Tesla plans to buy $2.9 billion worth of solar equipment to manufacture solar panels and cells, Reuters reported.
The Chinese companies were told to complete the equipment delivery before this fall, with the shipments destined for Texas.
(A screenshot from the Tesla website.)
Tesla is in talks with several Chinese companies to buy $2.9 billion worth of solar equipment, Reuters reported on Friday, citing two people familiar with the matter.
The machinery from Chinese suppliers will be used to manufacture solar panels and cells. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is planning to add 100 gigawatts of solar capacity in the US to meet the ever-increasing electricity demand from data centers, the report noted.
Suzhou Maxwell Technologies, the world’s largest producer of screen-printing equipment for solar cells, is a leading candidate to supply machinery for the project.
Other potential Chinese equipment suppliers include Shenzhen S.C New Energy Technology and Laplace Renewable Energy Technology.
The Chinese companies were told to deliver the equipment before this fall, three people familiar with the matter said, with two saying it would be shipped to Texas, according to Reuters.
Some of the estimated 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) equipment order, including screen-printing production lines, will require export approval from Chinese regulators, the report noted.
Following the Reuters report, local media Beijing News cited an unnamed solar company insider who confirmed the report and revealed that the contract size is at the gigawatt level.
Last month, Chinese media reported that Musk’s team secretly visited several solar companies in China, focusing on firms with heterojunction and perovskite technologies.
The solar capacity Musk plans to build will mainly be used by Tesla itself, although some will also be used to power SpaceX satellites, Reuters cited the people as saying.
Although the US solar market is protected by tariffs aimed at curbing imports of cheap Chinese panels, solar manufacturing equipment was excluded from tariffs by the Biden administration in 2024, the report noted.
Tesla’s retail sales in China surged in February, pushing its share in the BEV market to the highest in nearly two years.
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