDA 每個客戶的立場。

So we're pleased with '22, and we're looking forward to '23. Let me give you some context on the EBITDA, and then I'm going to answer your question on the -- how we think about it throughout the year. So last year, we grew EBITDA at 26%, as I said in my opening comments. The midpoint of our guidance this year is 47% growth. So that's quite an acceleration. That 2,100 bp acceleration, frankly, is earlier than we would have expected it back at Analyst Day, and we're excited to have that leverage be happening in the business already.

所以我們對 22 年很滿意，我們期待著 23 年。讓我給你一些關於 EBITDA 的背景信息，然後我將回答你關於我們全年如何看待它的問題。所以去年，正如我在開場評論中所說，我們的 EBITDA 增長了 26%。我們今年指引的中點是增長 47%。所以這是一個相當大的加速。坦率地說，這 2,100 個基點的加速比我們在分析師日的預期要早，我們很高興在業務中已經發生這種影響。

From a sequencing standpoint, even though we don't give quarterly guidance, we did say last year most of it would be back-end loaded, and that same thing will be true for 2023. Last year, we were about 25% EBITDA in the first half, 75% of the EBITDA in the second half, and we've modeled that exact same EBITDA pattern for this year. So you could think of it as 25 and 75 again this year.

從順序的角度來看，即使我們沒有給出季度指導，我們去年確實說過大部分將是後端加載，2023 年也是如此。去年，我們的 EBITDA 約為 25%上半年，下半年 EBITDA 的 75%，我們已經為今年的 EBITDA 模式建立了完全相同的模型。所以今年你可以把它想像成 25 歲和 75 歲。

And some context for that is, particularly in Q1, there is some seasonality. So Q1 is smaller than the other 3 quarters of the year. Part of that is related to weather in the beginning of the seasonality piece here. But the 2 unique factors are: one, we're making a big investment in California purposefully. That's a unique investment that we wouldn't have normally made for 1 particular quarter. And that's really to be smart about helping as many customers qualify for NEM 2.0 as possible.

一些背景是，特別是在第一季度，有一些季節性。所以第一季度比一年中的其他三個季度要小。部分原因與此處季節性文章開頭的天氣有關。但兩個獨特的因素是：第一，我們有目的地在加利福尼亞州進行大量投資。這是一項獨特的投資，我們通常不會為一個特定的季度進行投資。幫助盡可能多的客戶有資格獲得 NEM 2.0 真的很聰明。

So those extra expenses will be taking out in Q1. And then also for some context, our best 2 quarters last year in new homes were Q1 and Q2 of last year. Quite a bit of our EBITDA in Q1 from last year was due to new homes. And so we've talked about the new home slowdown and our modest expectations for new homes profitability this year. So just to give you some color, I would say, still 25% of the EBITDA in Q1, Q2, but we expect Q1 to be pretty modest as we make these investments to build and grow our business for the year.

因此，這些額外費用將在第一季度扣除。然後在某些情況下，我們去年新房最好的兩個季度是去年的第一季度和第二季度。我們去年第一季度的 EBITDA 中有相當一部分是由於新房。因此，我們討論了新房放緩以及我們對今年新房盈利能力的適度預期。所以只是為了給你一些顏色，我想說，第一季度和第二季度的 EBITDA 仍然是 25%，但我們預計第一季度將相當適度，因為我們進行這些投資以建立和發展我們今年的業務。

And yes, just maybe if you can give any other color on like what's baked in the guidance? Like just like what would it take for you to reach the $150 million? Or what can go wrong to reach the $125 million?

是的，也許你可以像指南中烤製的那樣提供任何其他顏色？就像你需要什麼才能達到 1.5 億美元？或者達到 1.25 億美元可能會出現什麼問題？

Yes. Well, we've sort of thought about it as a mix of -- it is a mix of headwinds and tailwinds. That's the reality. It's not a doomsday story. It's not a strictly positive story. On the headwinds front, we talked about new homes in our remarks. We talked about California NEM. And then obviously, there's this inflation economy factor that's out there that could impact consumer sentiment.

