FTC Solar, Inc. - Annual Report: 2022 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

OR

Commission File Number 001-40350

FTC SOLAR, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (737) 787-7906

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☑

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☑

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☑ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☑ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☑

The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based on the closing price of the shares of common stock on June 30, 2022 was $158,437,496.

The number of shares of registrant’s Common Stock outstanding as of January 31, 2023, was 106,195,459.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant's 2023 Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders, to be filed on or before April 30, 2023, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this report.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Annual Report”) contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical or current facts contained in this Annual Report may be forward-looking statements. Statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, business strategy and plans and objectives of management for future operations, including, among others, liquidity, growth and profitability strategies and factors and trends affecting our business are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified in some cases by the use of words such as “believe,” “can,” “could,” “potential,” “plan,” “predict,” “goals,” “seek,” “should,” “may,” “may have,” “would,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” the negative of these words, other similar expressions or by discussions of strategy, plans or intentions.

The forward-looking statements in this Annual Report are only predictions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. We believe that these factors include, but are not limited to, the factors set forth under Item 1A. "Risk Factors". Because forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The events and circumstances reflected in our forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur, and actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.

In addition, statements that “we believe” and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this Annual Report, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain, and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements.

You should read this Annual Report with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements.

These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Annual Report. Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report, whether as a result of any new information, future events, or otherwise.

PART I

Item 1. Business.

Development of the business

FTC Solar, Inc. (the “Company”, “we”, “our”, or “us”) was founded in 2017 and is incorporated in the state of Delaware. We are a global provider of advanced solar tracker systems, supported by proprietary software and value-added engineering services. Our mission is to provide differentiated products, software, and services that maximize energy generation and cost savings for our customers, and to help facilitate the continued growth and adoption of solar power globally. Trackers significantly increase the amount of solar energy produced at a solar installation by moving solar panels throughout the day to maintain an optimal orientation relative to the sun. Our primary tracker system is currently marketed under the Voyager brand name (“Voyager”). Voyager is a next-generation two-panel in-portrait ("2P") single-axis tracker solution that we believe offers industry-leading performance and ease of installation. In September 2022, we announced the introduction of Pioneer, a new and differentiated one module-in-portrait ("1P") solar tracker solution that allows for a pile count reduction per megawatt compared to similar industry-leading solutions, as well as providing what we believe to be other benefits, such as faster assembly capability, giving potential customers the possibility for increased flexibility and additional cost savings. We have also launched a new solution for thin-film modules, filling a gap in our offering for certain U.S. modules. We have a team of dedicated renewable energy professionals with significant project installation experience focused on delivering cost reductions to our U.S. and worldwide clients across the solar project development and construction cycle. The Company is headquartered in Austin, Texas, and has international subsidiaries in Australia, China, India and South Africa.

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In April 2021, we completed an initial public offering ("IPO") of 19,840,000 shares of our common stock receiving proceeds of $241.2 million, net of underwriting discounts and commissions, but before offering costs, and began trading on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “FTCI”. Prior to the completion of the IPO, the board of directors and stockholders approved an approximately 8.25-for-1 forward stock split (the “Forward Stock Split”) of the Company’s shares of common stock which became effective on April 28, 2021. Proceeds from the IPO were used for general corporate purposes, with $54.2 million used to purchase an aggregate of 4,455,384 shares of our common stock, including shares resulting from the settlement of certain vested restricted stock units (“RSUs”) and exercise of certain options in connection with the IPO at the IPO price, less underwriting discounts and commissions.

On June 14, 2022, we closed on the acquisition of all of the outstanding stock of Shanghai Han Xiang New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. ("HX Tracker"), a China-based supplier of 1P tracker systems, in order to extend our international market presence. The purchase price included approximately $3.5 million of cash, paid in July 2022, and the issuance in June 2022 of 1,000,000 shares of the Company's common stock valued at approximately $4.4 million. In addition, as part of the purchase price, we paid the existing debt of HX Tracker owed to the previous owners, totaling approximately $0.8 million as of the acquisition date during the third quarter of 2022. In addition, certain former employees of HX Tracker, who became employees of the Company were eligible to receive up to 2.2 million RSUs which will vest over a two to four-year period based on future performance or service conditions. The goodwill recognized as part of the acquisition is attributable to expected synergies in the acquired company's tracker offering and cross selling opportunities in various international markets and is not deductible for tax purposes. Certain former key employees of HX Tracker became employees of the Company following the closing.

On July 1, 2022, we closed on an acquisition of certain assets from Standard Sun, Inc. relating to their pile testing and equipment installation business. Total purchase price was approximately $0.8 million. Two employees of this business became employees of the Company following the acquisition.

We are an emerging growth company, as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act. Under the JOBS Act, we elected to use the allowed extended transition period to delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies.

Description of the business

We currently offer trackers and software solutions targeting the utility-scale solar energy markets to current and potential customers in the United States, Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, South Africa and Australia. Our Voyager tracking system is built upon a self-powered, 2P design utilizing a 60-meter independent row architecture, which we believe provides numerous advantages to our customers. In addition, our recently announced Pioneer 1P solar tracker solution leverages technological advantages of Voyager and provides what we believe to be numerous cost savings benefits to our potential customers relative to other 1P solutions including faster assembly capability, a reduced pile count and embedment depth, and higher slope tolerance. In September 2022, we announced that Pioneer had been selected by a customer for use on multiple future project sites to supply a target of at least 500 megawatts of power.

In addition, in August 2022, we entered into an agreement with a solar contracting company to provide our Voyager 2P solar tracking solution to the distributed generation market for sites providing under 20 megawatts of power in North America. We and our partner company are targeting multiple segments with this turnkey solution offering, including commercial and industrial, community solar programs, projects for independent power producers and smaller one-off projects for sectors such as agriculture.

We also continued to expand our international footprint during 2022 with our acquisition of HX Tracker, as described above, and receipt of our first project awards in Kenya, South Africa, Malaysia and Thailand and our largest project award to date in Australia, a 128 megawatt hybrid solar project.

Our customers include project developers, solar asset owners and engineering, procurement and construction (“EPC”) contractors that design and build solar energy projects. The vast majority of our revenue in the periods presented in this Annual Report was attributable to sales in the United States and Australia.

We currently operate in one business segment and derive our revenue primarily from the sale of: (i) solar trackers and customized components of solar tracker systems, (ii) individual parts of solar tracker systems for certain specific transactions, (iii) shipping and handling services, (iv) term-based software licenses, (v) maintenance and support services for the term-based software licenses, and (vi) subscription services.

We report both product and service revenue in our consolidated financial statements. Product revenue includes revenue from the sale of our solar tracking systems and customized components of those systems, individual part sales for certain specific transactions, and sale of term-based software licenses. Service revenue includes revenue from shipping and handling services, subscription fees from licensing subscription services, and maintenance and support services in connection with the term-based software licenses.

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We incur costs associated with the revenues generated related to (i) the raw materials used in our solar tracker systems, including parts and components, (ii) personnel costs attributable to procurement, installation and delivery of finished products and services, (iii) freight and delivery, (iv) product warranty, (v) insurance, and (vi) customer support.

We currently outsource all manufacturing to contract manufacturing partners who rely largely on raw materials obtained from international sources. Based on the U.S. dollar amount of purchase orders we issued during the year ended December 31, 2022, the percentage of our spending involves partners located in the following countries:

We are focused on growing our U.S. manufacturing supply partners in 2023 in order to reduce lead times for our customers, as well as other potential benefits. As an example, in February 2023, we entered into an agreement with Taihua New Energy (Thailand) Co., LTD, a leading steel fabricator, for the creation of Alpha Steel LLC, a manufacturing partnership that will include a facility to be based in Sealy, Texas that will be dedicated to producing steel components, including torque tubes, for utility scale projects. For further discussion, see Note 22 "Subsequent events" included in our consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report.

We, and our contract manufacturing partners, were impacted by global logistics issues and increasing costs to obtain and deliver materials during the last nine months of 2021 and through the first nine months of 2022. Although overall transportation costs are still higher than pre-COVID-19 pandemic rates, there has been a decline in recent months in costs for both charter vessels and in the premium container market. In addition, steel prices also started to stabilize and decline during the fourth quarter of 2022. We continue to focus on improving product margins by seeking ways to further reduce our costs.

Market factors

Our global market opportunity is driven by two primary factors: overall growth in utility-scale solar projects and the increased usage of trackers as the preferred mounting system in utility-scale solar projects.

Governments across the globe have established policies to support a transition away from fossil fuels and towards low-carbon forms of energy, such as solar power. In the United States, various states have implemented Renewable Portfolio Standards, which require a specified percentage of the electricity sold by utilities to come from renewable sources by a certain date, as described further below. Additionally, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Biden on August 16, 2022, expanded and extended the tax credits and other tax benefits available to solar energy projects and the solar energy supply chain, however we note that implementing regulations for this law are still in process, which creates uncertainty about the extent of its impact on our Company and the solar energy industry. Other policies and actions of the federal government have had a negative impact on demand through creation of uncertainty as to the ability to import solar modules into the United States, as discussed below. Globally, renewable energy support has accelerated since the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which became effective in 2016. These factors, along with efficiency improvements and cost reductions in the underlying photovoltaic cell technology used in solar energy production, have contributed to solar energy becoming the fastest growing and most affordable source of new electricity in America, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Solar trackers have been gaining market share versus fixed-tilt mounting systems due to their ability to optimize energy production, accommodate more varied terrain and offer a more attractive return on investment. The United States currently represents the largest portion of the solar tracker market while continued growth is expected in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia. We believe we are well positioned to benefit from the accelerating adoption of both one and two-panel in-portrait tracker systems, bifacial panels and larger-format or higher-powered bifacial panels.

Our growth strategy is based on (i) increasing our market share in the United States, (ii) continuing our international expansion, (iii) enhancing our tracker product offerings, (iv) reducing our operating costs through operating leverage, (v) expanding our software offering by supporting operating, maintenance and lifecycle management and improving the attachment rate of enhanced software to tracker sales, (vi) expanding our sales to the distributed generation market, and (vii) identifying additional strategic acquisitions.

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Government policies and regulations

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 such as system performance payments, payments of renewable energy credits associated with renewable energy generation and manufacturing of specific solar components, as well as exclusions of solar energy systems from property tax assessments.

The most notable incentive program impacting our U.S. business has been the investment tax credit ("ITC") for solar energy projects, which allows taxpayers to offset their U.S. federal income tax liability by a certain percentage of their cost basis in solar energy systems placed in service for commercial use. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Biden on August 16, 2022, expanded and extended the tax credits and other tax benefits available to solar energy projects and the solar energy supply chain. ITCs have been extended for such projects through at least 2032 and, depending on the location of a particular project and its ability to satisfy certain labor and domestic content requirements, the ITC percentage can range between 30% and 50%. Manufacturers of specific solar components are also now eligible to claim production tax credits as an alternative to the ITC. Implementing regulations for this law are still in process.

Renewable portfolio standards (“RPS”) are a set of policies designed to increase the use of renewable energy sources for electricity generation. In general, RPS set a minimum requirement for the share of electricity supply that comes from designated renewable energy resources by a certain date or year. According to information provided by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, as of November 2022, 36 states and the District of Columbia had established an RPS or renewable energy goal. In 12 of those states and the District of Columbia, the requirement is for 100% clean energy by 2050 or earlier. A common feature of RPS policies is a renewable electricity credit trading system that reduces the cost to comply with the RPS.

Other policies and actions of the federal government have had a negative impact on demand through creation of uncertainty as to the ability to import solar modules into the United States.

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act ("UFLPA") was passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Biden on December 23, 2021. The UFLPA establishes a rebuttable presumption that the importation of any goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, or that are produced by certain entities, is prohibited by Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 and that such goods, wares, articles, and merchandise are not entitled to entry to the United States. U.S. Customs and Border Protection ("CBP") began implementing the provisions of UFLPA on June 21, 2022, resulting in new rules for solar module importers and reviews by CBP. There continues to be uncertainty in the market around achieving full compliance with UFLPA for the importation of solar modules, whether related to sufficient traceability of materials or other factors.

On March 25, 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce, in response to a petition by Auxin Solar, Inc., initiated an investigation of claims related to alleged circumvention of U.S. antidumping and countervailing duties ("AD/CVD") by solar manufacturers in certain Southeast Asian countries in an effort to determine whether or not solar cells and/or modules made in those Southeast Asian nations use parts originating from China in order to circumvent the AD/CVD tariffs. On June 6, 2022, President Biden issued an Executive Order allowing U.S. solar deployers the ability to import solar modules and cells from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam free from certain duties for 24 months, along with other incentives designed to accelerate U.S. domestic production of clean energy technologies.

Since 2016, CBP has issued a number of withhold release orders ("WRO") directed at forced labor in China, including WROs directed specifically at activity in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. In addition, recent WROs related to polysilicon requires panel importers to demonstrate that polysilicon used in their panels has not been sourced using forced labor. To date, CBP has used the WROs to detain solar panels, which has disrupted the U.S. solar installation market and caused additional uncertainty on future projects.

These policies and actions have resulted in some developers deferring projects due to the uncertainty of panel supply and costs, which has negatively impacted our 2022 revenues and cash flows and may continue to negatively impact our anticipated revenues and our cash flows in 2023.

Environmental, social and governance (“ESG”)

Our mission and core values -

Our mission is to drive energy independence through effective and efficient solar engineering and innovation.

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The following three central pillars are what we were founded on and what currently guides our company:

We accelerate the adoption of renewable energy by reducing the cost of construction, simplifying the installation process and improving the energy yield of solar projects, thus supporting the transition away from fossil fuels. We make solar energy generation more efficient and attainable with our software, engineering and differentiated products.

We are committed to the following core values in the way we do business:

Environmental management -

We are committed to protecting our environment for the benefit of current and future generations. We design our products and operations to reduce environmental impacts and maximize environmental savings.

Beginning in August 2018, several of our functional groups achieved ISO 14001:2015 certification through third-party assurance. The standard from the International Organization for Standardization ("ISO") details the requirements for an environmental management system that we use to measure and manage our environmental performance. Specifically, our tracker business is ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018 certified, and through Intertek has met the standards necessary to qualify for the UL certification for solar trackers. Our contract manufacturing partners also undergo a qualification process to remain on our approved vendor list, which includes a review and assessment of their environmental performance.

