In a twist, Maxeon to lease ABQ building for solar module assembly

Singapore-based Maxeon Solar Technologies is leasing a former Honeywell building in Albuquerque, where it will begin solar module assembly in 2026 — a turnaround from the company’s plans to build a massive facility at Albuquerque’s Mesa del Sol area.

The news comes as the company announced a broader restructuring of its business portfolio, selling off global assets in a likely maneuver to free up capital as it focuses exclusively on the U.S. market.

The lease, for the building at 9201 San Mateo NE, which Maxeon said is for five years, will allow Maxeon to “rapidly deploy” a two-gigawatt facility, a company spokesperson wrote in an email to the Journal.

It’s a scaling back of sorts from Maxeon’s ambitious plans to build a plant at Mesa del Sol. It had hoped to start construction on the plant earlier this year, which was then delayed to the end of 2024. Now, the company is continuing to “evaluate our longer-term objective of also establishing solar cell manufacturing capacity and evaluating options for Mesa del Sol,” Maxeon spokesperson Forrest Monroy wrote.

The change of direction for the solar manufacturer doesn’t mean building a plant is off the table in the master-planned community, said Steve Chavez, managing partner of Mesa del Sol.

Mesa del Sol officials have extended Maxeon’s purchase agreement for 100 acres of land. And the Mesa del Sol team is working through $92 million in infrastructure — for example, sewer and lift stations — ”in anticipation of Maxeon and Ebon (Solar),” Chavez said.

Ebon Solar is also a solar cell manufacturer.

“Our discussions, they haven’t changed — the amount of land they’re going to acquire,” Chavez said. “They’ve been working with us on infrastructure and their needs, and those are weekly discussions that we have (with Maxeon). …

“I’m happy that they’re coming to Albuquerque. They’re taking that first step. This shows their commitment to all the hard work that the governor, the mayor, the county, everybody’s put into it.”

The company’s plans for Albuquerque were massive from the start: Build a 1.9 million-square-foot plant where it would not only assemble solar panels but fabricate photovoltaic cells, which the company said would bring up to 1,800 jobs to the city by next year.

The project gained city approval for industrial revenue bonds in the amount of $2.4 billion, which would kick in property tax rebates. And it got the OK for up to $20 million in Local Economic Development Act funds from the state and city. Those incentives could potentially be modified, however, based on Maxeon’s current situation, said New Mexico Economic Development Department Division Director Mark Roper.

State officials have been in conversations with Maxeon “weekly, if not more often” on finding a building to lease to begin solar module assembly, Roper added.

“I can’t tell you exactly when we were aware, but we knew that they’ve been exploring possibilities of an existing facility,” Roper said.

State officials anticipate Maxeon will ultimately perform fabrication and additional modular assembly in Albuquerque, he said.

In announcing the lease on an existing Albuquerque building, Maxeon said it plans to sell its non-U.S. business to TCL Technology Group, the parent company of Maxeon’s largest shareholder, which includes its sales and marketing arms across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and the Asia Pacific regions. TCL Group will also buy Maxeon’s Philippines manufacturing operations, according to a news release.

The shareholder, TCL Zhonghuan, earlier this year said it had planned to invest up to $200 million in Maxeon, giving it a stake of just over 50% in the company. Maxeon said in a news release that it will continue to “operate as an independent, publicly traded NASDAQ listed company.”

Maxeon’s stock price was trading at $7.36 per share on Tuesday, marking a nearly 99% drop in value in 2024.

“As Maxeon intensifies its focus on the U.S. market, our priority is to further expand our growing residential and commercial partner network and support our well-established base of utility-scale customers,” Maxeon’s new CEO George Guo said in a statement. “This strategic refocusing of our business is designed to keep us closer and more attuned to the needs of our U.S. customer base, allowing us to leverage Maxeon’s deep experience and top-tier reputation for product innovation and quality that are a result of almost 40 years of technology leadership and investments in intellectual property.”