Solar manufacturer Maxeon Solar Technologies has acquired selected assets from California-headquartered solar company Complete Solaria. The two companies also signed a module supply deal for Maxeon to ship its panels to Solaria.
The assets in question include Solaria’s dealer channel operations and contracts, as well as its solar patent portfolio relating primarily to shingled cell solar panel technology. Maxeon already manufactures shingled cell technology panels itself, over which it sued fellow manufacturer Tongwei Solar in Germany earlier this year.
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“We expect that this transaction will expand our US DG market footprint in two ways,” said Maxeon CEO Bill Mulligan.
“First, incorporation of Solaria’s nationwide dealer channel will inject infrastructure, capabilities and reach that should meaningfully accelerate our direct sales efforts.
“Second, this transaction enables immediate access to a qualified source of tariff-free solar panels that we plan to market adjacent to our flagship IBC solar panels, allowing us to replicate in the US market the ‘better-best’”’ product strategy we have successfully employed in our international markets for years.”
In August, Maxeon announced plans to build a 3GW integrated cell and module manufacturing plant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which will produce shingled cell technology as well as tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) cells and modules. Mulligan – who was appointed as CEO in January to head up the company’s manufacturing expanstion – said that this plant will employ the new patents acquired from Solaria:
“Finally, this transaction will allow Maxeon to consolidate two major shingled cell IP portfolios, adding to the over 130 granted patents and over 80 pending patent applications for fundamental shingled solar cell panel technology that Maxeon designs and manufactures globally, and which we plan to use in our announced cell and module manufacturing facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico.”
Complete Solaria was formed in October 2022 after the merging of module producer Solaria Corporation and solar services provider Complete Solar. At the time, the company said it would provide a “one-stop service” from design to installation to financing of solar systems.
CEO Will Anderson said of the deal with Maxeon: “This transaction will provide Complete Solaria with capital to optimise our end-to-end customer offering, including beautiful, high-quality solar energy systems with Maxeon premium, high performance solar panels. Concentrating on our core systems segment will benefit both our business and our shareholders.”