Maxeon Solar Technologies held an official ribbon cutting at its expanded solar panel manufacturing plant in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico.
Maxeon invested $70 million into the Mexicali plant, where it makes its shingled-cell Performance line of solar panels for the utility-scale market. The Mexicali plant now has an annual production capacity of 1.8 GW. Maxeon also has a second manufacturing site in Ensenada, Baja California, with an annual capacity of 700 MW.
“Due to its talented workforce, its privileged geographical location, and a favorable business environment, today Baja California plays and will continue to play an increasingly relevant role in meeting the growing demand for our products in North America and the rest of the world in the coming years,” said Bill Mulligan, CEO of Maxeon.
Maxeon has expanded its Mexican production capacity to ensure a non-China, tariff-free solar panel supply can enter the U.S. market. Maxeon uses PERC cells manufactured in its Malaysian factories and assembles them into solar panels in Mexico. The U.S. Dept. of Commerce clarified that AD/CVD tariffs would not apply to solar panels using Southeast Asian cells but assembled in a third country before entering the United States.
Maxeon still has plans to establish a significant solar cell and panel manufacturing hub in the United States, but nothing has been officially announced yet.
