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Note 8. Derivative Financial Instruments (Notes)
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022
Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]  
Derivative Financial Instruments
8. Derivative Financial Instruments

As a global company, we are exposed in the normal course of business to interest rate, foreign currency, and commodity price risks that could affect our financial position, results of operations, and cash flows. We use derivative instruments to hedge against these risks and only hold such instruments for hedging purposes, not for speculative or trading purposes.

Depending on the terms of the specific derivative instruments and market conditions, some of our derivative instruments may be assets and others liabilities at any particular balance sheet date. We report all of our derivative instruments at fair value and account for changes in the fair value of derivative instruments within “Accumulated other comprehensive loss” if the derivative instruments qualify for hedge accounting. For those derivative instruments that do not qualify for hedge accounting (i.e., “economic hedges”), we record the changes in fair value directly to earnings. See Note 10. “Fair Value Measurements” to our consolidated financial statements for information about the techniques we use to measure the fair value of our derivative instruments.

The following tables present the fair values of derivative instruments included in our consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 (in thousands):
 December 31, 2022
 Other Current AssetsOther AssetsOther Current LiabilitiesOther Liabilities
Derivatives designated as hedging instruments:  
Commodity swap contracts$— $17 $4,447 $144 
Total derivatives designated as hedging instruments$— $17 $4,447 $144 
Derivatives not designated as hedging instruments:  
Foreign exchange forward contracts$2,018 $— $2,221 $— 
Total derivatives not designated as hedging instruments$2,018 $— $2,221 $— 
Total derivative instruments$2,018 $17 $6,668 $144 
 December 31, 2021
 Other Current AssetsOther Current Liabilities
Derivatives designated as hedging instruments: 
Foreign exchange forward contracts$1,336 $139 
Total derivatives designated as hedging instruments$1,336 $139 
Derivatives not designated as hedging instruments: 
Foreign exchange forward contracts$4,480 $3,411 
Total derivatives not designated as hedging instruments$4,480 $3,411 
Total derivative instruments$5,816 $3,550 

The following table presents the pretax amounts related to derivative instruments designated as cash flow hedges affecting accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) and our consolidated statements of operations for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020 (in thousands):
Foreign Exchange Forward ContractsCommodity Swap ContractsTotal
Balance as of December 31, 2019$(962)$— $(962)
Amounts recognized in other comprehensive income (loss)
(3,881)1,472 (2,409)
Amounts reclassified to earnings impacting:
Cost of sales1,199  1,199 
Balance as of December 31, 2020(3,644)1,472 (2,172)
Amounts recognized in other comprehensive income (loss)
2,864 1,531 4,395 
Amounts reclassified to earnings impacting:
Cost of sales1,906 (3,003)(1,097)
Balance as of December 31, 20211,126 — 1,126 
Amounts recognized in other comprehensive income (loss)
545 (8,101)(7,556)
Amounts reclassified to earnings impacting:
Cost of sales(1,671)859 (812)
Balance as of December 31, 2022$— $(7,242)$(7,242)

During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, we recognized unrealized losses of less than $0.1 million within “Cost of sales” for amounts excluded from effectiveness testing for our foreign exchange forward contracts designated as cash flow hedges. During the year ended December 31, 2020, we recognized unrealized gains of $1.2 million within “Cost of sales” for amounts excluded from effectiveness testing for our foreign exchange forward contracts designated as cash flow hedges.

The following table presents the pretax amounts related to derivative instruments designated as net investment hedges affecting accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) and our consolidated statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2022 (in thousands):
Foreign Exchange Forward Contracts
Balance as of December 31, 2021$— 
Amounts recognized in other comprehensive income (loss)(667)
Balance as of December 31, 2022$(667)
During the year ended December 31, 2022, we recognized unrealized gains of $0.9 million within “Other income (expense), net” for amounts excluded from effectiveness testing for our derivative instruments designated as net investment hedges.

The following table presents gains and losses related to derivative instruments not designated as hedges affecting our consolidated statements of operations for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020 (in thousands):
Amount of Gain (Loss) Recognized in Income
Income Statement Line Item202220212020
Foreign exchange forward contractsCost of sales$583 $57 $(462)
Foreign exchange forward contractsForeign currency loss, net75,421 15,053 (6,317)
Interest rate swap contractsInterest expense, net (315)(7,259)

Interest Rate Risk

From time to time, we may use interest rate swap contracts to mitigate our exposure to interest rate fluctuations associated with certain of our debt instruments. We do not use such swap contracts for speculative or trading purposes. During the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, all of our interest rate swap contracts related to project specific debt facilities. Such swap contracts did not qualify for accounting as cash flow hedges in accordance with ASC 815 due to our expectation to sell the associated projects before the maturity of their project specific debt financings and corresponding swap contracts. Accordingly, changes in the fair values of these swap contracts were recorded directly to “Interest expense, net.”

Foreign Currency Risk

Cash Flow Exposure

We expect certain of our subsidiaries to have future cash flows that will be denominated in currencies other than the subsidiaries’ functional currencies. Changes in the exchange rates between the functional currencies of our subsidiaries and the other currencies in which they transact will cause fluctuations in the cash flows we expect to receive or pay when these cash flows are realized or settled. Accordingly, we enter into foreign exchange forward contracts to hedge a portion of these forecasted cash flows. As of December 31, 2021, these foreign exchange forward contracts hedged our forecasted cash flows for periods up to 11 months. These foreign exchange forward contracts qualify for accounting as cash flow hedges in accordance with ASC 815, and we designated them as such. We report unrealized gains or losses on such contracts in “Accumulated other comprehensive loss” and subsequently reclassify applicable amounts into earnings when the hedged transaction occurs and impacts earnings. We determined that these derivative financial instruments were highly effective as cash flow hedges as of December 31, 2021.

