Maxeon Solar Technologies, a Singapore solar panel maker, plans to open a $1 billion, 3-gigawatt facility in Albuquerque, N.M. Maxeon expects to begin construction in the first quarter of 2024, with factory ramp-up to commence in 2025.

Maxeon has selected a 160-acre site located in the community of Mesa Del Sol, and is designing the complex to include solar cell fabrication, panel assembly, a warehouse, and administrative offices. Once complete, Maxeon estimates the new facility will create up to 1,800 jobs.

The new plant is planned to serve both the Utility Scale Power Plant market and Distributed Generation rooftop applications. The Maxeon plant is expected to be the first large-scale PV cell and panel manufacturing in New Mexico, and its planned capacity is approximately double the size of the largest silicon solar manufacturing facility currently operating in the U.S. It’s expected to produce millions of solar panels each year for the U.S. market.