Singapore-headquartered Maxeon Photo voltaic Applied sciences (Nasdaq: MAXN) is restructuring to focus completely on the US market, nevertheless it’s put its $1 billion Albuquerque photo voltaic cell manufacturing unit on ice.
Maxeon Photo voltaic bets on the US
Maxeon is promoting off its international gross sales and advertising belongings in EMEA, Latin America, and Asia Pacific to its mother or father firm, TCL Group, which will even purchase Maxeon’s Philippines manufacturing operations. TCL will then function them beneath a brand new identify, TCL SunPower Worldwide. The transactions are anticipated to be accomplished by the tip of the 12 months.
Maxeon will proceed to function as an unbiased, publicly traded Nasdaq-listed firm solely centered on the US residential, industrial, and utility-scale markets to “drive progress and profitability.” The corporate additionally introduced that it has executed a five-year lease of an present constructing in Albuquerque and plans to start photo voltaic panel manufacturing on this 2-gigawatt (GW) capability facility in early 2026.
George Guo, Maxeon’s CEO, mentioned, “Assuming profitable financing, this website will permit Maxeon to quickly deploy a 2 GW module meeting facility whereas we proceed to guage our longer-term goal of additionally establishing solar-cell manufacturing capability.”
What Guo is referring to when he mentions solar-cell manufacturing is the $1 billion manufacturing unit. In August 2023, the corporate mentioned it might construct a 3-gigawatt (GW) solar-cell and panel manufacturing unit in Mesa del Sol, Albuquerque, from the bottom up. It had deliberate to begin building on the plant in early 2024, however after delays, it’s now been placed on maintain. Mesa del Sol, which says it’s nonetheless working with Maxeon on the development mission, has prolonged the photo voltaic firm’s buy settlement for 100 acres of land, in keeping with the Albuquerque Enterprise Journal. If constructed, it will likely be the most important manufacturing unit of its type within the US.
Electrek’s Take
Maxeon has had a tumultuous 12 months. In Might, it was investigated for violating US federal securities legal guidelines, and it obtained a slap on the hand from Nasdaq for the delayed launch of quarterly monetary reviews. Then it obtained a monetary enhance within the type of an almost $200 million funding from China’s TCL Zhonghuan, which gave the latter an over 50% stake within the firm. It additionally noticed a 99% drop in inventory worth this 12 months.
Not too long ago, Maxeon bumped into bother with US Customs and Border Safety (CBP). Earlier this month, it disclosed that CBP had detained its photo voltaic panels assembled in Mexico with photo voltaic cells from Malaysia. CBP has ramped up its scrutiny of photo voltaic panel provide chains to make sure they’re free from hyperlinks to pressured labor involving the Uyghur group.
Maxeon emphasised that its panels don’t have any ties to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Area. The sale of Maxeon’s Asian belongings to TCL ought to assist streamline the CBP documentation course of, however Trump’s current Mexico tariff announcement is a possible fly within the ointment, too.
No surprise this majority Chinese language-owned firm with a tanked inventory worth needs to construct panels in solar-industry-friendly New Mexico as quickly as attainable.
Learn extra: Maxeon goes to open a 3 GW photo voltaic manufacturing unit in New Mexico
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