Maxeon Solar Technologies

Challenge

Maxeon Solar Technologies (Maxeon) recently launched as an independent company and is emerging as a prominent brand in design and the manufacturing of high-efficiency solar technology. Its solar panel products are installed in over 100 countries, thanks to a wide network of over 1,200 local sales and installation partners.

With its corporate purpose of Powering Positive ChangeTM , Maxeon strives hard to fight climate change by pushing the boundaries of sustainable energy.

Maxeon produces solar cell and panel technologies in factories located in France, Mexico, Malaysia, and the Philippines, where internet connectivity is not optimized for businesses. Headquartered in Singapore, the company has regional offices throughout the globe where they use local internet providers.

When Maxeon spun off from SunPower Corporation, they needed to redesign their network. With 26 IT teams spread across the globe, multiple satellite offices, and three manufacturing plants, Maxeon assessed that operating on different network solutions would be challenging to manage remotely, especially in countries with unreliable connectivity.

In addition, as their business continued to grow with new satellite offices and manufacturing plants,
so did the IT challenges.

Solution

To address these challenges, Maxeon looked for a solution that delivered easy-to-use cloud management of their satellite office networks.The Meraki access points allowed them to deploy at remote site locations with minimal IT staff on ground. Once deployed, the new access points could be managed remotely via the cloud.

In addition, the Maxeon team needed better accessibility to their security cameras. Their prior solution took an average of three to seven working days to route, download, and send the footage back to its requester. The Meraki MV smart cameras cut the process down to a few minutes, making Maxeon’s access to security events as easy as a few clicks.

“Maxeon placed the initial order with Meraki. Within seven days, the first batch of Meraki access points arrived, and within another four days, Maxeon’s global network was fully deployed and ready.”
– Robert Tan

I always win by executing faster, and Meraki allows me to execute my IT projects faster, better, and with smarter analytics.

ROBERT TAN

Senior Director Infrastructure & Cloud at Maxeon Solar Technologies

Result

With the Meraki MR access points installed globally across Maxeon offices and manufacturing plants, including the Philippines, it became possible to have one manager supervising the entire network, which was previously impossible.

Tan recalls that he was relieved when the Meraki global network came online so quickly. Each site
only needed to plug-and-play and the new solutions were up and running.

With remote access features built into the device, Mr. Tan, who was in Singapore, took over running Maxeon networks all over the world.

“I didn’t expect that a small box could do so many things,” Mr. Tan added.

Maxeon’s favorite feature is the Meraki dashboard, which can be accessed from anywhere on any device,allowing Maxeon to monitor multiple workplaces around the world. Not only does it provide rich information and analytics,it also helps keep tabs on what’s happening on the ground and looks at the performance matrix and security events.

In addition to accessibility, Cisco Meraki delivered economic benefits since, apart from one or two devices installed in the different sites, only one device was necessary to access, control, and configure the products remotely.

Furthermore, it was easy to train and enable someone to use and configure the Meraki products. Fewer devices, fewer people, fewer problems.

Currently, Maxeon is planning to install them in all offices and manufacturing plants. In addition, the leading solar maker plans to replace 180+ access points with Meraki. They are also considering deploying Meraki MT sensors to better protect critical IT infrastructure with real-time visibility into environmental conditions.

With the various solutions available in the market, I chose Cisco Meraki for these four reasons: switching, firewalls, Wi-Fi, and the cameras. But the deal breaker: I just need to go to one dashboard.

ROBERT TAN

Senior Director Infrastructure & Cloud at Maxeon Solar Technologies