Back in August 2023 we published a news post from Maxeon announcing plans to build a 3GW factory in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This is a huge project for both solar cell production & solar panel assembly, but unfortunately the timeline for beginning construction has slipped from the planned Q3 2024.
Maxeon's planned new factory in Albuquerque, New Mexico
There have been delays mainly due to larger corporate developments, but in November 2024 Maxeon announced a broad strategic restructuring of their business portfolio and geographic market focus. Going forward, Maxeon intends to focus exclusively on the U.S. market where its market presence and planned local manufacturing footprint create a strong platform to drive growth and profitability.
Maxeon intends to focus exclusively on the U.S. market
As a key part of this strategy, Maxeon has signed a five-year lease of an existing building in Albuquerque, NM and plans to begin solar panel manufacturing (assembly) in this 2GW capacity facility in early 2026.
So in summary Maxeon can quickly get up and running by leasing an existing building to use for solar panel assembly. Maxeon solar cells would be imported from their factories in Mexico and SE Asia and be assembled into solar panels. At the same time Maxeon can continue to evaluate a longer-term objective of also building a solar cell production facility on a greenfield site in New Mexico.
"A core element of our U.S. strategy is to participate in the creation of a domestic solar panel supply chain." George Guo, Maxeon's newly appointed CEO
The planned Maxeon factory will be a part of the master-planned community in Albuquerque’s southeast corner called 'Mesa Del Sol'. At 12,900 acres this is a huge development with potential for up to 37,000 houses, schools, parklands and commercial space. Some other businesses already committed to developing here include Netflix, an Australian Hydrogen company, Ebon Solar and Maxeon solar too.
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