Tesla files plans for proposed $10.1B Texas solar manufacturing plant

Tesla is planning to build a massive solar cell factory in Texas that it expects to cost $10.1 billion, according to documents the company filed with the state.

Dubbed Project Crystal Sun, the site would sit just outside Houston in Fort Bend County, according to the documents.

In its pitch to state regulators, Tesla said if Texas rejected the project, it would “miss the opportunity to attract billions of dollars in investment, help create thousands of full-time jobs for its residents and become a hub for domestic solar cell manufacturing in the U.S.”

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“Tesla is currently evaluating the feasibility of constructing its solar cell manufacturing facility at various locations across multiple U.S. states,” the company told the state comptroller’s office.

If built, the facility would create more than 9,700 permanent full-time jobs, as well as 1,147 temporary construction jobs, Tesla said.

Tesla estimated it would owe about $1.1 billion in local property taxes on the project over the next 37 years if it is not granted incentives.

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Tesla plans to break ground on the factory this year and complete construction by 2028, with commercial operations expected to begin in 2029.

It’s not clear whether the factory’s solar panels will be produced for installations on the ground or in satellites. 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk also runs SpaceX, which operates thousands of satellites in low-Earth orbit, all of them equipped with solar panels.

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Although Tesla’s filings did not reveal the expected output of the proposed solar factory, Musk has previously outlined a goal of setting up 100 gigawatts of domestic solar production.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said 100 gigawatts is roughly equal to 8% of the entire country’s power grid capacity.