是的。好吧，我們有點將其視為混合體——它是逆風和順風的混合體。這就是現實。這不是一個世界末日的故事。這不是一個嚴格正面的故事。在逆風方面，我們在言論中談到了新房。我們談到了加州 NEM。然後很明顯，存在可能影響消費者情緒的通脹經濟因素。

The positives are the 2 we talked about as well, which is the IRA is going to be an incremental net benefit this year and rising utility costs have continued to make solar more and more valuable. So where we net out on those is we were conservative for both new homes and conservative for California NEM, if either 1 of those 2 outperforms our conservatism that takes you to the $140 million and above guidance. And then if any of those headwinds are stronger headwinds than we're anticipating then we're below the $140 million guidance. And I think we feel pretty good about where we're going to be on new homes in California NEM. It's really just -- is there any kind of unexpected variance in the economy or customer confidence that happens if something unexpected like that happened that would push us below the $140 million and closer to the $125 million. But it's -- as I said, it's way too early to judge after the first 6 weeks of the year. But I would say so far, we're pleased.

積極因素也是我們談到的 2 個，即 IRA 將成為今年的增量淨收益，而不斷上升的公用事業成本繼續使太陽能變得越來越有價值。因此，我們在這些方面得出的結論是，如果這兩個中的任何一個超過我們的保守主義，那麼我們對新房和加州 NEM 都持保守態度，這將使您達到 1.4 億美元及以上的指導。然後，如果這些逆風中的任何一個比我們預期的更強大，那麼我們就低於 1.4 億美元的指導。而且我認為我們對我們將在加利福尼亞 NEM 的新房的位置感覺很好。這真的只是 - 如果發生這樣的意外事件會使我們低於 1.4 億美元並接近 1.25 億美元，那麼經濟或客戶信心是否會出現任何意外變化。但正如我所說，在今年的前 6 週之後做出判斷還為時過早。但我會說到目前為止，我們很高興。

(Operator Instructions) And our next question comes from the line of Biju Perincheril from Susquehanna Financial.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Susquehanna Financial 的 Biju Perincheril 系列。

Question about battery attach rates. Once we have sort of fully transitioned to NEM 3.0, can you talk about where do you expect the attach rates to go? And also related to that, how quickly can you increase your supplies from I think you mentioned low double-digit attach rates that you can do now?

關於電池附加率的問題。一旦我們完全過渡到 NEM 3.0，你能談談你預計附加率會去哪裡嗎？與此相關的是，我認為您提到的低兩位數附加率現在可以多快增加供應？

Yes. I think if you take a look at where California NEM 3.0 rules are headed, what you immediately noticed is the battery becomes really, really critical so that you could help consumers take advantage of this dynamic rate structure that California is putting in place.

是的。我認為，如果您看一下加州 NEM 3.0 規則的發展方向，您會立即註意到電池變得非常非常重要，這樣您就可以幫助消費者利用加州正在實施的這種動態費率結構。

And so the battery goes from something that would be helpful for resiliency to something actually critical as part of saving money. And that's why the battery plus PV is really likely to become the more standard option there. So if you take a look at where this has played out and you take a look at a country like Germany, I believe their battery attach rates are now over 70%, 75%. So I think at some point, that's what happens in California.

因此，電池從有助於彈性的東西變成了真正重要的東西，作為省錢的一部分。這就是為什麼電池加光伏很可能成為那裡更標準的選擇。所以如果你看看這在哪裡發揮作用，看看像德國這樣的國家，我相信他們的電池附加率現在超過 70%、75%。所以我認為在某些時候，這就是加利福尼亞發生的事情。

Certainly, on the new homes front, we're seeing most of our new homes are PV plus battery and frankly, more and more a PV plus battery plus EV charger. But I think retrofit homes, I think you'll see more and more consumers opting in for that over time. Our battery attach rates are in the mid-teens for our direct channel as we talked about.

當然，在新房方面，我們看到大部分新房都是光伏加電池，坦率地說，越來越多的是光伏加電池加電動汽車充電器。但我認為改造房屋，我認為隨著時間的推移，你會看到越來越多的消費者選擇這樣做。正如我們所說，我們的直接渠道的電池連接率處於十幾歲左右。

I'm a little disappointed they haven't grown faster, but we also take a long-term view of the business. In other words, a customer doesn't have to buy a battery at the time of PV installation to have a battery over time. And so I also think at some point, we're going to see some growth in California for people adding batteries as they understand this dynamic rate structure and how important batteries are to take advantage of both that and future VPP program.

我有點失望他們沒有增長得更快，但我們也從長遠的角度看待業務。換句話說，客戶不必在安裝 PV 時購買電池即可長期擁有電池。因此，我也認為在某個時候，我們將看到加利福尼亞州的人們增加電池，因為他們了解這種動態費率結構以及電池對於利用該計劃和未來的 VPP 計劃的重要性。

So in our Analyst Day presentation, I think we've talked about getting to a battery attach rate that was maybe closer to 40% or something like that. And I would hope we're expecting California that it's probably above that level within the next few years.

