SunPower is kicking off 2020 with announcements and filings connected to its split into two independent (but aligned) publicly-traded companies in November last year – SunPower and Maxeon Solar Technologies, the latter being the manufacturer of its solar panels.

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“SunPower Corp is exiting from the manufacturing business to strengthen its focus on the development of residential and commercial rooftop solar installation in the U.S.,” noted Mohit Prasad, Project Manager at GlobalData at the time. “The company is spinning off its panel production operations to Maxeon Solar, in which Chinese wafer supplier Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor Co will make investment and own almost 29% of Maxeon Solar.”

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Updates: New CFO

Joanne Solomon has been named Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Maxeon Solar. A seasoned executive with more than 30 years of experience, Solomon joined the company on Jan. 6, 2020 and in her role, she’ll lead Maxeon Solar’s global finance, planning, accounting and information technology organizations. She will work closely with SunPower CFO Manavendra Sial throughout the transition to Maxeon Solar splitting off.

January is Residential Solar Design Month here at Solar Builder. Check out all of our residential solar news and insights this month right here.

Solomon most recently served since 2017 as CFO for Katerra Inc. Prior to this, she worked for 16 years at Amkor Technology, Inc., one of the world’s largest providers of semiconductor packaging and test services, in various roles including CFO. Solomon began her career at Price Waterhouse.

Job cuts announced in filing

According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday, SunPower will be eliminating about 3 percent of its global team over the course of the year as part of a restructuring plan. As expected, between 65 and 70 of the total are related to the company’s global manufacturing and research and development group.

The restructuring will cost SunPower between $16 million and $22 million.