Just a few months ago, Maxion, a Singapore-based solar power manufacturer and long-time leader in solar technology, announced that it was building a $1.9 billion large-scale solar cell and panel factory in New Mexico backed by the U.S. Department of State. A press release was released about the new jobs that will be created. of energy.
Now, Maxion is fighting for its life, facing financial crisis, the resignation of its CEO and CFO, the bankruptcy of SunPower, its former largest customer, and plummeting panel prices due to intense global competition.
Maxion last month withdrew its full-year sales and profit forecasts and was unable to provide financial guidance for the third quarter. The company’s stock price has fallen 99.14% so far this year. The company already needs to implement a 100-to-1 stock split to avoid delisting from the Nasdaq stock exchange.
The company’s high-priced, high-efficiency solar panels inherit the technology DNA and rich patent portfolio of SunPower, a pioneering U.S. solar power company that became independent in 2020. SunPower was founded in Silicon Valley in 1985 and rose to prominence with world-record solar power generation. -Cell performance. Maxeon has taken on that role itself in recent years and currently produces some of the most efficient solar panels in the world.
If Maxion doesn’t survive this turbulent patch, it will join the ranks of shuttered solar leaders, including its sister companies and many before them.
If Maxion survives, its famous U.S. intellectual property and patents for the highest-performance silicon solar cell technology ever commercialized will be in the hands of a Chinese state-owned company. . Some members of Congress have opposed China’s involvement in other domestic clean energy production projects, which could make it difficult for the company to operate in the United States.
Over the summer, Maxion was bailed out by its largest shareholder, China’s Central Renewable Energy Technology (TZE), which offered it $197.5 million in equity and debt, in exchange for a majority stake. As a result of this transaction, management of Maxion was effectively transferred to TCL, TZE’s parent company. TCL is a partly state-owned Chinese company and electronics conglomerate that manufactures televisions, phones, home appliances, and now high-performance solar panels.
During the previous solar bubble and burst, Chinese conglomerate Hanergy acquired the remains and intellectual property of a number of failed US solar companies, including MiaSolé and Alta Devices.
As part of the ownership change, George Guo, formerly of TCL Communication Technology, will become Maxeon’s CEO. Current CEO Bill Mulligan will retire in January.
The ownership change comes as the U.S. is rapidly expanding its solar panel manufacturing capacity thanks to the Inflation Control Act, and the change comes as the U.S. is rapidly expanding its solar panel manufacturing capacity thanks to the Inflation Control Act, and the change comes as the U.S. relies on China’s world-leading solar power industry. This is motivated in no small part by the government’s desire to reduce the The incident also comes amid increasing trade tensions between the two countries. The Biden administration has imposed steep tariffs on everything from semiconductors to Chinese-made solar panels.