As of December 31, 2021, the notional values associated with our foreign exchange forward contracts qualifying as cash flow hedges were as follows (notional amounts and U.S. dollar equivalents in millions):
December 31, 2021
CurrencyNotional AmountUSD Equivalent
U.S. dollar (1)$38.4$38.4
British poundGBP 10.6$14.4
——————————
(1)These derivative instruments represent hedges of outstanding payables denominated in U.S. dollars at certain of our foreign subsidiaries whose functional currencies are other than the U.S. dollar.
Net Investment Exposure

The functional currencies of certain of our foreign subsidiaries are their local currencies. Accordingly, we apply period-end exchange rates to translate their assets and liabilities and daily transaction exchange rates to translate their revenues, expenses, gains, and losses into U.S. dollars. We include the associated translation adjustments as a separate component of “Accumulated other comprehensive loss” within stockholders’ equity. From time to time, we may seek to mitigate the impact of such translation adjustments by entering into foreign exchange forward contracts that are designated as hedges of net investments in certain foreign subsidiaries. In June 2022, we entered into a foreign exchange forward contract with a notional value of ¥8.0 billion ($60.6 million), which matured in December 2022. Such foreign exchange forward contract qualified for and was designated as a hedge of our net investment in a certain foreign subsidiary in Japan. We report unrealized gains or losses on this contract, which are based on spot exchange rates, as a component of our foreign currency translation adjustments within “Accumulated other comprehensive loss” and subsequently reclassify applicable amounts into earnings when the net investments are sold or substantially liquidated.

Transaction Exposure and Economic Hedging

Many of our subsidiaries have assets and liabilities (primarily cash, receivables, deferred taxes, payables, accrued expenses, operating lease liabilities, and solar module collection and recycling liabilities) that are denominated in currencies other than the subsidiaries’ functional currencies. Changes in the exchange rates between the functional currencies of our subsidiaries and the other currencies in which these assets and liabilities are denominated will create fluctuations in our reported consolidated statements of operations and cash flows. We may enter into foreign exchange forward contracts or other financial instruments to economically hedge assets and liabilities against the effects of currency exchange rate fluctuations. The gains and losses on such foreign exchange forward contracts will economically offset all or part of the transaction gains and losses that we recognize in earnings on the related foreign currency denominated assets and liabilities.

We also enter into foreign exchange forward contracts to economically hedge balance sheet and other exposures related to transactions between certain of our subsidiaries and transactions with third parties. Such contracts are considered economic hedges and do not qualify for hedge accounting. Accordingly, we recognize gains or losses from the fluctuations in foreign exchange rates and the fair value of these derivative contracts in “Foreign currency loss, net” on our consolidated statements of operations.

As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the notional values of our foreign exchange forward contracts that do not qualify for hedge accounting were as follows (notional amounts and U.S. dollar equivalents in millions):
December 31, 2022
TransactionCurrencyNotional AmountUSD Equivalent
SellCanadian dollarCAD 4.2$3.1
SellChilean pesoCLP 5,996.5$7.0
PurchaseEuro€160.2$170.5
SellEuro€38.4$40.9
SellIndian rupeeINR 27,119.5$327.4
PurchaseJapanese yen¥2,982.7$22.4
SellJapanese yen¥8,950.3$67.1
PurchaseMalaysian ringgitMYR 99.8$22.6
SellMalaysian ringgitMYR 13.7$3.1
SellMexican pesoMXN 34.6$1.8
PurchaseSingapore dollarSGD 1.4$1.0
December 31, 2021
TransactionCurrencyNotional AmountUSD Equivalent
PurchaseAustralian dollarAUD 3.2$2.3
PurchaseBrazilian realBRL 2.6$0.5
SellBrazilian realBRL 2.6$0.5
PurchaseBritish poundGBP 2.5$3.4
SellChilean pesoCLP 4,058.6$4.8
PurchaseEuro€77.6$88.0
SellEuro€38.6$43.8
SellIndian rupeeINR 10,943.0$147.1
PurchaseJapanese yen¥667.5$5.8
SellJapanese yen¥31,524.6$273.9
PurchaseMalaysian ringgitMYR 17.0$4.1
SellMalaysian ringgitMYR 24.5$5.9
SellMexican pesoMXN 34.6$1.7
PurchaseSingapore dollarSGD 5.5$4.1

Commodity Price Risk

We use commodity swap contracts to mitigate our exposure to commodity price fluctuations for certain raw materials used in the production of our modules. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we entered into various commodity swap contracts to hedge a portion of our forecasted cash flows for purchases of aluminum frames between July 2022 and December 2023. Such swaps had an aggregate initial notional value based on metric tons of forecasted aluminum purchases, equivalent to $70.5 million, and entitle us to receive a three-month average London Metals Exchange price for aluminum while requiring us to pay certain fixed prices. The notional amount of the commodity swap contracts proportionately adjusts with forecasted purchases of aluminum frames. As of December 31, 2022, the notional value associated with these contracts were $30.5 million.

These commodity swap contracts qualify for accounting as cash flow hedges in accordance with ASC 815, and we designated them as such. We report unrealized gains or losses on such contracts in “Accumulated other comprehensive loss” and subsequently reclassify applicable amounts into earnings when the hedged transactions occur and impact earnings. We determined that these derivative financial instruments were highly effective as cash flow hedges as of December 31, 2022. In the following 12 months, we expect to reclassify into earnings $6.6 million of net unrealized losses related to these commodity swap contracts that are included in “Accumulated other comprehensive loss” at December 31, 2022 as we realize the earnings effects of the related forecasted transactions. The amount we ultimately record to earnings will depend on the actual commodity pricing when we realize the related forecasted transactions.