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(Yicai Global) Jan. 5 -- Photovoltaic products made by Chinese solar panel giant Longi Green Energy have been installed at Tesla’s new gigafactory in Austin, Texas, Yicai Global learned.
Gigafactory Texas will be equipped with PV panels from Longi, an insider told Yicai Global, without providing any information about the quantity. Tesla China declined to comment on the matter.
With total investment in excess of USD10 billion, the plant will make Model Y and Cybertruck vehicles, Elon Musk, founder and chief executive of the US electric carmaker, said on social media at the end of last year.
This is not the first time that Tesla has installed solar panels at its gigafactories. Its Nevada plant has had them since February 2018. Its power generation capability was 3,200 kilowatts as of last September. That is expected to reach 24,000 kW once all the plant’s roofs are covered with panels by the end of the year.
Tesla and Longi may become rivals in the field of solar power generation, as both are working hard at the building-integrated photovoltaics business. The Palo Alto-based carmaker focuses on the to-customer segment, while Longi prefers the to-business segment.
Editor: Futura Costaglione