In 2021, we performed a greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions accounting exercise to assess emissions across our global operations, focusing initially on Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions from our owned operations, including purchased electricity and heating. Through this exercise, we identified strategic and operational opportunities to reduce emissions and confirmed most of our GHG emissions are associated with our supply chain.

We continue to shift away from nonrenewable materials, especially those derived from petroleum, such as plastics and Styrofoam, and have established a waste management program to promote collection and processing of recyclable materials within the organization, including seeking out trusted electronics recycling partners. Additionally, we designed our solar tracker offerings to minimize steel content, to require no specialized tools and to reduce labor hours needed for installation and maintenance.

Social -

In addition to providing training to our employees and regular reinforcement of our core values, we have also invested resources in developing a workforce where our teams can enjoy a collaborative environment.

Personal health and safety of each employee is of utmost importance, and we work to continually improve our safety policies and procedures. Our employees do not directly perform solar installations, but we consider the safety of the on-site installers when designing our products and installation procedures.

ISO 45001 is a framework that was developed to address occupational health and safety risks in the workplace using best practices from international labor standards and regulatory agencies. As noted above, we hold ISO 45001:2018 certification and use a separate but aligned qualification process with our contract manufacturing partners.

We provide competitive medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance and savings plan benefits to our employees and regularly publicly recognize individual and team work and innovations in company-wide meetings.

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Governance -

We are governed by a board of directors comprising eight members, including five independent members. Our board has established an audit committee, compensation committee and nominating and governance committee, consisting solely of independent members, to advise the full board on various matters. The audit committee will also periodically meet separately with our independent auditors, without the presence of management, to discuss any matters of importance or concern to our auditors. Additionally, our Director of Internal Audit organizationally reports directly to the audit committee.

Our executive officers serve at the discretion of our board of directors and hold office until his or her successor is duly appointed or until his or her earlier resignation or removal. There are no family relationships among any of our directors or executive officers. The following table sets forth the names, ages and positions of our executive officers as of the date of this Annual Report:

In addition to our executive officers, our global executive leadership team also includes other individuals, such as our Chief Accounting Officer, CIO & Chief Data Officer, Chief People Officer, General Counsel and certain others. Additional biographical information on our executive officers will be set forth in the 2023 Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders and is incorporated herein by reference.

Outlined below under "Human capital resources", is information on the diversity in gender, age and ethnicity of our board of directors, executive leadership team and employee population as of December 31, 2022.

Climate change

Climate change has primarily impacted our business operations by increasing demand for solar power generation and, as a result, for use of our products. While climate change has not resulted in any material negative impact to our operations to date, we recognize the risk of disruptions to our supply chain due to extreme weather events. This has led us to expand the diversity of our supplier base and to partner with more local suppliers to reduce shipping and transportation needs. We are also increasingly partnering with larger scale steel producers rather than smaller suppliers to facilitate scaling of our operations while remaining conscious of the environmental impacts of steel manufacturing as the regulatory landscape around these high-emitting industries evolves.

We also attempt to mitigate the climate-related risks from the use of our products by designing our equipment and systems to have a high-slope tolerance and wind mitigation capabilities, while at the same time reducing the required foundation/pile count needed. This allows our trackers to be installed in increasingly hostile environments with minimal disturbance to the surrounding land.

Seasonality

Our revenue may be impacted by seasonality and variability related to the timing of construction activity. Based on historical experience, we have experienced lower levels of customer purchasing during winter months in cold-weather climates as it is more costly to our customers to set foundations when the ground is frozen.

Competition

The tracker industry is highly specialized and dominated by a relatively small number of companies. Our direct tracker competitors include Array Technologies, Inc. and Nextracker Inc. We also compete indirectly with manufacturers of fixed-tilt mounting systems. We compete on the basis of product performance and features, total cost of ownership (usually measured by the levelized cost of energy), reliability and duration of product warranty, sales, manufacturing and distribution capabilities, training, customer support and the ability to identify, hire and retain qualified personnel.

Several of our existing and potential competitors are significantly larger than we are and may have greater financial, marketing, manufacturing, distribution and customer support resources, as well as broader brand recognition and greater market penetration, especially in certain markets.

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Patents, trademarks and trade names

We maintain a robust program of research and development to continue to enhance and expand our product offerings to our customers. During the year ended December 31, 2022, our research and development costs totaled $9.9 million, including employee salaries and benefit costs.

Our trademarks and trade names include, but are not limited to, Voyager Tracker, Pioneer Tracker, SunDAT, SunPath, Atlas and FTC Solar, which are protected under applicable intellectual property laws. This Annual Report also may contain trademarks, service marks, trade names and copyrights of other companies, which are the property of their respective owners. Solely for convenience, the trademarks, service marks, trade names and copyrights referred to in this Annual Report are listed without the TM, SM, © and ® symbols, but we will assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the rights of the applicable licensors, if any, to these trademarks, service marks, trade names and copyrights.

As of December 31, 2022, we had 5 U.S. trademark registrations, 11 U.S. applications for trademark registration, and 7 foreign applications for trademark registration. We had 46 issued U.S. patents, 9 issued non-U.S. patents, and 10 patent applications pending for examination in the United States (including 3 allowed) and 21 patent applications pending for examination in other countries related to panel attachments, solar tracking algorithms, related design and assembly methods, and software solutions. Our issued U.S. patents are expected to expire between 2023 and 2041.

Human capital resources

Our year-end headcount by department for each period was as follows:

At December 31, 2022, approximately 90% of our employees were located in North America and India with the remainder based primarily in China, Australia and other Southeast Asian or Middle Eastern countries. We believe we have a diverse employee base in terms of gender, age, experience, background and ethnicity. As an example, the self-identified gender of our board of directors and global employee workforce at December 31, 2022, was as follows:

As described further in Note 22, "Subsequent events" included in our consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report, in January 2023, the composition of our board of directors changed with the resignation of Thurman J. "T.J." Rodgers and the appointment of a second female member, Tamara Mullings, to the board of directors. Mrs. Mullings' ethnicity is African American.

The age range for our board of directors and global employee workforce at December 31, 2022, was as follows:

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Additionally, we gather ethnicity information on our U.S. employees, which at December 31, 2022, was as follows:

We also seek to attract, advance and empower women in advancing their skills and career opportunities through networking, mentorship and professional development. As an example, we sponsor an internal Women's Innovation Network (WIN) which is focused on attracting, empowering and investing in women's skill and career opportunities. This group holds periodic on-line meetings and events open to the entire employee population at various times during each year. At December 31, 2022, women held the following leadership positions within the Company:

We use a mix of competitive base salary, performance-based equity compensation awards and other employee benefits to attract, retain and motivate highly qualified employees and executives. The health and safety of our employees are of primary concern. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have taken significant steps to protect our workforce, including but not limited to, working remotely when feasible and implementing social distancing protocols consistent with guidelines issued by federal, state and local governments.

We encourage our employees to take appropriate precautions in accordance with guidance from public health organizations and in following company guidelines to protect their health and safety. Employees are expected to report all instances of unsafe working conditions or safety incidents that occur. We also provide training to employees on safety measures they are expected to follow, as well as providing appropriate personal protective equipment as needed. Our Executive Leadership Team frequently reviews and monitors safety statistics on our workforce and takes appropriate corrective action when necessary.

None of our employees are represented by a labor union, and we consider relations with our employees to be good.

Available information

We disseminate information about the Company through required filings we make with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and, at our discretion, on our website at www.ftcsolar.com.

Information contained on or connected to our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report and should not be considered part of this Annual Report or other filings we make with the SEC. The SEC maintains a site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding reporting issuers. Our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K are filed electronically and are available free of charge at http://www.sec.gov. Additionally, these reports are available free of charge on our website as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC.

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Paper copies may also be obtained at no cost upon request to our General Counsel at 9020 North Capital of Texas Hwy., Building 1, Suite 260, Austin, TX 78759 or by calling (737) 787-7906.

Item 1A. Risk Factors.

In conducting our business, we may face risks and uncertainties that may interfere with our business objectives. You should carefully consider the following risk factors, as well as all of the other information contained in this Annual Report, including “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto included elsewhere in this Annual Report. The risks and uncertainties below are not the only ones that we face. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that we currently believe are not material, may also become important factors that adversely affect our business. The occurrence of any of the following risks, or others specified below, could materially and adversely affect our business, strategies, prospects, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. In such case, the market price of our common stock could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

Executive Summary

As noted above, we are subject to a number of risks that in some cases have and moving forward if realized could further adversely affect our business, strategies, prospects, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Some of the more significant risks and uncertainties we face include those summarized below. The summary below is not exhaustive and is qualified by reference to the full set of risk factors set forth in this "Risk Factors" section. Please carefully consider all of the information in this Annual Report, including the full set of risks set forth in this "Risk Factors" section, and in our other filings with the SEC before making an investment decision regarding us.

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Risks Related to Our Business and Our Industry

Our limited operating history and the rapidly changing solar industry make it difficult to evaluate our current business and future prospects and we may not achieve profitability in the future.

We have only been in existence since January 3, 2017, and the first installation of Voyager was in the third quarter of 2019. In September 2022, we announced the introduction of Pioneer, a new and differentiated 1P solar tracker solution and launched a new solution for thin-film modules, filling a gap in our offering for certain U.S. modules. Our solar tracker systems and other solar energy products and services are used primarily in utility-scale ground-mounted solar energy projects. As a result, our future success depends on continued demand for utility-scale solar energy products and services and the ability of solar equipment manufacturers and suppliers to meet this demand. The solar industry is an evolving industry that has experienced substantial changes in recent years, and consumers and businesses ultimately may not adopt solar energy as an alternative energy source at levels sufficient to grow our business. Some of the factors that may impact the demand for solar energy include:

We have encountered and will continue to encounter risks and difficulties frequently experienced by growing companies in rapidly changing industries, including unpredictable and volatile revenue. If demand for solar energy fails to develop sufficiently or is not sustained, demand for our products and services will suffer, which would have an adverse impact on our ability to increase our revenue and grow our business.

We have a history of losses that may continue in the future, and we may not achieve profitability or generate positive cash flow.

We had a net loss of $99.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. We have incurred substantial net losses from our inception, and we may not be able to achieve profitability and may incur additional losses in the future. At December 31, 2022, we had an accumulated deficit of $248.8 million. In addition, during the three year period ended December 31, 2022, we used $186.7 million of cash to fund our operating activities and have $44.4 million of cash and cash equivalents remaining on hand.at December 31, 2022.

Our revenue growth may slow or revenue may decline for a number of reasons, including governmental tariffs or restrictions on imports, a decline in demand for our offerings, increased competition, a lack of success in converting sales leads into binding purchase orders, loss of existing customers, our inability to sell software and other complementary products, a decrease in the growth of the solar industry or our market share, future decline in average selling prices of our products and services, our inability to enter certain international markets or our failure to capitalize on growth opportunities. We may not achieve profitability for a number of reasons, including any declines in revenue, as discussed above, as well as increases in costs to manufacture our products, the impact of U.S. trade tariffs and the imposition of additional tariffs applicable to our industry or our products. In addition, we expect to incur additional costs and expenses related to the continued development and expansion of our business, including in connection with any future acquisitions, as well as ongoing development and marketing of our products and services, expanding into new markets and geographies with respect to both manufacturing and sales of our products, maintaining and enhancing our research and development operations, hiring additional personnel, incurring additional overhead costs and incurring greater costs from professional third-party advisors as necessary in connection with the expansion of our business and public company operations. We do not know whether our revenue will grow rapidly enough to absorb such costs and expenses, or the extent of such costs and expenses and their impact on our results of operations. If we

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fail to generate sufficient revenue to support our operations, we may not be able to achieve profitability or generate sufficient cash flow to meet our financial obligations and our liquidity position will be negatively impacted. See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Liquidity and Capital Resources" for a further discussion of the other factors that may impact our liquidity position.

As a result, we may need to issue additional debt or obtain new equity financing to fund our operations. We may be unable to obtain any desired additional debt or equity financing on terms favorable to us, or at all, depending on interest rates, our stock price and then existing market or other conditions. The ability to raise additional financing depends on numerous factors that are outside our control, including general economic and market conditions, the health of financial institutions, investors' and lenders' assessments of our prospects and the prospects of the solar industry in general.

The market for our products and services is highly competitive and rapidly evolving and we expect to face increased competition.

The market for solar energy products and services is highly competitive with relatively low barriers to entry. We principally compete with other solar tracker equipment suppliers, as well as fixed-tilt suppliers. A number of companies have developed or are developing solar tracker systems and other products and services that compete or will compete directly with our products and services in the utility-scale solar energy market. Public competitors in the solar tracker market include, among others, Array Technologies, Inc. and Nextracker Inc. In addition, there are numerous private company competitors, both domestically and internationally. We expect competition to intensify as new competitors enter the market and existing competitors attempt to increase their market shares. Any failure by us to develop or adopt new or enhanced technologies or processes, or to adapt or react to changes in existing technologies, could result in product obsolescence, the loss of competitiveness of our products, including offering lower cost savings or return on investment relative to competing products, decreased revenue and a loss of market share to competitors.

Several of our existing and potential competitors are significantly larger than we are and may have greater financial, marketing, manufacturing, distribution and customer support resources, as well as broader brand recognition and greater market penetration, especially in certain markets. For example, certain of our competitors have greater capacity and ability to manufacture their products in the United States, which can provide a competitive advantage. In addition, our competitors’ existing or future products may result in higher energy production and lower cost of energy for the solar energy projects to which they are deployed, either broadly or in certain conditions. Some of our competitors have more resources and experience in developing or acquiring new products and technologies and creating market awareness for these offerings, as well as more established customer relationships due to their longer operating histories. Because we are a fairly new participant in the solar tracker market, both in the United States and globally, it is essential that we acquire market share from our competitors, and our failure to do so could impact our ability to continue to grow our business.

