Tesla and Panasonic plan to open a joint photovoltaic cell factory in Buffalo, N.Y., the two companies announced on Sunday.
The cells will be used in a solar energy system that also connects to Tesla’s home energy storage products, Powerwall and Powerpack. This is one of Tesla’s first efforts at making an end-to-end ecosystem using its connection to SolarCity, which Tesla is currently in the process of acquiring. The solar cells could be used to charge electric cars as well as to storage excess energy.
Once the factory is up and running, Tesla will purchase the PV cells and modules built by Panasonic at the Buffalo location.
“We are excited to expand our partnership with Panasonic as we move towards a combined Tesla and SolarCity,” said Chief Technical Officer and Tesla Co-founder JB Straubel. “By working together on solar, we will be able to accelerate production of high-efficiency, extremely reliable solar cells and modules at the best cost.”
“Panasonic PV cells and modules boast industry-leading power generation performance, and achieve high quality and reliability,” said Shuuji Okayama, vice-president of the Eco-Solutions Company of Panasonic. “We expect that the collaboration talks will lead to growth of the Tesla and Panasonic relationship.”
Panasonic has been in partnership before, co-signing on the Gigafactory in Nevada in order to produce lithium-ion batteries.
The merger between SolarCity and Tesla hasn’t actually been completed yet. Shareholders are expected to vote on Nov. 17.
Elsewhere, Tesla has come under more fire for using the term Autopilot for its driver assistance system. The German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) has requested that the company no longer use the term in their advertising. The change comes partially in response to a May 7 accident that killed a Tesla Model S driver while the driver assistance system was in use.
