Panasonic to produce solar panels for Tesla

Panasonic will manufacture solar cells and modules for Tesla in New York State. The deal between the companies is conditional on Tesla’s continued acquisition of solar energy service provider SolarCity.

Panasonic will begin production of the solar cells and modules in 2017 at a production facility in Buffalo, New York, US. Tesla will use the panels for systems that work together with its solar energy storage products: Powerwall and Powerpack. The company wants to offer the combination as a whole to customers.

Tesla and Panasonic are already collaborating on the production of batteries for electric vehicles, which are made at Tesla’s Gigafactory. The new letter of intent is conditional on Tesla’s acquisition of SolarCity for $2.6 billion. CEO Elon Musk, the largest shareholder in both Tesla and SolarCity, wants the companies to produce fully integrated products in this way. Shareholders have yet to agree to this acquisition. The vote for this will take place at a shareholders’ meeting on 17 November.