Singapore-based solar company to bring manufacturing plant, 1,800 jobs to Albuquerque

A Singapore-based solar company is bringing an estimated $1 billion investment and 1,800 jobs to Albuquerque.

Maxeon Solar Technologies — a company that branched off from U.S.-based SunPower Corp. in 2020 — announced Thursday that it chose Albuquerque as the site for its first manufacturing plant in the United States. In the first quarter of 2023, the company netted $318 million in revenue. A press release from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office said the estimated economic impact for the state is expected to be in excess of $4 billion over the next decade.

Construction on the plant is expected to begin in 2024, and as soon as 2025, Albuquerque-made solar panels could be headed to both rooftops and power plants.

“Our new solar cell and panel facility in New Mexico is an ambitious and concrete response to the need to decarbonize the U.S. economy while creating permanent highly-skilled local manufacturing and engineering jobs,” Maxeon CEO Bill Mulligan said in the company’s announcement. “We expect the new plant will also serve as an anchor to attract further regional investment in the solar supply chain.”

Both Mulligan and Lujan Grisham, who will tout the expansion at a Friday news conference, pointed to the Inflation Reduction Act as a catalyst for bringing the facility to New Mexico. Maxeon, which has offices around the world, currently has three manufacturing plants worldwide — in Mexico, Malaysia and the Philippines.

The manufacturing plant will sit on a 160-acre site at Mesa del Sol in a 1.9 million-square-foot complex. The facility is projected to produce 8 million solar panels per year.

“Albuquerque is at the forefront of the movement to bring manufacturing back home because of our unique location, affordability, and skilled workforce,” Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said in a news release. “Bringing good paying jobs in clean energy will help foster new opportunities for families in New Mexico and create a more sustainable future for America.”

In a quarter two earnings call Thursday, Mulligan told investors the project’s capacity could potentially grow by 50% due to customer demand and infrastructure at the Mesa del Sol site. Mulligan added there’s an option to expand into adjacent parcels of land in the future.

Earlier this year, in a May earnings call, Mulligan hinted that a manufacturing facility might soon be coming to the United States.

The company is currently in the “due diligence” stage of its loan application under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program, which provides funding for clean energy infrastructure and deployment projects. Selecting a site, Mulligan said on the earnings call, took longer than anticipated. But picking the Mesa del Sol location is a major step forward to securing funds, as DOE is now able to meet prerequisites such as environmental reviews.

“We expect that we’ll be able to move this project forward at a rapid clip at this point,” Mulligan said.