The Singapore-based solar power company
Maxeon Solar Technologies Ltd has chosen Albuquerque, New Mexico, as the location for its first manufacturing plant in the USA. The new 3GW facility will be designed to produce latest-generation TOPCon PV-silicon cell technology and the company’s proprietary ‘shingled-cell’ Performance Line solar modules to meet rapidly growing demand for domestically produced solar panels.
The new facility is planned to serve both the Utility Scale Power Plant market and Distributed Generation rooftop applications. The total investment of the project is expected to be over $1 billion and is subject to a successful financial close under the US Department of Energy’s Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Programme.
Bill Mulligan, Maxeon’s CEO, said: “Thanks to the support of the Biden administration, the US is now poised to re-shore and scale up a domestic solar supply chain. This will enhance national energy security and create a new cadre of well-paying manufacturing jobs. Maxeon is well positioned to play a significant role in this process by virtue of our proven experience in deploying and operating world-class solar cell and panel technology. We see tremendous opportunity to help the country advance its clean energy agenda while generating strong local economic impact.”
The Maxeon plant is expected to be the first large-scale PV cell and panel-manufacturing facility in New Mexico, and its planned capacity will about double that of the largest silicon solar manufacturing facility currently operating in the USA. Maxeon expects to begin construction in the first quarter of 2024, with factory ramp-up to commence in 2025.
Maxeon has selected a 160-acre site in Mesa Del Sol and is designing the complex to include solar cell fabrication, panel assembly, a warehouse, and administrative offices. Once complete, Maxeon estimates the new facility will create up to 1,800 jobs, including highly skilled manufacturing and engineering jobs — and produce millions of solar panels each year for the US market.