Setback For European Solar PV Manufacturing Plans as Maxeon Shutters French Module Factory – EQ Mag Pro
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Maxeon Solar has shuttered its 44 MW solar panel manufacturing facility in France’s Porcelette, according to local media
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Move comes at a time when the company had received an EU grant to expand the on-location capacity to by 1.4 GW to produce MaxAir panels
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It previously had also shut down the company’s Toulouse fab in France in 2021
Singapore headquartered solar module manufacturer Maxeon Solar Technologies has shut down its solar PV manufacturing facility in France’s Porcelette at a time when there is a growing consensus and clamor for much more local vertically integrated solar PV manufacturing in all of Europe.
According to a report of a local publication La Republicain Lorrain, the company that has been producing SunPower brand modules at the French location since 2012, has been quietly shutting down operations at the 44 MW fab, unknown to even Porcelette Mayor Marie-France Guerriero.
It has reportedly cited high raw material and elevated production costs for the decision. Nonetheless, the decision is surprising since Maxeon had all the plans to expand capacity on location. In July 2021, it won a European Union (EU) grant to establish 1.4 GW production line at the Porcelette facility to produce sticky solar panels called MaxAir
However, the company did very briefly mention the closure of Porcelette fab in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing in August 2022 stating, “Restructuring expense were $1.8 million and $1.5 million in the three and six months ended July 3, 2022 respectively. This primarily consists of a restructuring plan charge for June 2022 on the closure of our module factory in Porcelette, France.”
The move follows its decision to shutter another of its French Fab in Toulouse in 2021.
Moving beyond Europe, Maxeon is accelerating plans to set up shop in the US with 3 GW capacity with the country’s incentive backed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) having been cleared. The company is a Singapore headquartered manufacturing spin-off from SunPower, which has taken over the cell/module technology developed by the former, and is now owned mostly by Total Energies and leading Chinese wafer maker TCL Zhonghuan.
Recently, Rystad Energy said as much as 35 GW solar PV manufacturing projects in Europe may be stalled if energy prices continue to rise
Source: taiyangnews