Further, technological advances in the tracker industry are developing rapidly and certain competitors may be able to develop or deploy new products and services more quickly than we can, or that are more reliable or that provide more functionality than ours. For example, we intend to continue to develop and deploy products that can withstand higher wind speeds, are adaptable to irregular site boundaries and undulating terrain and can support larger-format panels; however, our competitors may do so more quickly or effectively. In addition, some of our competitors have the financial resources to offer competitive products at aggressive pricing levels, which could cause us to lose sales or market share, or prevent us from gaining sales or market share, or require us to lower prices for our products and services to compete effectively. If we have to reduce our prices, or if we are unable to offset any future reductions in our average selling prices by increasing our sales volume, reducing our costs and expenses, or introducing new products and services, our revenue and gross profit would suffer.

We also may face competition from some of our customers or potential customers or other participants in the solar energy industry who evaluate our capabilities against the merits of manufacturing products internally or as a complementary offering to their other products. For example, solar panel manufacturers or project developers could develop or acquire competing technology and, in the case of project developers, use such technology in their solar energy projects. Due to the fact that such customers may not seek to make a profit directly from the manufacture of these products, they may have the ability to manufacture competitive products at a lower cost than we would charge such customers. As a result, our customers or potential customers may purchase fewer of our systems or sell products that compete with our systems, which would negatively impact our revenue and gross profit.

Our solar tracker systems and associated products and services may not achieve broader market acceptance, which would prevent us from increasing our revenue and market share.

If we fail to achieve broader market acceptance of our products and services, including international acceptance of Voyager and Pioneer, our ability to increase our revenue, gain market share and achieve profitability would be

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adversely impacted. Our ability to achieve broader market acceptance for our products and services may be affected by a number of factors, including:

In addition, our reputation and our relationship with our customers is paramount to us, and we have invested heavily in building a brand and solutions associated with high quality, differentiated product offerings and strong customer service. We believe that maintaining the quality of our products and the strength of our reputation is critical to our existing customer relationships and our ability to win new customers and achieve broader market acceptance. Any negative publicity can adversely affect our reputation, and may arise from many sources, including actual or alleged misconduct, errors or improper business practices by employees, officers or current or former directors, including for activities external to FTC Solar, employee claims against us, product defects or failures, future litigation or regulatory actions, matters affecting our financial reporting or compliance with SEC or exchange listing requirements, media coverage, whether accurate or not, governance lapses or workplace misconduct. In addition, we and our officers, directors and/or employees could be involved in future litigation or claims which could result in negative publicity and adversely impact our business, even if without merit. Any such reputational damage could reduce demand for our products, undermine the loyalty of our customers or reduce our ability to attract new customers and recruit and retain employees, and adversely impact our ability to increase our market share and revenue.

A decrease in the price of electricity may harm our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Decreases in the price of electricity, whether in organized electric markets or with contract counterparties, may negatively impact the owners of solar energy projects or make the purchase of solar energy systems less economically attractive and would likely result in lower sales of our products and services. The price of electricity could decrease as a result of:

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If the cost of electricity generated by solar energy installations incorporating our systems or similar tracker systems is high relative to the cost of electricity from other sources, then our business, financial condition and results of operations may be harmed.

Our success in providing panel agnostic versions of our solar tracker systems will depend in part upon our ability to continue to work closely with leading solar panel manufacturers.

We continue to work on variants of our solar tracker systems that enable direct attachment to solar panels produced by various solar panel manufacturers. The market success of such panel agnostic tracker solutions will depend in part on our ability to continue to work closely with solar panel manufacturers to design solar tracker systems that are compatible with their solar panels, including new larger-format solar panels that are entering the market. The solar panel manufacturer market is large and diversified, with many market participants, and we may not be able to effectively work with all necessary solar panel manufacturers on the development of such compatible tracker solutions for a variety of reasons, including differences in marketing or selling strategy, our relatively limited operating history, competitive considerations, engineering challenges, lack of competitive pricing and technological compatibility. For example, prior to September 2022, we did not have a solution for certain thin-film U.S. produced modules, which limited the potential market for our products. In addition, our ability to form effective partnerships with solar panel manufacturers may be adversely affected by the substantial challenges faced by many of these manufacturers due to declining prices and revenue from sales of solar panels and the tariffs in the United States.

If potential owners of solar energy systems incorporating our solar tracker systems are unable to secure financing on acceptable terms, we could experience a reduction in the demand for our products.

Voyager, and more recently Pioneer, are relatively new to the market, with Voyager having achieved product certification and first installation in 2019 and Pioneer being introduced to potential customers in September 2022. We believe our Voyager tracker allowed us to quickly build a strong reputation in the industry, resulting in us becoming the fourth largest tracker supplier in the United States in 2021, with an estimated market share of approximately 7% in 2021 (based on an estimate from a December 2022 Wood Mackenzie report). However, the limited deployment of Voyager and the short operating history to date for systems that have been installed, coupled with our relatively smaller size and capitalization compared to some of our competitors, could result in lenders or tax equity providers refusing to provide the financing to our customers that is necessary for them to purchase solar energy systems based on our product platform on favorable terms, or at all. Additionally, a further increase in interest rates, or a reduction in the supply of, or change in the market terms offered for project debt or tax equity financing, could make it more difficult for our customers to secure the necessary financing on favorable terms, or at all. Any of these events could result in reduced demand for our products, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Our dependence on a limited number of customers as well as the payment terms we agree to with such customers may impair our ability to operate profitably.

We have been dependent in each year since our inception on a small number of customers who generate a significant portion of our business. During the year ended December 31, 2022, three customers accounted for approximately 23%, 20% and 11%, respectively, of total revenue. During the year ended December 31, 2021, three customers accounted for approximately 37%, 20% and 15%, respectively, of total revenue. During the year ended December 31, 2020, four customers accounted for approximately 21%, 19%, 10% and 10%, respectively, of total revenue. Further, our trade accounts receivable are all from companies within or those that serve the solar industry. Three customers accounted for approximately 82% of our total receivables at December 31, 2022, including one customer that accounted for approximately 55% of our total receivables at December 31, 2022.

As a result, we may have difficulty operating profitably if there is a delay or default in payment by any of our customers, we lose an existing order or we are unable to generate new orders from new or existing customers. In addition, we make significant expenditures in fulfilling an order prior to being paid in full by our customer for such order, and therefore any delay or default in payment by a customer may result in our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations being materially adversely affected. Furthermore, to the extent that any one customer or a small number of customers continues to account for a large percentage of our revenue, the loss of any such customer or that customer’s inability to meet its payment obligations could materially affect our ability to operate profitably. We anticipate that our dependence on a limited number of customers in any given fiscal year, as well as being required to make significant expenditures in fulfilling an order prior to being paid in full by our customer for such order, will continue for the foreseeable future. There is always a risk that existing customers will elect not to do business with us in the future or will experience financial difficulties, and the nature of our business requires us to take credit risk on behalf of our customers. If we do not book more orders with existing customers, or develop relationships with new customers, we may not be able to increase, or even maintain, our revenue, and our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.

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We invest significant time, resources and management attention to identifying and developing project leads that are subject to our sales and marketing focus, and if we are unsuccessful in converting such project leads (or awarded orders) into binding purchase orders, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

The commercial contracting and bidding process for solar project development is long and has multiple steps and uncertainties. We closely monitor the development of potential sales leads through this process. Project leads may not be converted into binding purchase orders at any stage of the bidding process because either (i) a competitor's product is selected to fulfill some or all of the order due to price, functionality or other reasons or (ii) the project does not progress to the stage involving the purchase of tracker systems. In addition, there is a risk that an awarded order (which is an order for which we are in the process of documenting a contract but for which a contract has not yet been signed, or that have been awarded in writing or verbally with a mutual understanding that the order will be contracted in the future) will not be converted into a binding purchase order, or the time for converting such awarded order to a binding purchase order will be longer than expected. In particular, we have seen awarded orders take a longer period of time than expected to convert to binding purchase orders, and expect this trend to continue in the future in respect of currently awarded orders and future awarded orders, as a result of developers deferring projects due to the uncertainty of panel supply and costs related to UFLPA, AD/CVD and WROs, as described elsewhere, which has negatively impacted our 2022 revenues and cash flows and may continue to negatively impact our anticipated revenues and our cash flows in 2023. There is also a risk that an awarded order once converted to a binding purchase order will not be subject to the same pricing as we originally anticipated. If we fail to convert a significant number of project leads that are subject to our sales and marketing focus (or awarded orders) into binding purchase orders, or the time for converting awarded orders to a binding purchase order is longer than expected, or the pricing in binding purchase orders is not as favorable to us as originally anticipated in the awarded order, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

Due to the seasonality of construction in the United States, our results of operations may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter, which could make our future performance difficult to predict and could cause our results of operations for a particular period to fall below expectations, resulting in a decline in the price of our common stock.

Our quarterly results of operations are difficult to predict and may fluctuate significantly in the future. Because a substantial majority of our sales since inception have been concentrated in the U.S. market, we have experienced seasonal and quarterly fluctuations in the past as a result of seasonal fluctuations in our customers’ businesses. Additionally, our end-users’ ability to install solar energy systems is affected by weather. For example, during the winter months in cold-weather climates in the United States, construction may be delayed in order to let the ground thaw to reduce costs. Such installation delays can impact the timing of orders for our products. We have expanded into areas with traditionally warmer climates which has resulted in less pronounced seasonal variations in our revenue profile, and we expect this trend to continue as we continue to expand into such areas.

Given that we are an early-stage company operating in a rapidly growing industry, the true extent of historic fluctuations due to the seasonality of construction may have been masked by recent impacts from tariff and other regulatory issues, as well as rising inflation and challenging supply chain conditions and consequently may not be readily apparent from our historical results of operations and may be difficult to predict. Any substantial decrease in revenue would have an adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and stock price. Seasonality and fluctuations in sales as described herein may also present cash flow challenges as well as place strain on our supply chain.

We plan to continue expanding into additional international markets, which will expose us to additional regulatory, economic, political, reputational and competitive risks.

We have been, and plan to continue, expanding our operations to other countries, which requires significant resources and management attention and subjects us to regulatory, economic, political and competitive risks in addition to those we already face in the United States. There are significant risks and costs inherent in doing business in international markets, including:

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We have limited experience with certain international regulatory environments and market practices and may not be able to penetrate or successfully operate in the markets we may choose to enter or have entered or otherwise effectively mitigate the regulatory, economic, political, reputational and competitive risks that are inherent when operating in such environments. In addition, we may incur significant expenses as a result of our international expansion, and we may not be successful. Our failure to successfully manage these risks could harm our international operations and have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

We may acquire other companies or technologies, which could divert our management’s attention, result in dilution to our stockholders, reduce our available cash that could be used for other purposes and otherwise disrupt our operations and harm our results of operations.

We may decide to continue to grow our business through additional acquisitions of businesses and technologies rather than through internal development. The identification of suitable acquisition candidates can be difficult, time consuming and costly, and we may not be able to successfully complete newly identified acquisitions, or successfully integrate our 2022 acquisition of Shanghai Han Xiang New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (commonly known as, and referred to herein, as "HX Tracker") or other new acquisitions such that they become long-term profitable operations. The risks we face in connection with acquisitions include, but are not limited to:

Our failure to address these risks or other risks encountered in connection with currently completed or future acquisitions and investments could cause us to fail to realize the anticipated benefits of these acquisitions or investments and incur unanticipated liabilities, or otherwise harm our business. Currently completed or future acquisitions also could result in dilutive issuances of our equity securities, use of our cash in payment of cash consideration, the incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities or amortization expenses, any of which could harm our financial condition. For example, we funded the acquisition of HX Tracker using $3.5 million of cash and by issuing

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1,000,000 shares of our common stock valued at approximately $4.4 million, along with paying the existing debt of HX Tracker owed to previous owners totaling approximately $0.9 million following the acquisition. In addition, certain former employees of HX Tracker, who became employees of the Company were eligible to receive up to 2.2 million RSUs which will vest over a two to four-year period based on future performance or service conditions. Any of these risks, if realized, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Defects or quality or performance problems in our products could result in loss of customers, reputational damage and decreased revenue, and we may face warranty, indemnity and product liability claims arising from defective products.

Although we set stringent quality standards for our products, they may contain errors or defects, especially when first introduced or when new generations are released. Errors, defects or poor performance can arise due to design flaws, defects in raw materials or components, manufacturing difficulties and quality control failures, which can affect both the quality and the yield of the product. Any actual or perceived errors, defects or poor performance in our products could result in replacements or recalls, remediation requests and warranty claims, shipment delays, rejection of our products, damage to our reputation, lost revenue, diversion of our engineering personnel from our product development efforts, diversion of our sales personnel from sales efforts and increases in customer service and support costs, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Furthermore, defective products may give rise to warranty, indemnity, product liability, liquidated damages or other contractual claims against us that exceed any revenue or profit we receive from the affected products, including claims for damages related to aspects or components of a solar energy project that go beyond the scope of our product offerings. Our limited warranties cover defects in materials and workmanship of our products. As a result, we bear the risk of warranty claims long after we have sold products and recognized revenue. Our accrued reserves for warranty claims are based on our assumptions and we do not have a long history of making such assumptions. As a result, these assumptions could prove to be materially different from the warranty obligations that we may be required to compensate customers for in the case of defective products. Our failure to accurately predict future warranty claims could result in unexpected volatility in, and have a material adverse effect on, our financial condition. In addition, while we seek to support our warranty obligations with warranties from our contract manufacturers, such warranties may not be of the same scope as our warranty obligations, or we may not be able to effectively enforce our rights thereunder.

If one of our products were to cause injury to someone or cause property damage, including as a result of product malfunctions, defects or improper installation, then we could be exposed to product liability claims. We could incur significant costs and liabilities if we are sued and if damages are awarded against us, which could far exceed the revenue we recognize in connection with the related project. Further, any product liability claim we face could be expensive to defend and could divert management’s attention. The successful assertion of a product liability claim against us could result in potentially significant monetary damages, penalties or fines, subject us to adverse publicity, damage our reputation and competitive position and adversely affect sales of our products. In addition, product liability claims, injuries, defects or other problems experienced by other companies in the solar energy industry could lead to unfavorable market conditions for the industry as a whole and may have an adverse effect on our ability to attract new customers, thus harming our growth and financial performance.

If we fail to retain key personnel or if we fail to attract additional qualified personnel, we may not be able to achieve our anticipated level of growth and our business could suffer.

