SunPower sellers will quickly have entry to photo voltaic panels exterior of Maxeon’s portfolio, and Maxeon panels will probably be hitting extra roofs throughout the nation now that the 2 corporations have agreed to finish their unique relationship in the US.
It’s been a rocky highway for the 2 manufacturers that formally divorced in 2020, when SunPower separated its manufacturing arm from its North American set up community. Maxeon would give attention to supplying the worldwide market with each utility-scale and distributed technology photo voltaic panels, and SunPower would persist with residential and new development installs in the US.
Maxeon was permitted to promote its shingled-PERC Efficiency modules to anybody within the U.S. utility-scale market however may solely entry the U.S. DG market by means of its unique provide settlement with SunPower. Maxeon began establishing distributor relationships in 2022 to get its M-Collection panels utilizing interdigitated again contact (IBC) know-how to extra residential installers in the US. Then SunPower and Maxeon prolonged their unique partnership by means of 2025.
However now that unique relationship will probably be coming to an finish. After March 31, 2024, Maxeon will probably be permitted to promote its M-Collection panels to non-SunPower installers in the US.
“In DG, our enterprise was negatively impacted by SunPower falling behind on funds, which brought about Maxeon to droop shipments to them beginning in July,” mentioned Maxeon CEO Invoice Mulligan within the firm’s Q3 2023 monetary outcomes name. “I’m happy to announce that now we have reached a settlement with SunPower that has allowed us to renew shipments, whereas mutually releasing all excellent claims.”
SunPower will buy 85 MW of Maxeon’s IBC panels by means of February 2024 after which the provision agreements will probably be terminated.
That is preferrred timing for Maxeon, because it just lately acquired former shingled-cell competitor Solaria. Maxeon now has entry to Solaria’s vendor channel and the entire firm’s patent portfolio.
“We count on that this transaction will develop our U.S. DG market footprint in two methods. First, incorporation of Solaria’s nationwide vendor channel will inject infrastructure, capabilities and attain that ought to meaningfully speed up our direct gross sales efforts. Second, this transaction allows rapid entry to a professional supply of tariff-free photo voltaic panels that we plan to market adjoining to our flagship IBC photo voltaic panels, permitting us to duplicate within the U.S. market the ‘better-best’ product technique now we have efficiently employed in our worldwide markets for years,” Mulligan mentioned on the time.
Maxeon is planning a 3.5-GW photo voltaic cell and panel manufacturing unit in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that may make the Efficiency line of photo voltaic modules for the utility-scale market. The corporate is updating from PERC to TOPCon know-how.
