Last week, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that new company Ebon solar energy would establish silicon solar cell production in Albuquerque’s Mesa del Sol industrial development area, the same area where Maxeon is expected to launch its own operations.
Ebon Solar, a division of the Singapore-based blockchain and fintech company Ebang Internationalwill invest $942 million in greenfield development in Albuquerque. The 834,000 feet2 site will create more than 900 jobs.
Ebang says it has “strong application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chip design capabilities” and will leverage that for solar cell development.
“Ebon Solar is proud to be an innovator in technologies that support renewable energy,” said Judy Cai, CEO of Ebon Solar. “Choosing Albuquerque for our investment aligns with our commitment to sustainable innovation, and New Mexico offers abundant solar energy resources, favorable renewable energy policies and a dedicated, skilled workforce.”
There is little information on the Ebon or Ebang websites about their solar efforts other than that they are focusing on TOPCon technology. Maxeon said it would spend more than $1 billion to set up a 3.5 GW solar cell and panel manufacturing site in the region, so you’d assume Ebon’s manufacturing capacity would be in the multi-gigawatt range located.