Our future success and ability to implement our business strategy depend, in part, on our ability to attract and retain key personnel, and on the continued contributions of members of our senior management team and key technical personnel, each of whom would be difficult to replace. All of our employees, including our senior management, are free to terminate their employment relationships with us at any time. Competition for highly skilled individuals with technical expertise is extremely intense in our industry, and we face challenges identifying, hiring and retaining qualified personnel in many areas of our business. Such challenges intensified during the second half of 2021 and extended into 2022 as a result of disruptions in the labor force due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, as a response to adverse market and regulatory conditions during much of 2022, we froze all non-essential hiring during the year and implemented a reduction in workforce in December 2022. We also converted payment of earned incentive compensation from cash to stock in mid-2022. These factors may create additional challenges in retaining our personnel. As we unfreeze our hiring efforts in the future as a response to expected growth, integrating new employees into our team could be disruptive to our operations, requiring substantial resources and management attention and ultimately prove unsuccessful. An inability to retain our senior management and other key personnel or to attract additional qualified personnel could limit or delay our strategic efforts, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

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Risks Related to Government Regulations and Legal Compliance

The reduction, elimination or expiration of government incentives for, or regulations mandating the use of, as well as corporate commitments to the use of, renewable energy and solar energy specifically could reduce demand for solar energy systems and harm our business.

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 such as system performance payments, payments of renewable energy credits associated with renewable energy generation and manufacturing of specific solar components, as well as exclusions of solar energy systems from property tax assessments.

The most notable incentive program impacting our U.S. business has been the ITC for solar energy projects, which allows taxpayers to offset their U.S. federal income tax liability by a certain percentage of their cost basis in solar energy systems placed in service for commercial use. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Biden on August 16, 2022, expanded and extended the tax credits and other tax benefits available to solar energy projects and the solar energy supply chain. ITCs have been extended for such projects through at least 2032 and, depending on the location of a particular project and its ability to satisfy certain labor and domestic content requirements, the ITC percentage can range between 30% and 50%. Manufacturers of specific solar components are also now eligible to claim production tax credits as an alternative to the ITC. Implementing regulations for this law are still in process. We believe this law will bolster and extend future demand for our products in the United States, however we note that implementing regulations for this law are still in process, which creates uncertainty about the extent of its impact on our Company and the solar energy industry.

In addition, similar incentives may exist in, or be developed outside of, the United States, which could impact demand for our products and services as we expand our business into foreign jurisdictions. For example, a feed-in-tariff ("FIT") is a type of incentive that pays owners of renewable energy systems, including solar energy systems, a certain amount per unit of electricity they generate and provide to the grid. While FITs are relatively rare as a solar policy mechanism in the United States, they are more common internationally. Our international customers and end-users may have access to FITs, tax deductions and grants toward equipment purchases. Our ability to successfully penetrate new geographic markets may depend on new countries adopting, to the extent such incentives are not currently in place, and maintaining such incentives to promote solar electricity.

The range and duration of these incentives vary widely by jurisdiction. Our customers typically use our systems for utility scale grid-connected electric power generation projects that sell solar power 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 and regulations mandating the use of renewable energy. Consequently, the reduction, elimination or expiration of government incentives for grid-connected solar electricity or regulations mandating the use of renewable energy 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 subsidies and incentives may expire (i) on a particular date, (ii) end when the allocated funding is exhausted or may be reduced or terminated as solar energy adoption rates increase or as a result of legal challenges, (iii) upon the adoption of new statutes or regulations or (iv) with the passage of time. These reductions or terminations may occur without warning, which would negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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, our business, financial condition and results of operation may be negatively impacted.

In addition, federal, state, local and foreign government bodies have implemented various policies that are intended to promote renewable electricity generally or solar electricity in particular. RPS are a set of policies designed to increase the use of renewable energy sources for electricity generation. In general, RPS set a minimum requirement for the share of electricity supply that comes from designated renewable energy resources by a certain date or year. According to information provided by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, as of November 2022, 36 states and the District of Columbia had established an RPS or renewable energy goal. In 12 of those states and the District of Columbia, the requirement is for 100% clean energy by 2050 or earlier. A common feature of RPS policies is a renewable electricity credit trading system that reduces the cost to comply with the RPS.

The cost of solar power may exceed retail electricity rates. Electric utility companies or generators of electricity from other non-solar renewable sources of electricity may successfully lobby for changes in the relevant legislation in their markets that are harmful to the solar industry. Furthermore, electric utility companies may establish pricing

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structures or interconnection requirements that could adversely affect our sales and be harmful to the solar generation industry.

The concentration of our sales in a limited number of specific markets increases risks associated with the reduction, elimination or expiration of governmental subsidies and economic incentives for solar energy products.

The majority of our revenue during the periods covered by this Annual Report resulted from sales within the United States. For example, in the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, 80%, nearly 100% and nearly 100%, respectively, of total third-party revenues resulted from sales within the United States. We expect to continue to generate a substantial amount of our revenue from the United States in the future.

There are a number of important incentives, including those provided in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, as described above, that have a certain time limit and are expected to phase down or terminate in the future, which could adversely affect sales of our products in the United States. Additionally, as we further expand to other countries, changes in incentive programs or electricity policies could negatively affect returns on our investments in those countries as well as our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Existing electric utility industry policies and regulations, and any subsequent changes, may present technical, regulatory and economic barriers to the purchase and use of solar energy systems that may significantly reduce demand for our products and services or harm our ability to compete.

Federal, state, local and foreign government regulations and policies concerning the broader electric utility industry, as well as internal policies and regulations promulgated by electric utilities and organized electric markets with respect to fees, practices and rate design, heavily influence the market for electricity generation products and services. These regulations and policies often affect electricity pricing and the interconnection of generation facilities, and can be subject to frequent modifications by governments, regulatory bodies, utilities and market operators. For example, changes in fee structures, electricity pricing structures and system permitting, interconnection and operating requirements can deter purchases of renewable energy products, including solar energy systems, by reducing anticipated revenue or increasing costs or regulatory burdens for would-be system purchasers. The resulting reductions in demand for solar energy systems could harm our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

A significant recent development in renewable energy pricing policies in the United States occurred on July 16, 2020, when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) issued a final rule amending regulations that implement the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (“PURPA”). The net effect of these changes is uncertain, however, in general, FERC’s PURPA reforms have the potential to reduce prices for the output from certain new renewable generation projects while also narrowing the scope of PURPA eligibility for new projects. These effects could reduce demand for PURPA-eligible solar energy systems and could harm our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, changes in our products or changes in export and import laws and implementing regulations may create delays in the introduction of new products in international markets, prevent our customers from deploying our products internationally or, in some cases, prevent the export or import of our products to certain countries altogether. Any such event could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Actions addressing determinations of forced labor practices in China and legislation and policies adopted to address such practices may disrupt the global supply of solar panels and affect our business.

Since 2016, CBP has issued a number of WROs directed at forced labor in China, including WROs directed specifically at activity in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. As a result of these orders, certain products, including solar panels manufactured with polysilicon from Xinjiang, are effectively barred from entering the United States. Despite our due diligence efforts, as well as contractual provisions we put in place that forbid our suppliers from using forced labor or components that were produced using forced labor, we cannot determine with certainty whether our suppliers may violate our contracts or become subject to a WRO, which could subject us to legal, reputational, and other risks. If this were to occur, we might have to find alternative suppliers on short notice, resulting in construction delays and disruption and higher costs. Additionally, WROs have and could continue to impact the importation of solar panels. While we are not directly involved in the importation of solar panels, such WROs can negatively impact the global solar market and the timing and viability of solar projects to which we sell our products, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The UFLPA was passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Biden on December 23, 2021. The UFLPA establishes a rebuttable presumption that the importation of any goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, or that are produced by certain entities, is prohibited by Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 and that such goods, wares, articles, and merchandise are not entitled to entry to the United States. CBP began implementing the provisions of UFLPA on June 21, 2022, resulting in new rules for solar module importers and

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reviews by CBP. There continues to be uncertainty in the market around achieving full compliance with UFLPA for the importation of solar modules, whether related to sufficient traceability of materials or other factors.

Changes in the U.S. trade environment, including the imposition of import tariffs, could adversely affect the amount or timing of our revenue, results of operations or cash flows.

Trade policies and international disputes at times result in increased tariffs, trade barriers and other restrictive measures. In particular, China and the United States have imposed significant tariffs on imports of goods from each other's respective countries in recent years. These developments and any further tariff increases could potentially impact our suppliers’ hardware component prices and impact any plans to provide services in China and other international markets. These developments could have a material adverse effect on global economic conditions and the stability of global financial markets.

China is a major producer of solar cells and other solar products. Certain solar cells, modules, laminates and panels from China are subject to tariffs imposed by the United States. Tariffs on solar cells, modules and inverters from China may put upwards pressure on prices of energy products in other countries.

On March 25, 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce, in response to a petition by Auxin Solar, Inc., initiated an investigation of claims related to alleged circumvention of U.S. AD/CVD duties by solar manufacturers in certain Southeast Asian countries in an effort to determine whether or not solar cells and/or modules made in those Southeast Asian nations use parts originating from China in order to circumvent the AD/CVD tariffs. On June 6, 2022, President Biden issued an Executive Order allowing U.S. solar deployers the ability to import solar modules and cells from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam free from certain duties for 24 months, along with other incentives designed to accelerate U.S. domestic production of clean energy technologies.

Furthermore, the United States continues to impose tariffs on goods imported from China under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (the “Section 301 Tariffs”). Although these tariffs were reduced in connection with the “Phase One” Agreement between the United States and China, which was signed in January 2020, the United States continues to impose tariffs ranging from 7.5% to 25% on more than $300 billion in Chinese imports. These tariffs apply to a range of products, including solar products such as modules, inverters, and non-lithium-ion batteries. Since these tariffs impact the purchase price of solar products, they raise the cost associated with purchasing these solar products from China and reduce the competitive pressure on providers of solar products not subject to these tariffs.

In 2018, the President of the United States announced the imposition of tariffs on certain imported solar cells and modules under Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974 (the “Section 201 Tariffs”). These tariffs apply on a global basis, to cells and modules from a variety of jurisdictions. The amount of these tariffs has declined over time, and is currently 15% ad valorem. On February 4, 2022, President Biden announced the extension of these tariffs through 2026, but exempted bifacial solar modules from the tariffs and doubled the annual amount of cells that can be imported before tariffs apply from 2.5 GW to 5 GW.

Finally, in March 2018, the United States imposed a 25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% tariff on aluminum imports pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. While these tariffs are no longer in place with respect to imports from many countries, any additional tariff actions affecting steel and aluminum could result in interruptions in the supply chain and impact costs and our gross margins.

Tariffs currently in place and the possibility of additional tariffs in the future have created uncertainty in the industry. If the price of solar systems in the United States increases further, the use of solar systems could become less economically feasible and could further reduce our gross margin or reduce demand for solar systems manufactured and sold, which in turn may decrease demand for our products. Additionally, existing or future tariffs may negatively affect our customers and manufacturing partners. Such outcomes could adversely affect the amount or timing of our revenue, results of operations or cash flows, and continuing uncertainty could cause sales volatility, price fluctuations or supply shortages or cause our customers to advance or delay their purchase of our products. Governments may take further trade-related actions, which may include additional or increased tariffs and trade restrictions, and we may be unable to quickly and effectively react to such actions. While we have taken actions with the intention of mitigating the effect of tariffs on our business by reducing our reliance on China, we may not succeed or be able to continue to do so on attractive terms or at all. For example, in 2019, 90% of our supply chain was sourced from China. However, by the end of 2022, we had qualified suppliers outside of China for all our commodities and reduced the extent to which our supply chain for U.S.-based projects is subject to existing tariffs, as we have entered into partnerships with manufacturers in many other countries worldwide that will be able to independently supply our U.S. customers. However, despite these partnerships, we may still be required to use suppliers in China and other jurisdictions that will subject us to existing tariffs.

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Changes in tax laws or regulations that are applied adversely to us or our customers could materially adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Changes in corporate tax rates, tax incentives for renewable energy projects, the realization of net deferred tax assets relating to our U.S. operations, the taxation of foreign earnings and the deductibility of expenses under future tax reform legislation could have a material impact on the value of our deferred tax assets, could result in significant one-time charges in the current or future taxable years, and could increase our future U.S. tax expense, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

We could be adversely affected by any violations of the FCPA and other foreign anti-bribery laws, as well as of export controls and economic sanctions laws.

The FCPA generally prohibits companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to foreign government officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Other countries in which we operate also have anti-bribery laws, some of which prohibit improper payments to government and non-government persons and entities. We have adopted policies that mandate compliance with these anti-bribery laws. However, we currently operate in and intend to further expand into, many parts of the world that have experienced governmental corruption to some degree and, in certain circumstances, strict compliance with anti-bribery laws may conflict with local customs and practices. In addition, due to the level of regulation in our industry, our entry into certain jurisdictions requires substantial government contact where norms can differ from U.S. standards. It is possible that our employees, subcontractors, agents and partners may take actions in violation of our policies and anti-bribery laws. Furthermore, we are subject to rules and regulations of the United States and other countries relating to export controls and economic sanctions, including, but not limited to, trade sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control within the U.S. Department of the Treasury, as well as the Export Administration Regulations administered by the Department of Commerce. These regulations may limit our ability to market, sell, distribute or otherwise transfer our products or technology to prohibited countries or persons. Any violation of such laws, even if prohibited by our policies, could subject us to criminal or civil penalties or other sanctions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and reputation.

Risks Related to Manufacturing and Supply Chain

We depend upon a limited number of outside contract manufacturers, and our operations could be disrupted if our relationships with these contract manufacturers are compromised.

We do not have internal manufacturing capabilities, and currently rely on contract manufacturers to build all of our products. Based on the U.S. dollar amount of purchase orders we issued during the year ended December 31, 2022, 52%, 20%, 16% and 12% of our spending involved contract manufacturers located in Thailand, China, the United States and India, respectively.