因此，在我們的分析師日演講中，我認為我們已經討論過達到可能接近 40% 或類似水平的電池附加率。我希望我們期待加利福尼亞在未來幾年內可能高於該水平。

And then a related follow-up is, when you have the next-generation battery available, how does your gross margin improve on the battery product?

然後一個相關的後續問題是，當你有下一代電池可用時，你的電池產品的毛利率如何提高？

Yes. Terrific question. I think as I see the battery market -- solar battery market across the U.S., it's my understanding that many battery makers struggle to sell batteries profitably. I'm happy to report that our battery business is profitable. It may not be growing as fast as I wanted to, but it is profitable right now, and we think we're in a good position from an inventory standpoint.

是的。好問題。我認為，正如我所看到的電池市場——美國的太陽能電池市場，據我了解，許多電池製造商都在努力銷售電池以盈利。我很高興地報告我們的電池業務是有利可圖的。它的增長速度可能沒有我想要的那麼快，但它現在是盈利的，我們認為從庫存的角度來看我們處於有利地位。

But I think forward-looking, the SunVault 2.0, we're going to work on is critical. Once we re-architect the product, I think we're actually going to be able to take out a bunch of the cost and significantly reduce the time it takes to install and commission. And that's what matters to consumers on the cost side, and that's what matters to dealers and installers who are in the field putting these products in for customers.

但我認為具有前瞻性的 SunVault 2.0，我們將繼續努力是至關重要的。一旦我們重新設計了產品，我認為我們實際上將能夠節省大量成本並顯著減少安裝和調試所需的時間。在成本方面，這對消費者來說很重要，對在現場為客戶安裝這些產品的經銷商和安裝商來說，這很重要。

So forward-looking, if you take a look at all the other competitors in the battery space, it's taking them a couple of generations of batteries to get it right. We have a good, solid competitive product today, but not a product that's differentiated. I think SunVault 2.0 will be an opportunity for us to really differentiate ourselves in this space, and we're very excited about what we're working on behind the scenes.

如此具有前瞻性，如果你看看電池領域的所有其他競爭對手，他們需要幾代電池才能做到這一點。今天，我們擁有一款優秀、穩固的有競爭力的產品，但不是一款與眾不同的產品。我認為 SunVault 2.0 將是我們在這個領域真正脫穎而出的機會，我們對我們在幕後所做的工作感到非常興奮。

(Operator Instructions) And our next question comes from the line of Pavel Molchanov from Raymond James.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Raymond James 的 Pavel Molchanov。

As you showed the table of utility rates having jumped more last year than in the previous decade combined, are there any specific states or geographies that you can point to that have emerged as demand drivers, whereas they were not a year ago?

正如您在表格中顯示的那樣，去年公用事業費率的漲幅超過了過去十年的總和，您是否可以指出任何特定的州或地區已成為需求驅動因素，而一年前卻不是？

Thanks, Pavel. I'm not sure I can point it necessarily compared to a year ago, but I will say we have been surprised and delighted by the growth in the Northeast part of the country. So if you take a look at that, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut corridor, our business there has outgrown what our expectations would have been. And I think a lot of that is due to these older, really inefficient energy systems that much of that installed customer base has over time.

謝謝，帕維爾。與一年前相比，我不確定我能否指出這一點，但我要說的是，我們對該國東北部的增長感到驚訝和高興。因此，如果你看一下馬薩諸塞州、紐約州、新澤西州、康涅狄格州的走廊，我們在那裡的業務已經超出了我們的預期。而且我認為其中很大一部分是由於這些陳舊的、效率低下的能源系統，隨著時間的推移，大部分已安裝的客戶群都擁有這些系統。

So I think the Northeast is the area that's probably outgrowing its normal growth rate due to high utility prices. But what's interesting is that it is pretty uniform across the U.S., I mean, an average of 11% that really is hitting consumers every month. And we're seeing an increasing amount of feedback. People have always wanted to have solar as solar prices came down to save money. But I think that's risen on the list of reasons why they purchase, and it's a very big focus on the discussions we have with new customers as they come on board. They really want to make sure that they save money and they save it quickly.