Our reliance on a limited number of contract manufacturers in a limited number of countries makes us vulnerable to possible capacity constraints and reduced control over component availability, quality, delivery schedules, manufacturing yields and costs. At December 31, 2022, we did not have long-term supply contracts with any of our contract manufacturers although we did enter into a three-year supply agreement in February 2023 with the partner in our manufacturing venture, Taihua New Energy (Thailand) Co., LTD, that requires certain minimum purchase thresholds over each 12-month period during the term of the supply agreement. Our other contract manufacturers are not obligated to supply products to us for any period, in any specified quantity or at any certain price beyond the single delivery contemplated by the relevant purchase order. While we may enter into long-term master supply agreements with our contract manufacturers in the future if the volume of our business grows in a way that makes such additional arrangements economically feasible, we may not be successful in negotiating such agreements on favorable terms or at all. With respect to any such long-term master supply agreements, we could be subject to terms that may be harmful to our business, including in the event that we do not have the customer demand necessary to utilize the products that we are required to purchase or have made deposits for, or in the event that we are required to purchase products at a price in excess of the prevailing market rate. Any change in our relationships with our contract manufacturers or changes to contractual terms of our agreements with them could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

The revenue that certain of our contract manufacturers generate from our orders represents a relatively small percentage of their overall revenue. As a result, fulfilling our orders may not be considered a priority in the event of constrained ability to fulfill all of their customer obligations in a timely manner. Our use of international facilities may increase supply risk, including the risk of supply interruptions or reductions in manufacturing quality or controls.

We may be negatively impacted by the deterioration in financial conditions of our limited number of contract manufacturers. If any of our contract manufacturers were unable or unwilling to manufacture the components that we

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require for our products in sufficient volumes, at high-quality levels, on a timely basis and pursuant to existing supply agreement or purchase order terms, due to financial conditions or otherwise, we would have to identify, qualify and select acceptable alternative contract manufacturers. An alternative contract manufacturer 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 and timing. Any significant interruption or delays in manufacturing would require us to reduce or delay our supply of products to our customers or increase our shipping costs to make up for delays in manufacturing, if possible, which in turn could reduce our revenue, cause us to incur delay liquidated damages or other liabilities to our customers, harm our relationships with our customers, damage our reputation or cause us to forego potential revenue opportunities. While we may have contractual remedies against our contract manufacturers for the supply chain malfunctions noted above to support any liabilities to our customers, such remedies may not be sufficient in scope, we may not be able to effectively enforce such remedies and we may incur significant costs in enforcing such remedies.

We may experience delays, disruptions or quality control problems in our contract manufacturers’ manufacturing operations, which could result in reputational damage and other liabilities to our customers.

Our product development, manufacturing and testing processes are complex and require significant technological and production-related expertise. Such processes involve a number of precise steps from design to production. Any change in our processes could cause one or more production errors, requiring a temporary suspension or delay in a manufacturer's production line until the errors can be researched, identified, analyzed and properly addressed and rectified. This may occur particularly as we introduce new products, modify our engineering and production techniques and/or expand our capacity. In addition, delays, disruptions or our failure to maintain appropriate quality assurance processes could result in increased product failures, loss of customers, increased warranty claims, delay liquidated damages claims or other liabilities to our customers, increased production and logistics costs and delays. While we may have contractual remedies against our contract manufacturers for such quality assurance failures to support any liabilities to our customers, such remedies may not be sufficient in scope, we may not be able to effectively enforce such remedies and we may incur significant costs in enforcing such remedies. Any of these developments could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We depend on a limited number of contract manufacturers for key components of our products to adequately meet anticipated demand. Due to the limited number of such contract manufacturers, any cessation of operations or production or any shortage, delay, price change, imposition of tariffs or duties or other limitation on our ability to obtain the components we use could result in sales delays, cancellations and loss of market share.

We depend on a limited number of contract manufacturers for certain key components used to manufacture our products, making us susceptible to quality issues, shortages and price changes. Some of our contract manufacturers have in the past stopped producing or limited their production of our components, faced supply constraints or increased prices on the raw materials for their component, ceased operations or been acquired by, or entered into exclusive arrangements with, one or more of our competitors, and such actions may occur again in the future. Additionally, these manufacturers could stop selling to us at commercially reasonable prices, or at all. Because there are a limited number of contract manufacturers of the key components used to manufacture our products, it may be difficult to quickly identify alternate manufacturers or to qualify alternative components on commercially reasonable terms, and our ability to satisfy customer demand may be adversely affected. Transitioning to or redesigning a product to accommodate a new contract manufacturer would result in additional costs and delays. These outcomes could harm our business or financial performance.

Any interruption in the supply of limited source components for our products would adversely affect our ability to meet scheduled product deliveries to our customers, could result in lost revenue or higher expenses and would harm our business.

The interruption of the flow of components from international contract manufacturers could disrupt our supply chain, including as a result of the imposition of additional laws, duties, tariffs and other charges on imports and exports.

We purchase some of our components outside of the United States through arrangements with various international contract manufacturers. Political, social or economic instability in these regions, or in other regions where our products are made, could cause disruptions in trade, including, without limitation, exports to the United States. As detailed previously, trade disputes between various countries, particularly China and the United States, have created uncertainty with respect to the ability to import certain technologies and products into the United States, as well as in respect of tariff impacts on the costs of some of our components. In addition, recent WROs related to polysilicon requires panel importers to demonstrate that polysilicon used in their panels has not been sourced using forced labor. To date, CBP has used the WROs to detain solar panels, which has disrupted the U.S. solar installation market and

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caused additional uncertainty on future projects. These WRO actions, as well as other governmental actions that have or may impact the importation of solar panels (including the UFLPA), have and could continue to negatively impact the global solar market and the timing and viability of solar projects to which we sell our products, which has negatively impacted our 2022 revenues and cash flows and may continue to negatively impact our anticipated revenues and cash flows in 2023, and which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. While our products do not contain polysilicon, the degree of our exposure is dependent on, among other things, the impact of these measures on the projects that are also intended to use our products, with such impact being largely out of our control. Other events that could also cause disruptions to our supply chain include, but are not limited to:

Failure by our contract manufacturers to use ethical business practices and comply with applicable laws and regulations may adversely affect our business.

While our contract manufacturers are required to adhere to certain business practices to remain on our approved vendor list, which we monitor on a continuous basis, we do not control our contract manufacturers’ operations or their business practices. The travel restrictions and shelter-in-place orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have hindered and may continue to hinder our ability to monitor our contract manufacturers, even with the use of local third-party contractors. Additionally, our contract manufacturers may not follow ethical business practices, such as fair wage practices or comply with environmental, safety, labor, sanctions and anti-corruption laws and other local laws or other regulations of which we may not be aware. For example, as we continue to expand our business into foreign jurisdictions, the manufacture of our products may be subject to local content requirements, which require our products to incorporate materials from certain local providers. A lack of demonstrated compliance could damage our reputation and lead us to seek alternative manufacturers, which could increase our costs and result in delayed delivery of our products, product shortages or other disruptions of our operations. Violation of labor or other laws by our contract manufacturers or the divergence of a contract manufacturer’s labor or other practices from those generally accepted as ethical in the United States or other markets in which we do business could also attract negative publicity for us and harm our business.

We may not have sufficient insurance coverage to cover business continuity.

We rely on a limited number of contract manufacturers and, as a result, a sustained or repeated interruption in the manufacturing of our products by such outsourced manufacturers due to fire, flood, war, pandemic or natural disasters, and/or an interruption in the provision of the required components for our business by these manufacturers may interfere with our ability to sell our products to our customers in a timely manner. The nature of our business and our size makes it difficult to insure some or all of the possible harms that could result if we fail to sell and deliver our products in a timely manner, which may adversely affect our financial results.

We and our contract manufacturers are dependent on domestic and international transportation and logistics markets to deliver our products. If we or our contract manufacturers experience disruptions, unavailability or escalated pricing in the transportation and logistics markets, which include trucking, vessels, ports and related infrastructure and logistics, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely impacted.

We and our contract manufacturers rely on domestic and international transportation and logistics markets to deliver our products to customers. Our ability and the ability of our contract manufacturers to deliver our products 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, and other factors, such as labor strikes and work stoppages, not within their control.

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For example, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in diminished cargo capacity and port detainment of vessels which caused delays in delivery of our products to project sites during 2020 and into 2022. Material interruptions in service or stoppages in transportation and logistics markets, whether caused by strike, work stoppage, lock-out, slowdown or otherwise, and escalated pricing in transportation and logistics markets could materially and adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Risks Related to Intellectual Property

If we fail, in whole or in part, to obtain, maintain, protect, defend or enforce our intellectual property and other proprietary rights, our business and results of operations could be materially harmed.

Our success partly depends on our ability to protect our intellectual property and other proprietary rights. We rely on a combination of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets to establish and protect our intellectual property and other proprietary rights, as well as unfair competition laws, confidentiality and license agreements and other contractual arrangements. As of December 31, 2022, we had 5 U.S. trademark registrations, 11 U.S. applications for trademark registration, and 7 foreign applications for trademark registration. We had 46 issued U.S. patents, 9 issued non-U.S. patents, and 10 patent applications pending for examination in the United States (including 3 allowed) and 21 patent applications pending for examination in other countries related to panel attachments, solar tracking algorithms, related design and assembly methods, and software solutions. Our issued U.S. patents are expected to expire between 2023 and 2041. Our trademarks and trade names include, but are not limited to, Voyager Tracker, Pioneer Tracker, SunDAT, SunPath, Atlas and FTC Solar, which are protected under applicable intellectual property laws. Our pending patent and trademark applications or other applications for intellectual property registrations may not be approved, issued or granted, and our existing and future intellectual property rights may not be valid, enforceable or sufficiently broad to prevent competitors from using technology similar to or the same as our proprietary technology, to prevent our contract manufacturers from providing similar technology to our competitors or to sufficiently allow us to develop and maintain recognized brands. Additionally, our intellectual property rights may afford only limited protection of our intellectual property and may not (i) prevent our competitors or contract manufacturers from duplicating our processes or technology, (ii) prevent our competitors from gaining access to our proprietary information and technology or (iii) permit us to gain or maintain a competitive advantage. Any impairment or other failure to obtain sufficient intellectual property protection could impede our ability to market our products and services, negatively affect our competitive position and harm our business and operating results, including forcing us to, among other things, rebrand or re-design our affected products and services. In countries where we have not applied for patent protection or trademark or other intellectual property registration or where effective patent, trademark, trade secret and other intellectual property laws and judicial systems may not be available to the same extent as in the United States, we may be at greater risk that our proprietary rights will be circumvented, misappropriated, infringed or otherwise violated.

To protect our unregistered intellectual property, including our trade secrets and know-how, we rely in part on trade secret laws and confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with our employees and independent contractors. We also require third parties, such as our customers and contract manufacturers, which may have access to our proprietary technologies and information to enter into non-disclosure agreements or other contracts containing obligations to maintain the confidentiality of our intellectual property. Such measures, however, provide only limited protection, and our confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements and other agreements containing confidentiality provisions may not prevent unauthorized disclosure or use of our confidential information, especially after our employees or third parties end their employment or engagement with us, and may not provide us with an adequate remedy in the event of such disclosure. Furthermore, competitors or other third parties may independently discover our trade secrets, copy or reverse engineer our products or services or portions thereof, or develop similar technology. If we fail to protect our intellectual property and other proprietary rights, or if such intellectual property and proprietary rights are infringed, misappropriated or otherwise violated, our business, results of operations or financial condition could be materially harmed.

We may need to defend ourselves against third-party claims that we are infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating third-party intellectual property rights, which could divert management’s attention, cause us to incur significant costs and prevent us from selling or using the products, services or technologies to which such rights relate.

Our competitors and other third parties hold numerous patents related to technologies 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 or licensing fee and royalty claims and related litigation, and, if we gain greater recognition in the market, we face a higher risk of being the subject of

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these types of claims. For example, in early 2021 we learned that a claim had been filed against us seeking damages for alleged breach of contract and other claims related to a patent license agreement and consulting relationship, and the same plaintiff subsequently filed a separate lawsuit against us alleging a claim for patent infringement in respect of the same underlying technology. As described further in "Part I, Item 3, Legal Proceedings" in this Annual Report we reached a settlement agreement with the plaintiff in December 2022. 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. While we believe that our products and services do not infringe in any material respect upon any valid intellectual property rights of third parties, we may not be successful in defending against any such claims. 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, could be prohibited from continuing to sell certain products or services, or could be required to license such intellectual property from the applicable third party, which could require us to pay significant royalties, increasing our operating expenses. Even if we do reach a settlement agreement to resolve an intellectual property claim, such settlement agreement could also result in our making a significant monetary payment or paying significant royalties. For example, as described further in "Part I, Item 3. Legal Proceedings" in this Annual Report, we recently reached a settlement agreement with a plaintiff in the above described litigation that required both cash payments and the issuance of our common stock to the plaintiff. If a license is not available at all or not available on reasonable terms, we may be required to develop or license a non-infringing alternative, either of which could require significant effort and expense. If we cannot license or develop a non-infringing alternative, we would be forced to limit or stop sales of our offerings and may be unable to effectively compete. Any of these results would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We use “open-source” software, and any failure to comply with the terms of one or more open-source licenses could negatively affect our business.

Our products and services use certain software licensed by its authors or other third parties under so-called “open-source” licenses. Some of these open-source licenses may contain requirements that we make available source code for modifications or derivative works that we create based upon the open-source software, and that we license such modifications or derivative works under the terms of a particular open-source license or other license granting third parties rights with respect to such software. In certain circumstances, if we combine our proprietary software with certain open-source software, we could be required to release the source code for such proprietary software. Additionally, to the extent that we do not comply with the terms of the open-source licenses to which we are subject, or such terms are interpreted by a court in a manner different than our own interpretation of such terms, then we may be required to disclose certain of our proprietary software or take other actions that could negatively impact our business. Further, the use of open-source software can lead to vulnerabilities that may make our software susceptible to attack, and open-source licenses generally do not provide warranties or controls on the origin of the software. While we attempt to utilize open-source software in a manner that helps alleviate these risks, our attempts may not be successful.

Risks Related to Information Technology and Data Privacy

A significant cybersecurity incident or other disruption to our technology infrastructure could disrupt our business operations and cause financial and reputational damage.

We rely extensively on various information technology systems, including data centers, hardware, software and applications to manage many aspects of our business, including to operate and provide our products and services, to process and record transactions, to enable effective communication systems, to pay our employees, to track inventory flow, to manage logistics and to generate performance and financial reports. Some of our most critical systems are provided and hosted by third-party software vendors in arrangements commonly known as software as a service. We are dependent on the integrity, security and consistent operations of these systems and related back-up systems. Our computer and information technology systems and the third-party systems upon which we rely are also subject to unauthorized access, damage, interruption or shutdown from a number of causes, including computer viruses, ransomware, malware, phishing or distributed denial-of-service attacks, security breaches or cyber-attacks, which could lead to delays in our business operations or subject us to liability and, if significant or extreme, negatively affect our results of operations. In addition, any interruption in the operation of our website or information technology systems could cause us to suffer reputational harm, lose sales, and expose us to litigation or government action, including penalties, fines or judgments.

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Unauthorized disclosure of personal or sensitive data or confidential information, whether through a breach of our computer or information technology systems or otherwise, could severely hurt our business.

Some aspects of our business involve the collection, receipt, use, storage, processing and transmission of personal information, including that of our customers’ and end-users of our customers’ solar energy systems, website visitors, employees, contract manufacturers and other third parties. We may collect personal information, including names, addresses, e-mail addresses, credit information, and energy production statistics and consumer preferences, some of which is entrusted to third-party service providers. We increasingly rely on commercially available systems, software, tools (including encryption technology) and monitoring technologies to provide security and oversight for processing, transmission, storage and protection of confidential information and personal data. Despite the security measures we have in place, our facilities and systems, and those of third parties with which we do business, may be vulnerable to security breaches, acts of vandalism and theft (including misappropriation of our financial resources), computer viruses, misplaced or lost data, programming and/or human errors, or other similar events, and an inadvertent or unauthorized use or disclosure could occur or third parties could gain unauthorized access to this type of confidential information and personal data.

Electronic security attacks designed to gain access to personal, sensitive or confidential data by breaching mission critical systems of large organizations are constantly evolving, and high-profile electronic security breaches leading to unauthorized disclosure of confidential information or personal data have occurred recently at a number of major U.S. companies.

Despite our precautions, an electronic security breach in our systems (or in the systems of third parties with which we do business) that results in the unauthorized release of personally identifiable information regarding customers, employees or other individuals or other sensitive data could nonetheless lead to a serious disruption of our operations, financial losses from remedial actions, loss of business or potential liability, including possible punitive damages. As a result of such a breach, we could also be subject to demands, claims and litigation by private parties, and investigations, related actions and penalties by regulatory authorities. Moreover, we could incur significant costs in notifying affected persons and entities and otherwise complying with the multitude of foreign, federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the unauthorized access to, or use or disclosure of, personal information. In addition, any perceived or actual unauthorized access to, or use or disclosure of, such information could harm our reputation, substantially impair our ability to attract and retain customers and have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Finally, as the regulatory environment relating to our obligations to protect such sensitive data becomes increasingly rigorous, with continually developing and growing requirements applicable to our business, compliance with those requirements could result in additional costs. A material failure on our part to comply with such requirements could subject us to regulatory sanctions, including fines and potentially lawsuits. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Failure to comply with current or future federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations and industry standards relating to privacy, data protection and consumer protection, or the expansion of current or the enactment of new laws or regulations relating to privacy, data protection and consumer protection, as well as our actual or perceived failure to comply with such laws and regulations could adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

There are numerous federal, state, local and foreign laws regarding privacy and the collection, processing, storing, sharing, disclosing, using and protecting of personal information and other data. We are also subject to specific contractual requirements contained in agreements with third parties governing our use and protection of personal information and other data. We generally comply with industry standards and are subject to the terms of our privacy policy and the privacy- and security-related obligations agreed to with third parties. We strive to comply with applicable laws, policies, legal obligations and industry standards relating to privacy and data protection, to the extent possible. However, it is possible that these obligations may be interpreted and applied in new ways or in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with other rules or our practices. Additionally, new laws or regulations could be enacted with which we are not familiar or with which our practices do not comply.

We expect that new industry standards, laws and regulations will continue to be proposed regarding privacy, data protection and information security in many jurisdictions, including the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), which came into effect on January 1, 2020, and the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”), which amends the CCPA and has many provisions that took effect on January 1, 2023. Certain other states also have passed privacy laws that went into effect during 2023. Additionally, the Federal Trade Commission and many state attorneys general are interpreting federal and state consumer protection laws to impose standards for the online collection, use, dissemination and security of data. The impact of the CCPA, CPRA or other future laws, regulations and standards may have on our business is uncertain. Complying with these evolving obligations is costly. For instance, expanding

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definitions and interpretations of what constitutes “personal data” (or the equivalent) in the United States or other countries may increase our compliance costs and legal liability.

Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with any federal, state, local or foreign privacy or consumer protection-related laws, regulations or other principles or orders to which we may be subject or other legal obligations relating to privacy or consumer protection could adversely affect our reputation, brand and business, and may result in claims, investigations, proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities or others or other penalties or liabilities or require us to change our operations and/or cease using certain data sets.

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock

An active, liquid trading market for our common stock may not be sustained.

An active public market for our common stock may not be sustained. If an active and liquid trading market is not sustained, you may have difficulty selling or may not be able to sell any of the shares of our common stock that you purchase.

Our stock price has been volatile and may continue to be volatile or may decline regardless of our operating performance, and you may not be able to resell your shares of common stock at or above the public offering price.

Our stock price has fluctuated in the past and may continue to be volatile in the future. From January 3, 2022 to December 30, 2022, the trading price of our common stock fluctuated between a high of $7.75 and a low of $1.78 per share, closing at $2.68 per share on December 30, 2022. The market price of our common stock could continue to be subject to significant fluctuations. The price of our common stock may change in response to fluctuations in our results of operations in future periods and also may change in response to other factors, including factors specific to companies in our industry. As a result, our share price may experience significant volatility and may not necessarily reflect the value of our expected performance. Among other factors that could affect our stock price are:

Further, the stock markets have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many companies. These fluctuations often have been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. In addition, the stock prices of many renewable energy companies have experienced wide fluctuations that have often been unrelated to the operating performance of those companies. These broad market and industry fluctuations, as well as general economic, political and market conditions such as inflation, recessions, interest rate changes or international currency fluctuations, may

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cause the market price of our common stock to decline. As a result, you may not be able to resell any of your shares of our common stock at or above the price paid.

We do not intend to pay dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future.

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock. We currently intend to retain any future earnings and do not expect to declare or pay any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. Any future determination to declare cash dividends will be made at the discretion of our board of directors, subject to applicable laws, after taking into account our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, general business conditions and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant. As a result, capital appreciation in the price of our common stock, if any, may be your only source of gain on an investment in our common stock.

The price of our common stock could decline if securities analysts do not publish research or if securities analysts or other third parties publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about us.

Our stock price and trading volume are heavily influenced by the way analysts and investors interpret our financial information and other disclosures. If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, delay publishing reports about our business, or publish negative reports about our business, regardless of accuracy, our common stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock depends, in part, on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We do not have any control over these analysts. Currently, several analysts cover our company. If the number of analysts that cover us declines, demand for our common stock could decrease and our common stock price and trading volume may decline.

Even if our common stock is actively covered by analysts, we do not have any control over the analysts or the measures that analysts or investors may rely upon to forecast our future results. Over-reliance by analysts or investors on any particular metric to forecast our future results may result in forecasts that differ significantly from our own.

Our directors, executive officers and principal stockholders will continue to have substantial control over our company, which could limit your ability to influence the outcome of key transactions, including a change of control.

Our directors, executive officers and each of our 5% stockholders and their affiliates, in the aggregate, beneficially own approximately 51% of the outstanding shares of our common stock, based on the number of shares outstanding as of December 31, 2022. As a result, these stockholders, if acting together, will be able to influence or control matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of directors and the approval of mergers, acquisitions or other extraordinary transactions. They may also have interests that differ from yours and may vote in a way with which you disagree and which may be adverse to your interests. This concentration of ownership may have the effect of delaying, preventing or deterring a change of control of our company, could deprive our stockholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their common stock as part of a sale of our company and might ultimately affect the market price of our common stock.

Anti-takeover provisions in our governing documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of us more difficult, limit attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management and depress the market price of our common stock.

Our certificate of incorporation, bylaws and Delaware law contain provisions that could have the effect of rendering more difficult, delaying or preventing an acquisition deemed undesirable by our board of directors. Among others, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws include the following provisions:

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In addition, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law ("DGCL"), which generally prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in a broad range of business combinations with any “interested” stockholder for a period of three years following the date on which the stockholder becomes an “interested” stockholder.

Any provision of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, amended and restated bylaws or Delaware law that has the effect of delaying, preventing or deterring a change in control could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of our common stock and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our common stock.

Our governing documents also provide that the Delaware Court of Chancery will be the sole and exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders and federal district courts will be the sole and exclusive forum for Securities Act claims, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent to the selection of an alternative forum, the Delaware Court of Chancery is the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or to our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to the DGCL, our certificate of incorporation or our bylaws, (iv) any action to interpret, apply, enforce or determine the validity of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws, (v) any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine or (vi) any action asserting an “internal corporate claim” as defined in Section 115 of the DGCL; provided, however, that the exclusive forum provisions will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or to any claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. Our certificate of incorporation further provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts are the sole and exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a right under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), subject to a final adjudication in the State of Delaware of the enforceability of such exclusive forum provision. We note that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. The choice of forum provisions may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provisions contained in our certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are an “emerging growth company” and have taken advantage of the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies which may make our common stock less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act. As an emerging growth company, we are not required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, we have reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements and we are exempt from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. Additionally, as an emerging growth company, we have elected to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies until those standards apply to private companies. As such, our consolidated financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with public company effective dates. Investors may find our shares of common stock less attractive because we rely on these provisions. If some investors find our shares of common stock less attractive as a result of the foregoing, there may be a less active trading market for our shares and our share price may be more volatile.

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The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources and distract our management, which could make it difficult to manage our business, particularly after we are no longer an “emerging growth company.”

As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act and the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. These requirements may place a strain on our systems and resources. The Exchange Act requires that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and financial condition. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial reporting. Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that management assess and report annually on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting and identify any material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting. Our assessment and report by management for the year ended December 31, 2022, may be found in "Part II, Item 9A. Controls and Procedures" of this Annual Report. To maintain and improve the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures, we have committed significant resources, hired additional staff and provided additional management oversight. We have implemented additional procedures and processes for the purpose of addressing the standards and requirements applicable to public companies. Sustaining our growth also will require us to commit additional management, operational and financial resources to identify new professionals to join our firm and to maintain appropriate operational and financial systems to adequately support expansion. These activities may divert management’s attention from other business concerns and will result in increased costs to us, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition or business.

As an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act, we have taken advantage of certain temporary exemptions from various reporting requirements including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements. We have elected to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies until those standards apply to private companies, as permitted by the JOBS Act.

We had previously identified material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting which we determined have been remediated as of December 31, 2022. If we experience additional material weaknesses or otherwise fail to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting in the future, our ability to timely and accurately report our financial condition and results of operations or comply with applicable laws and regulations could be impaired, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and, as a result, the market price of our common stock.

As a public company, our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

During 2021 and 2022, management initiated actions to remediate material weaknesses identified in 2019 and 2020. Material weaknesses were noted in three key areas (i) lack of key experienced personnel, (ii) inadequate controls over our period-end close and financial reporting process, and (iii) ineffective information technology general controls. Based on the results of that evaluation as described further in "Part II, Item 9A. Controls and Procedures" of this Annual Report, our principal executive officer and our principal financial officer have concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2022.

If we were to fail to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting or identify additional material weaknesses in the future, failure to remediate those material weaknesses could prohibit us from producing timely and accurate financial statements, which may adversely affect the market price of our common stock and we could become subject to litigation or investigations by the stock exchange on which our securities are listed, the SEC, or other regulatory authorities, which could require additional financial and management resources.

Risks Related to COVID-19 and Other Health Epidemics

We face risks related to actual or threatened health epidemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and other outbreaks, which could significantly disrupt our operations.

Our business has been and could continue to be adversely impacted by the effects of a widespread outbreak of contagious disease, including the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Any widespread outbreak of contagious diseases, or other adverse public health developments, has in the past caused and in the future could cause disruption to, among other things, our contract manufacturers located in the United States and elsewhere around the world, which has in the past caused and in the future could cause delays in our supply chain and product shipments and delays in project

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completion, as well as reductions in customer support trainings and monitoring of our contract manufacturers, which could adversely affect our business, operations and customer relationships.

During 2020, 2021 and a portion of 2022, we experienced significant supply chain disruptions that caused delays in product deliveries due to diminished vessel capacity, diminished supplier capacity (including local shutdowns and capacity restrictions), port detainment of vessels, port congestion, labor shortages and other stresses on cargo infrastructure (including ports, warehouses, trucking and rail transportation), in each case, as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic (including as a result of multiple COVID-19 variants), which contributed to increased shipping costs and increased lead times for delivery of our tracker systems. Although overall transportation costs are still higher than pre-COVID-19 pandemic rates, there has been a decline in recent months in costs for both charter vessels and in the premium container market. In addition, steel prices also started to stabilize and decline during the fourth quarter of 2022. Also, strict shutdowns in China during the latter part of 2022, intended to further control the spread of COVID-19, caused certain administrative delays in our efforts to fully integrate our acquisition of HX Tracker into our systems and processes.

Many of our contracts with customers include liquidated damages that are payable for shipment delays, and we have in the past incurred and may in the future incur liabilities under such provisions if we continue to face challenges from new variants of COVID-19 or future health epidemics.

Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted ground operations at project sites due to health-related restrictions and worker absenteeism, which resulted in delays in project completions in 2020 and 2021. Although we are not primarily responsible for the construction or installation process at project sites, any further delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in international locations that may experience a resurgence in infection or transmission rates, could negatively impact our customer relationships and adversely affect our business.

The residual macroeconomic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic downturn that began in 2020, including a continuing tight labor market, are continuing to evolve as of the date of this Annual Report and may also have the effect of heightening other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, that could adversely impact our ability to meet the needs of our customers.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.

None.

Item 2. Properties.

Our corporate headquarters located in Austin, Texas, consists of approximately 9,278 square feet of office space, the lease for which expires on October 31, 2025. We also have a lease expiring in 2026 for an applications laboratory located in Austin, Texas, consisting of 4,700 square feet.