因此，我認為東北地區可能由於高公用事業價格而增長超過其正常增長率。但有趣的是，它在美國相當統一，我的意思是，平均每個月有 11% 的消費者真正受到影響。我們看到越來越多的反饋。人們一直希望擁有太陽能，因為太陽能價格下降以節省資金。但我認為這在他們購買的原因列表中有所上升，並且非常關注我們與新客戶在船上進行的討論。他們真的很想確保他們省錢，而且他們很快就把錢存好了。

Appreciate that. Following up, we now have the lowest unemployment rate in 50-odd years. Are any of your installers complaining about labor shortages or rising wage rates and anything along those lines? And if so, where geographically is that more an issue?

感謝。緊接著，我們現在的失業率是50多年來最低的。您的任何安裝人員是否抱怨勞動力短缺或工資率上漲以及類似的問題？如果是這樣，在地理上哪裡更成為一個問題？

We've been very fortunate. And I think part of the reason we've been fortunate with labor is that we are on a special mission to make a positive difference in the world. So I was just out with a number of our installation teams over the past 2 weeks throughout California.

我們非常幸運。而且我認為我們對勞動力感到幸運的部分原因是我們肩負著為世界帶來積極影響的特殊使命。所以在過去的 2 周里，我剛剛和我們的一些安裝團隊一起出去了，遍及加利福尼亞。

For those who haven't had a chance to go out and see a customer installation, it's so inspiring. I mean customers are delighted. And our teams are like professional athletes up there on the roof, getting all this hard work done. So despite the fact that it's challenging work and the weather conditions very widely throughout the year, we really have had an opportunity to being able to hire as we need to hire and stay sufficiently staffed.

對於那些沒有機會出去觀看客戶安裝的人來說，這非常鼓舞人心。我的意思是客戶很高興。我們的團隊就像屋頂上的專業運動員一樣，完成所有這些艱苦的工作。因此，儘管這是一項具有挑戰性的工作，而且全年的天氣條件非常廣泛，但我們確實有機會能夠招聘，因為我們需要招聘並保持足夠的人員配備。

One of the things that's critical for us and our core values is how important safety is. And when I'm out in the field that I'm talking to our installers, the #1 value that I talk about first is how much we care about their safety. So we're constantly making sure they have the best equipment in terms of helmets and no cut gloves. We're constantly doing safety audits to see if we can improve our performance.

對我們和我們的核心價值觀至關重要的事情之一是安全的重要性。當我在現場與我們的安裝人員交談時，我首先談到的第一價值是我們對他們安全的關注程度。因此，我們不斷確保他們在頭盔和手套方面擁有最好的裝備。我們一直在進行安全審計，看看我們是否可以提高我們的表現。

And I think at the end of the day that sincere value of safety in addition to the mission comes through, and I think many people really want to work for a company like SunPower. So we've been fortunate so far. We have not really been impacted by labor shortages. Beginning of last year, we had a couple of specialty areas that were more difficult to hire for, but we were still able to hire and stay on plan throughout last year.

我認為最終，除了使命之外，安全的真誠價值也會體現出來，而且我認為很多人真的很想為像 SunPower 這樣的公司工作。所以到目前為止我們很幸運。我們並沒有真正受到勞動力短缺的影響。去年年初，我們有幾個更難招聘的專業領域，但我們仍然能夠在去年全年招聘並保持計劃。

And so far this year, I'm cautiously optimistic we'll be able to do the same. We've got time for 1 or 2 more questions.

今年到目前為止，我對我們能夠做到這一點持謹慎樂觀態度。我們還有時間再回答 1 到 2 個問題。

Certainly. And possibly, our final question for today comes from the line of Ned Baramov from Wells Fargo.

當然。可能，我們今天的最後一個問題來自富國銀行的 Ned Baramov。

You talked about backlog growth due to customers in California, rushing to submit their application before April 15. Is there a risk for customers that end up in your backlog to be effectively stolen by other installers offering better terms or faster installation times? Or is there a mechanism that you have in place to lock in the customer so that they remain in your backlog until you get to the installation of their systems even if that falls in the third quarter?

您談到了由於加利福尼亞州的客戶急於在 4 月 15 日之前提交他們的申請而導致的積壓增長。最終積壓在您的積壓中的客戶是否存在被其他提供更好條款或更快安裝時間的安裝商有效竊取的風險？或者您是否有一種機制來鎖定客戶，以便他們保留在您的積壓訂單中，直到您開始安裝他們的系統，即使是在第三季度？

Yes. Thank you for the question. So our customers who choose SunPower normally choose SunPower because we have the highest-rated customer experience in the United States for residential solar. And that's a combination of the high-quality panels, the world-class consumer confidence warranty and the long history we have at serving customers well.