In addition, we also lease approximately 5,300 square feet of warehouse space and 1,100 square feet of sales and support office space in Brendale, Australia, and 2,500 and 2,860 square feet of sales and support office space in Hyderabad and Bangalore, India, respectively. We are also a member of SolarTAC, a collaborative research facility aimed at advancing proprietary and collaborative research projects to support the growth of individual solar energy companies as well as the solar industry as a whole. Through our SolarTAC membership, we have access to a development sandbox of 174,240 square feet in Aurora, Colorado, that we primarily use for customer training, product development and certification. We expect to relocate the Colorado operations to Texas during 2023. Our SolarTAC Chennai, India facility has approximately 43,560 square feet of space. We also entered into a new lease in January 2023 for 7,522 square feet of additional office space in Chennai, India.

We outsource all manufacturing to contract manufacturing partners and currently do not own or lease any manufacturing facilities. We are in the process of leasing a manufacturing facility outside of Houston in Sealy, Texas through our partnership with Taihua New Energy (Thailand) Co., LTD dedicated to producing steel components, including torque tubes, for utility scale projects. This facility is expected to begin commercial production in mid-2023.

We believe that our existing properties are in good condition and are sufficient and suitable for the conduct of our business for the foreseeable future. To the extent our needs change as our business grows, we expect that additional space and facilities will be available.

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Item 3. Legal Proceedings.

The Company may be involved in various claims, lawsuits, investigations, and other proceedings, arising from the normal course of its business. As of the date of this Annual Report, we are not involved in any material legal proceedings.

We were a party to certain litigation styled FCX Solar, LLC v. FTC Solar, Inc., Case Nos. 1:21-cv-03556-RA and 1:21-cv-08766-RA, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, pursuant to which FCX Solar, LLC (“FCX”) filed a lawsuit alleging breach of contract, fraud and unjust enrichment claims related to a patent license agreement and consulting relationship between us and FCX, and seeking damages of approximately $134 million. On December 29, 2022, we entered into a settlement agreement with FCX (the “Settlement Agreement”), pursuant to which, in full settlement of this litigation, (i) we agreed to (a) pay FCX an aggregate of $1.5 million in certain installments, and (b) issue to FCX 797,396 shares of our common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, valued at $2.0 million, based on a daily volume weighted average share price of our common stock on The Nasdaq Global Market in the ten consecutive trading days prior to entry into the Settlement Agreement, which was $2.508163 per share, and (ii) we and FCX agreed to an arrangement whereby FCX has granted us a worldwide license under certain of FCX's patents to make, have made, use, sell, offer for sale, lease, import, export, or otherwise dispose of any and all our products for an initial term of three years, subject to annual renewals at our option. An initial cash payment and the shares of stock were issued to FCX in January 2023, pursuant to the terms of the Settlement Agreement.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.

N/A.

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PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.

Our common stock, $0.0001 par value, is currently trading on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “FTCI”.

At January 31, 2023, there were 46 holders of record of our common stock.

We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date. The payment of any cash dividends in the future is within the discretion of our board of directors and is subject to certain limitations under our Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility Credit Agreement entered into on April 30, 2021, with various lenders, including Barclays Bank PLC, as amended.

Shares of our common stock were issuable under our 2017 Stock Incentive Plan (the "2017 Plan") and our 2021 Stock Incentive Plan (the "2021 Plan"), both of which were adopted by our board of directors, as of December 31, 2022 as follows:

On July 1, 2022, we filed a registration statement on Form S-8 to register 5,000,000 shares of common stock for issuance upon the settlement of RSUs and the exercise of stock options previously granted under the 2017 Plan that remain outstanding. No new awards have been or will be granted under the 2017 Plan following the effectiveness of our 2021 Plan on April 27, 2021. As part of this registration statement on July 1, 2022, we also registered an additional 3,704,785 shares of common stock issuable under the 2021 Plan, which were in addition to the 12,645,239 shares previously registered in April 2021.

Our board of directors also adopted the 2021 Employee Stock Purchase Plan ("2021 ESPP Plan") immediately after our IPO in April 2021 in order to provide our employees and our designated subsidiaries with an opportunity to purchase our common stock through accumulated payroll deductions at 85% of the stock's fair market value. As of December 31, 2022, this plan had not yet been implemented internally within the Company and no purchases of common stock have been made pursuant to the 2021 ESPP Plan.

In the three years preceding the date of this Annual Report, we have sold the following securities without registration under the Securities Act:

Common Stock Issuances

In March 2020, we issued an aggregate of 1,111,112 pre-split shares of our common stock to South Lake One LLC at a pre-split purchase price of $27.00 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $30,000,024.

On June 14, 2022, we issued 1,000,000 shares of common stock to certain former stockholders of HX Tracker as partial consideration for our acquisition of this business as described further in Note 3

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"Acquisitions" included in our consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report. These shares were issued in a private placement exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act, in reliance on the exemptions set forth in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act and Rule 506 under Regulation D.

The shares must be held indefinitely and may not be resold, transferred or otherwise disposed of without either (i) registration under the Securities Act and registration or qualification under applicable U.S. state securities laws or (ii) an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act, and compliance with U.S. state securities laws and the applicable laws of any other jurisdiction, and such appropriate legends were affixed to the shares.

Plan-Related Issuances

In the three years preceding the date of this Annual Report, we granted to our directors, officers and employees options to purchase an aggregate of 525,723 shares (on a post-split basis) of our common stock at an exercise price of $0.48 per share (on a post-split basis). In addition, we granted 18,488,192 RSUs (on a post-split basis) having estimated grant date values ranging from $3.26 to $13.50 per share (on a post-split basis).

None of the foregoing transactions involved any underwriters, underwriting discounts or commissions, or any public offering. We believe the offers, sales and issuances of the above securities were exempt from registration under the Securities Act (or Regulation D or Regulation S promulgated thereunder) by virtue of Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act because the issuance of securities to the recipients did not involve a public offering, or in reliance on Rule 701 because the transactions were pursuant to a written compensatory plan or contract relating to compensation as provided under such rule. The recipients of the securities in each of these transactions represented their intentions to acquire the securities for investment only and not with a view to or for sale in connection with any distribution thereof, and appropriate legends were placed upon the stock certificates issued in these transactions. All recipients had adequate access, through their relationships with us, to information about us. The sales of these securities were made without any general solicitation or advertising.

On April 30, 2021, the Company completed an IPO (Commission file number 333-254797) of 19,840,000 shares of its common stock receiving proceeds of $241.2 million, net of underwriting discounts and commissions, but before offering costs. Prior to the completion of the IPO, the board of directors and stockholders approved an approximately 8.25-for-1 forward stock split of the Company’s shares of common stock which became effective on April 28, 2021. Proceeds from the IPO were used to purchase an aggregate of 4,455,384 shares of our common stock at a cost of $54.2 million, including shares resulting from the settlement of certain vested restricted stock units and exercise of certain options in connection with the IPO at the IPO price, less underwriting discounts and commissions. The remaining proceeds have been used and continue to be used for general corporate purposes, including working capital, capital expenditures and operating expenses. There has been no material change in our planned use of the net proceeds from the IPO as described in our final prospectus filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b).

No purchases of equity securities were made during the fourth quarter of 2022.

Item 6. [Reserved]

Not applicable.

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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes and other information included elsewhere in this Annual Report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to those differences include, but are not limited to, those identified below and those discussed in Part I, Item1A. "Risk Factors" and “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” included elsewhere in this Annual Report. Additionally, our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected in any future period.

Overview

FTC Solar, Inc. (the “Company”, “we”, “our”, or “us”) was founded in 2017 and is incorporated in the state of Delaware. We are a global provider of advanced solar tracker systems, supported by proprietary software and value-added engineering services. Our mission is to provide differentiated products, software, and services that maximize energy generation and cost savings for our customers, and to help facilitate the continued growth and adoption of solar power globally. Trackers significantly increase the amount of solar energy produced at a solar installation by moving solar panels throughout the day to maintain an optimal orientation relative to the sun. Our primary tracker system is currently marketed under the Voyager brand name (“Voyager”). Voyager is a next-generation two-panel in-portrait ("2P") single-axis tracker solution that we believe offers industry-leading performance and ease of installation. In September 2022, we announced the introduction of Pioneer, a new and differentiated one module-in-portrait ("1P") solar tracker solution that allows for a pile count reduction per megawatt compared to similar industry-leading solutions, as well as providing what we believe to be other benefits, such as faster assembly capability, giving potential customers the possibility for increased flexibility and additional cost savings. We have also launched a new solution for thin-film modules, filling a gap in our offering for certain U.S. modules. We have a team of dedicated renewable energy professionals with significant project installation experience focused on delivering cost reductions to our U.S. and worldwide clients across the solar project development and construction cycle. The Company is headquartered in Austin, Texas, and has international subsidiaries in Australia, China, India and South Africa.

In April 2021, we completed an initial public offering ("IPO") of 19,840,000 shares of our common stock receiving proceeds of $241.2 million, net of underwriting discounts and commissions, but before offering costs, and began trading on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “FTCI”. Prior to the completion of the IPO, the board of directors and stockholders approved an approximately 8.25-for-1 forward stock split (the “Forward Stock Split”) of the Company’s shares of common stock which became effective on April 28, 2021. Proceeds from the IPO were used for general corporate purposes, with $54.2 million used to purchase an aggregate of 4,455,384 shares of our common stock, including shares resulting from the settlement of certain vested restricted stock units (“RSUs”) and exercise of certain options in connection with the IPO at the IPO price, less underwriting discounts and commissions.

We are an emerging growth company, as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act. Under the JOBS Act, we elected to use the allowed extended transition period to delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies.

Key Factors Affecting Our Performance

Government Regulations. Changes in the U.S. trade environment, including the imposition of import tariffs, AD/CVD investigations and the UFLPA, which became effective in June 2022, can have an impact on the timing of developer projects. The UFLPA resulted in new rules for module importers and reviews by CBP. There is currently uncertainty in the market around achieving full compliance with UFLPA, whether related to sufficient traceability of materials or other factors. Escalating trade tensions, particularly between the United States and China, have led to increased tariffs and trade restrictions, including tariffs applicable to certain raw materials and components for our products. We have taken measures with the intention of mitigating the effect of tariffs and the impact of AD/CVD and UFLPA on our business by reducing our reliance on China. In 2019, 90% of our supply chain was sourced from China. As of December 31, 2022, we have qualified suppliers outside of China for all our commodities and reduced the extent to which our supply chain for U.S.-based projects is subject to existing tariffs. We have entered into agreements with manufacturers in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Spain, Brazil, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, India, Thailand, Vietnam and Korea to diversify our supply chain and optimize costs. On June 6, 2022, President Biden issued an Executive Order allowing U.S. solar deployers the ability to import solar modules and cells from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam free from certain duties for 24 months, along with other incentives designed to accelerate U.S. domestic production of clean energy technologies.

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The most notable incentive program impacting our U.S. business has been the ITC for solar energy projects, which allows taxpayers to offset their U.S. federal income tax liability by a certain percentage of their cost basis in solar energy systems placed in service for commercial use. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Biden on August 16, 2022, expanded and extended the tax credits and other tax benefits available to solar energy projects and the solar energy supply chain. ITCs have been extended for such projects through at least 2032 and, depending on the location of a particular project and its ability to satisfy certain labor and domestic content requirements, the ITC percentage can range between 30% and 50%. Manufacturers of specific solar components are also now eligible to claim production tax credits as an alternative to the ITC. Implementing regulations for this law are still in process. We believe this law will bolster and extend future demand for our products in the United States, however we note that implementing regulations for this law are still in process, which creates uncertainty about the extent of its impact on our Company and the solar energy industry.

Disruptions in Transportation and Supply Chain. Our costs are affected by certain component costs including steel, motors and micro-chips, as well as transportation costs. Current market conditions and international conflicts that constrain supply of materials and disrupt the flow of materials from international vendors impact the cost of our products and services, along with overall rates of inflation in the global economy, which have been higher than recent historical rates. We have also seen increases in domestic fuel prices and transportation costs in the past couple of years. These cost increases impact our operating margins. We have taken steps to expand and diversify our manufacturing partnerships and have in the past employed alternative modes of transportation to mitigate the impact of the current headwinds in the global supply chain and logistics markets. Although overall transportation costs are higher than pre-pandemic rates, there has been a decline in recent months in costs for both charter vessels and in the premium container market, as well as an easing of congestion in U.S. ports. However, recent COVID-19 shutdowns in China have created a backlog of exports and increased demand for container shipments from China. We continue to monitor the logistics markets and have adjusted our use of various modes of transportation when warranted to optimize our transportation costs. Additionally, in February 2022, we contracted with a related-party consulting firm to support us in making ongoing improvements to our processes and performance in various areas, including design, sourcing, logistics, pricing, software and our distributed generation business. Further information may be found in Note 17 "Related parties" included in our consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report with regard to the related-party consulting firm. We intend to maintain a sharp focus on our design to value initiative to improve margins by reducing manufacturing and material costs of our products.

Megawatts ("MW") Shipped and Average Selling Price ("ASP"). The primary operating metric we use to evaluate our sales performance and to track market acceptance of our products is the change in quantity of MW shipped from period to period. MW are measured for each individual project and are calculated based on the expected output of that project once installed and fully operational. We also utilize metrics related to price and cost of goods sold per watt, including the change in ASP from period to period and cost per watt. ASP is calculated by dividing total revenue by total watts and cost per watt is calculated by dividing total costs of goods sold by total watts. These metrics enable us to evaluate trends in pricing, manufacturing and logistics costs and profitability. Events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, global inflation rates and international conflicts can impact the U.S. economy, global supply chains, and our business. These impacts can cause significant shipping delays and cost increases, as well as offsetting ASP increases, and also raise the price of inputs like steel and logistics, affecting our cost per watt.