是的。感謝你的提問。所以我們選擇 SunPower 的客戶通常會選擇 SunPower，因為我們在美國擁有最高評價的住宅太陽能客戶體驗。這是高品質面板、世界一流的消費者信心保證以及我們為客戶提供良好服務的悠久歷史的結合。

So it's our expectation that once customers sign up with us and sign a contract that they'll remain with us throughout that time period. One of the things we're trying to do in California is try to give some good guidance for customers on when their installation could take place. We know that for customers who have a more simple installation, it is likely that they'll still be able to be installed in the next few months.

因此，我們期望一旦客戶與我們簽約並簽訂合同，他們將在整個這段時間內與我們保持聯繫。我們在加利福尼亞試圖做的一件事是嘗試為客戶提供一些關於何時可以進行安裝的良好指導。我們知道，對於安裝更簡單的客戶來說，他們很可能在接下來的幾個月內仍然能夠安裝。

But for those who have more complicated installations and that could include a reroof or main panel upgrade, it will take us longer to get to those customers as they have a fair amount of work to do on their home before we arrive. So it's our expectation that these customers will remain with SunPower, and we feel very good about the reason they've chosen us to begin with, and we think that many of them will stick through us as we work through our backlog. Thanks very much everybody today -- yes. Sorry, go ahead. You can finish up.

但對於那些安裝更複雜並且可能包括翻新屋頂或主面板升級的人來說，我們需要更長的時間才能接觸到這些客戶，因為在我們到達之前他們的家有相當多的工作要做。因此，我們期望這些客戶將留在 SunPower，我們對他們選擇我們的原因感到非常滿意，我們認為他們中的許多人會在我們處理積壓工作時堅持下去。今天非常感謝大家 -- 是的。對不起，繼續。你可以完成了。

I just had 1 quick question on the additional platform investment, the $55 million in 2023. Is this a reflection of previously unforeseen requirements to get you to where you want to be? Or just accelerating investments to improve the EBITDA per customer?

我剛剛有一個關於額外平台投資的快速問題，即 2023 年的 5500 萬美元。這是否反映了之前無法預料的要求，讓你到達你想去的地方？或者只是加速投資以提高每個客戶的 EBITDA？

Accelerating investments to drive more growth and provide more growth opportunities. So the last page I went through in our opening comments, these new panel agreements, the GM arrangement, the new battery we're working on, those are examples and then programs like VPP and grid services are other examples of things that we're quite excited about investing heavily in. And we really think of this as my role for this company is not just to make sure we deliver results between now and 2025. But I'm constantly purposing back and forth between today and our future.

加速投資以推動更多增長並提供更多增長機會。所以我在開場評論中瀏覽的最後一頁，這些新的小組協議，通用汽車的安排，我們正在研究的新電池，這些都是例子，然後像 VPP 和網格服務這樣的程序是我們正在做的事情的其他例子對大量投資感到非常興奮。我們真的認為這是我在這家公司的職責，不僅僅是確保我們在現在和 2025 年之間取得成果。但我不斷地在今天和我們的未來之間來回調整。

And we're trying to invest in what, I would call, seeds of growth, new business opportunities that by the time we reach '25 will become material. One of the best examples of it is probably VPP. It's a business that we're in today on a smaller scale. It won't be material this year. It will begin to gain some momentum again in '23 and '24, but it's the kind of business that we would count on being more material by the time we get to 2025. So we're being very smart about -- we have a strong balance sheet. It's a land grab here in the U.S. We're leaning in, and that's all part of our strategy is to lean in and invest and build and grow something special. Big thanks to all of you for all the questions, and we look forward to sharing our results and our details with you for a terrific 2023. Thanks very much.

我們正試圖投資於我稱之為增長種子的新商業機會，到我們 25 歲時，這些機會將成為物質。最好的例子之一可能是 VPP。這是我們今天所從事的規模較小的業務。今年不會很重要。它將在 23 年和 24 年再次開始獲得一些勢頭，但到 2025 年時，我們會指望這種業務變得更加重要。所以我們非常聰明——我們有一個強勁的資產負債表。這是美國這裡的土地爭奪戰。我們正在向前邁進，這就是我們戰略的一部分，即向前邁進、投資、建設和發展一些特別的東西。非常感謝大家提出的所有問題，我們期待與您分享我們的結果和細節，共創美好的 2023 年。非常感謝。

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect. Good day.

女士們，先生們，感謝你們參加今天的會議。這確實結束了程序。您現在可以斷開連接。再會。