Investment in technology and personnel. We invest in both the people and technology behind our products. We intend to continue making significant investments in the technology for our products and expansion of our patent portfolio to attract and retain customers, expand the capabilities and scope of our products, and enhance user experience. We also intend over time to make significant investments to attract and retain employees in key positions, including sales leads, engineers, software developers, quality assurance personnel, supply chain personnel, product management, and operations personnel, to help us drive additional efficiencies across our marketplace and, in the case of sales leads, to continue to enhance and diversify our sales capabilities, including international expansion.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared that the worldwide spread and severity of a new coronavirus, referred to as COVID-19, was severe enough to be characterized as a pandemic. In response to the initial and continued spread of COVID-19, governmental authorities in the United States and around the world imposed, and in some cases continue to impose, various restrictions designed to slow the pace of the pandemic, including restrictions on travel and other restrictions that prohibited employees from going to work, including in cities where we have offices, employees, and customers, causing severe disruptions in the worldwide economy. The continued implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, financial condition and results of operations remain uncertain and will depend on certain developments, including the duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of virus variants, the rate of vaccinations, the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on our customers and suppliers and the range of governmental and community reactions to the pandemic. While our day-to-day operations have been affected, the impact has been less pronounced as most of our staff has worked remotely and continued to develop our product offerings, source materials and install our products. However, we have

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experienced significant supply chain disruptions that have caused delays in product deliveries due to diminished vessel capacity and port detainment of vessels as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic (including as a result of multiple COVID-19 variants), which have contributed to an increase in lead times for delivery of our tracker systems. For instance, we experienced a COVID-19-related supplier production slowdown in India at the end of March 2021, which continued throughout 2021 due to the emergence of the Omicron variant. In addition, recent COVID-19 shutdowns in China have created a backlog of exports and increased demand for container shipments from China. The reduced capacity for logistics has caused increases in logistics costs compared to pre-pandemic rates, although certain costs have begun to decline in recent months. Additionally, ground operations at project sites have been impacted by health-related restrictions, shelter-in-place orders and worker absenteeism, which has resulted in delays in project completions, and these restrictions have also hindered our ability to provide on-site support to our customers and conduct inspections of our contract manufacturers. The disruptions in the global supply chain have resulted in extended lead times for some of our component parts. Management will continue to monitor the impact of the global situation on our financial condition, cash flows, operations, contract manufacturers, industry, workforce and customer relationships.

Impact of Climate Change. Climate change has primarily impacted our business operations by increasing demand for solar power generation and, as a result, for use of our products. While climate change has not resulted in any material negative impact to our operations to date, we recognize the risk of disruptions to our supply chain due to extreme weather events. This has led us to expand the diversity of our supplier base and to partner with more local suppliers to reduce shipping and transportation needs. We are also increasingly partnering with larger scale steel producers rather than smaller suppliers to facilitate scaling of our operations while remaining conscious of the environmental impacts of steel manufacturing as the regulatory landscape around these high-emitting industries evolves.

We also attempt to mitigate the climate-related risks from the use of our products by designing our equipment and systems to have a high-slope tolerance and wind mitigation capabilities, while at the same time reducing the required foundation/pile count needed. This allows our trackers to be installed in increasingly hostile environments with minimal disturbance to the surrounding land.

Liquidity. See "Liquidity and Capital Resources" below for a discussion of the impact of the items above on our liquidity position.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net loss and adjusted earnings per share (“EPS”)

We utilize Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Loss, and Adjusted EPS as supplemental measures of our performance. We define Adjusted EBITDA as net loss plus (i) provision (benefit) for income taxes, (ii) interest expense, net, (iii) depreciation expense, (iv) amortization of intangibles, (v) stock-based compensation, (vi) non-routine legal fees, certain severance and other costs (credits), and (vii) the loss (income) from our unconsolidated subsidiary. We also deduct the gains from the disposal of our investment in unconsolidated subsidiary and from extinguishment of our debt from net loss in arriving at Adjusted EBITDA. We define Adjusted Net Loss as net loss plus (i) amortization of debt issue costs and intangibles, (ii) stock-based compensation, (iii) non-routine legal fees, severance and certain other costs (credits), (iv) the loss (income) from our unconsolidated subsidiary, and (v) the income tax expense (benefit) of those adjustments. We also deduct the gains or add back the losses from the disposal of our investment in unconsolidated subsidiary and from extinguishment of our debt from net loss in arriving at Adjusted Net Loss. Adjusted EPS is defined as Adjusted Net Loss on a per share basis using the weighted average diluted shares outstanding.

Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Loss, and Adjusted EPS are intended as supplemental measures of performance that are neither required by, nor presented in accordance with, U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). We present Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Loss and Adjusted EPS, because we believe they assist investors and analysts in comparing our performance across reporting periods on an ongoing basis by excluding items that we do not believe are indicative of our core operating performance. In addition, we use Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Loss and Adjusted EPS to evaluate the effectiveness of our business strategies.

Among other limitations, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Loss, and Adjusted EPS do not reflect (i) our cash expenditures, or future requirements, for capital expenditures or contractual commitments, and (ii) the impact of certain cash charges resulting from matters we consider not to be indicative of our ongoing operations. Further, the adjustments noted in Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect the impact of any income tax expense or benefit. Additionally, other companies in our industry may calculate Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Loss, and Adjusted EPS differently than we do, which limits its usefulness as a comparative measure.

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Because of these limitations, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Loss, and Adjusted EPS should not be considered in isolation or as substitutes for performance measures calculated in accordance with GAAP, and you should not rely on any single financial measure to evaluate our business. These non-GAAP financial measures, when presented, are reconciled to the most closely applicable GAAP measure as disclosed below:

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(a) Our management excludes the gain from current year collections of contingent contractual amounts arising from the sale in 2021 of our investment in our unconsolidated subsidiary, as well as the gain from the 2021 sale, when evaluating our operating performance, along with the (income) loss from operations of our unconsolidated subsidiary prior to the sale.

(b) Non-routine legal fees represent legal fees and settlement costs incurred for matters that were not ordinary or routine to the operations of the business.

(c) Severance costs were incurred related to agreements with certain executives and a 2022 workforce reduction due to restructuring changes.

(d) Other 2022 costs include certain amounts related to our acquisition of HX Tracker, costs attributable to settlement of stock-based compensation awards in 2022 resulting from our IPO, shareholder follow-on registration costs and other items pursuant to our IPO, write-off of deferred costs relating to certain uncompleted transactions and installment payments relating to a 2021 CEO transition event. Other costs during 2021 include consulting fees in connection with operations and finance, costs associated with our IPO and a 2021 CEO transition.

Key Components of Our Results of Operations

The following discussion describes certain line items in our consolidated statements of operations.

Revenue

Revenue from the sale of our solar tracker systems and customized components of those systems is recognized over time, as work progresses, utilizing an input measure of progress determined by cost incurred to date relative to total expected cost on these projects to correlate with our performance in transferring control over the tracker systems and their components. Revenue from the sale of individual parts is recognized point-in-time as and when control transfers based on the terms of the contract. Revenue from sale of term-based software licenses is recognized upon transfer of control to the customer. Revenue for shipping and handling services is recognized over time based on progress in meeting shipping terms of the arrangements. Subscription revenue, which is derived from our subscription-based enterprise licensing model, and support revenue, which is derived from ongoing security updates and maintenance, are generally recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the contract.

Our customers include project developers, solar asset owners and engineering, procurement and construction (“EPC”) contractors that design and build solar energy projects. For each individual solar project, we enter into a contract with our customers covering the price, specifications, delivery dates and warranty for the products being purchased, among other things. Our contractual delivery period for our solar tracker systems and related parts can vary depending on size of the project and availability of vessels and other means of delivery. Contracts can range in value from tens of thousands to tens of millions of dollars.

Our revenue is affected by changes in the volume and ASP of our solar tracking systems purchased by our customers and volume of sales of software products and engineering services, among other things. The ASP of our solar tracker systems and quarterly volume of sales is driven by the supply of, and demand for, our products, changes in product mix, geographic mix of our customers, strength of competitors’ product offerings, tariff and import restrictions, supply chain issues and availability of government incentives to the end-users of our products. Additionally, our revenue may be impacted by seasonality due to cold weather, which can cause variability in site construction activity.

The vast majority of our revenue in the periods presented in this Annual Report was attributable to sales in the United States and Australia. Our revenue growth is dependent on continued growth in the number of solar tracker projects and engineering services we win in competitive bidding processes and growth in our software sales each year, as well as our ability to increase our market share in each of the geographies in which we currently compete, expand our global footprint to new emerging markets, grow our production capabilities to meet demand and continue to develop and introduce new and innovative products that address the changing technology and performance requirements of our customers, among other things.

Cost of revenue and gross profit (loss)

We subcontract with third-party manufacturers to manufacture and deliver our products directly to our customers. Our product costs are affected by the underlying cost of raw materials procured by these contract manufacturers, including steel and aluminum; component costs, including electric motors and gearboxes; technological innovation in manufacturing processes; and our ability to achieve economies of scale resulting in lower component costs. We do not currently hedge against changes in the price of raw materials, but we continue to explore opportunities to mitigate the risks of foreign currency and commodity fluctuations through the use of hedges and foreign exchange lines of credit. Some of these costs, primarily personnel, are not directly affected by sales volume.

We have made changes to our headcount over the last three years as we initially scaled up our business and, more recently, in response to current market conditions. Our gross profit may vary period-to-period due to changes in our headcount, ASP, product costs, product mix, customer mix, geographical mix, shipping methods, warranty costs and seasonality. Pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the "CARES Act"), we received employee retention credits during 2021, which reduced the impact of increased personnel costs on our operating results during the prior year comparative period.

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Operating expenses

Operating expenses consist of research and development expenses, selling and marketing expenses and general and administrative expenses. Personnel-related costs are the most significant component of our operating expenses and include salaries, benefits, bonuses, commissions and stock-based compensation expenses.

Our increased headcount over a good portion of the last three years has contributed to increased operating costs both in absolute dollars and as a percentage of revenue. While we have recently frozen non-essential hiring in response to current regulatory issues that are negatively impacting solar project activity levels, we expect to resume hiring new employees in the future as needed to support our future expected growth and in response to expected turnover. In addition, our operating costs have been impacted by (i) our level of research activities to originate, develop and enhance our products, (ii) our sales and marketing efforts as we expand our development activities in other parts of the world, and (iii) increased legal and professional fees, compliance costs, insurance, facility costs and other costs associated with our expected growth and in being a public company.

Results of Operations – 2022 Compared to 2021

Revenue

We generate our revenue in two streams – Product revenue and Service revenue. Product revenue is derived from the sale of solar tracker systems, customized components for those systems, individual part sales for certain specific transactions and the sale of term-based software licenses. Service revenue includes revenue from shipping and handling services, our subscription-based enterprise licensing model and maintenance and support services in connection with the term-based software licenses.

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Product revenue

The decrease in product revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021, was primarily due to (i) a 56% decrease in MW produced, (ii) a decrease of approximately 35% in ASP, and (iii) a customer concession charge during the year ended December 31, 2022.

The decrease in MW produced was due to the impact of supply chain availability and concerns by project developers and owners over regulatory and tariff issues described below under "Liquidity and Capital Resources", which slowed or pushed out demand for our trackers in comparison to higher production levels for various large projects during the year ended December 31, 2021. We believe the regulatory concerns regarding module availability, among other things, slowed new and existing project activity during the year ended December 31, 2022, by pushing some activity out into 2023 and beyond. The decrease in ASP for our products was the result of a change in the mix of projects between the periods.

Service revenue

The increase in service revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021, was primarily due to increased shipping and logistics activity levels in 2022 resulting from high production activity in the fourth quarter of 2021, and an increase in ASP for shipping and logistics services due to higher pricing required to cover higher costs. During the year ended December 31, 2021, increases in shipping and logistics costs were not fully recoverable under existing contracts at that time. The differential between service revenues and costs during the year ended December 31, 2022, was largely due to a customer concession charge recorded against revenues during the first quarter of 2022 and higher warehousing costs for products in transit to customers.

Cost of revenue and gross (loss) profit

Cost of revenue consists primarily of costs related to raw materials, freight and delivery, product warranty, and personnel costs (salaries, bonuses, benefits, and stock-based compensation). Personnel costs in cost of revenue include both direct labor costs as well as costs attributable to any individuals whose activities relate to the procurement, installment, and delivery of the finished product and services. Personnel costs during 2021 are reported net of federal employee retention credits received.

Gross profit may vary from period-to-period and is primarily affected by our ASP, product costs, product mix, customer mix, geographical mix, shipping method, logistics costs, warranty costs and seasonality.

The decrease in cost of revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021, was primarily driven by (i) a decrease of 56% in MW produced, and (ii) lower stock-based compensation cost as a result of accelerated vesting of stock-based awards following our IPO in 2021. This was partially offset by increases in shipping and logistics costs in 2022 based on higher logistics activity, as well as higher product costs due to project mix changes compared to last year and higher employee costs due to headcount increases.

Our gross profit (loss) percentage of revenue for 2022 was a negative 22.1%, as compared to a negative 12.0% in 2021. We had a gross margin loss in our products for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, as (i) current year volumes were not sufficient to cover certain relatively fixed overhead costs, and (ii) due to certain projects that were in a loss position during the year ended December 31, 2021, due to our inability to pass on significant cost increases to our customers on fixed price contracts. The decline in the gross profit (loss) percentage was largely due to a $5.0 million customer concession and lower production levels in relation to certain relatively fixed costs during the year ended December 31, 2022. This was partially offset by (i) an increase in shipping and logistics activity levels, as well as increased shipping and logistics revenues in order to cover increased costs, which improved our service margins, despite higher warehousing costs for product in transit to customers, and (ii) lower stock-based compensation costs.

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Research and development

Research and development expenses consist primarily of salaries (net of federal employee retention credits received during 2021), employee benefits, stock-based compensation expenses and travel expenses related to our engineers performing research and development activities to originate, develop and enhance our products. Additional expenses include consulting charges, component purchases and other costs for performing research and development on our software products.

The decrease in research and development expenses in 2022, as compared to 2021, was primarily attributable to $2.2 million of lower stock-based compensation expense as a result of accelerated vesting of stock-based awards following our IPO in 2021. This was partially offset by $0.4 million of higher personnel-related expenses due to higher headcount for much of 2022, as well as severance costs associated with our reduction in force in December 2022. Research and development expenses as a percentage of revenue were 8.1% for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to 4.3% for the year ended December 31, 2021.

Selling and marketing

Selling and marketing expenses consist primarily of salaries (net of federal employee retention credits received during 2021), employee benefits, stock-based compensation expenses and travel expenses related to our sales and marketing and business development personnel. Additionally, selling and marketing expenses include costs associated with professional fees and support charges for software subscriptions and licenses, trade shows and conventions.