News: Energy

Tesla Energy has taken yet another step in its going ramp, rolling out a new online ordering system for its commercial solar solutions. This time around, customers ordering a large-scale solar system would be able to place orders for battery storage devices as well, all from the same online configurator.

Over the past couple of years, Tesla has performed and completed a vast number of residential and commercial solar installations. This has allowed the company to gain valuable experience, which, in turn, enabled Tesla to create an ordering system that makes things as simple as possible for buyers. These optimizations include fixed installation sizes and an affordable subscription model.

Tesla’s vision for residential and commercial sustainability does not end with solar panels, however. Ever since launching its Energy division, Tesla has pushed the idea of solar panels and battery storage systems working together to give customers true energy independence. Tesla has made headway in pushing this idea, with the company’s residential solar ordering system including options for Powerwall additions as well.

In its recent update, Tesla opted to roll out a similar ordering process for commercial solar installations. Thus, customers ordering a large-scale solar system could also opt-in for a Powerpack setup, which stores enough energy to power large structures at night. This makes ordering commercial solar systems just as easy as ordering a PV installation for a residential site. A fully refundable reservation fee is even identical at just $100 per order.

What’s even more interesting is that Tesla is offering its commercial solar systems as a subscription service. This carries some risk on Tesla’s part, considering the sizes of PV systems involved in commercial sites. Nevertheless, offering subscriptions is a pretty bold statement that highlights how serious Tesla is in pushing its energy business.

So far, the offer is only available for customers located in California. But in true Tesla fashion, it would probably only be a matter of time before Tesla rolls out the offer to other parts of the United States, as well as other countries. Tesla’s Solarglass Roof installations were only available in California for some time, after all, but the company has since announced intentions to roll out the photovoltaic tiles for Europe and China as well.

Tesla Energy is almost like a sleeping giant of sorts since it is a large branch of the company that was practically neglected amidst the Model 3 ramp. Yet with Tesla now hitting its stride with its vehicle production, and with the Model Y actually being delivered far ahead of its initial estimates, the company’s solar and battery storage products now have a solid chance to shine. This poses a lot of opportunity for Tesla, considering that billionaire investor Ron Baron has noted that the company’s Energy division, if fully ramped, could be worth $500 billion on its own.

Those interested in Tesla’s Commercial Solar products could click here.

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Tesla’s residential solutions may soon include an HVAC system that would extend the electric car maker’s much-lauded “Bioweapon Defense Mode” to customers’ homes. In a series of recent tweets, Elon Musk noted that he would love to have Tesla make a quiet and efficient HVAC unit, complete with humidity control and HEPA filter.

Musk’s recent tweets were posted as a response to conversations about the Tesla Model Y’s new heat pump, which the CEO noted is a very big deal. The Model Y is the first of Tesla’s electric cars to use a heat pump, which is generally more efficient than the electric resistive heating system utilized in the company’s previous vehicles like the Model S, Model X, and Model 3.

Based on Musk’s tweets, Tesla’s HVAC units will be equipped with some novel and useful features, among them being a humidity control function and a HEPA filter. These will likely be appreciated by homeowners worldwide, considering that home HEPA filters and air purifiers have become popular appliances in several areas across the globe. If Tesla can design a HEPA filter that can be used for the entire house, it would undoubtedly change many lives, among them people suffering from allergies.

But this is not all. Musk also suggested that Tesla’s upcoming HVAC system could be designed in such a way that it communicates or “talks” with a homeowner’s electric car. This way, the home could set the humidity and temperature to its owners’ desired settings before their arrival. Apart from being a smart feature, this also allows the HVAC unit not to waste energy. Musk even mentioned tapping into the HVAC unit’s condensation for water as well, for more efficiency.

The idea of Tesla creating an HVAC system for customers’ homes is not a new concept. Musk mentioned this back in 2018 during his guest appearance at the Joe Rogan Podcast. While Musk did not specifically describe an HVAC unit then, he mentioned a Tesla “Smart Home” concept that includes an efficient air-conditioning system.

“It should predict when you are going to be home and then cool the rooms that you are likely to use with a little bit of intelligence. We are not talking about a ‘genius home.’ Just basic stuff,” Musk said.

Tesla is not a neophyte when it comes to developing HVAC systems with integrated HEPA filters, as the company had installed the units in its flagship vehicles, the Model S sedan and Model X SUV. The Model S and X’s HEPA filters form the backbone of their “Bioweapon Defense Mode,” which has been deemed incredibly useful by the electric car owners during times when air quality is poor. Tesla Model S and Model X owners have credited the feature for keeping their cabin air clean during CA wildfires, for example.

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Tesla has rolled out a new incentive for customers of its Solar program that includes two free months on any subscription.

A look at Tesla’s online configurator, which gives customers the option to choose from four different sizes of solar systems, reveals a new message under its subscription program that reads “Includes 2 free months.”

The subscription service enables solar customers to reap the benefits of having solar panels installed at their homes but without the upfront costs.

The two free months of service enables customers to save upwards of $500 on a 15.12 kW system.

Tesla offers the following sizes for its solar system:

• Small – 37.8 kW
  • Produces an average of 14-19 kWh per day
• Medium – 7.56 kW
  • Produces an average of 29-39 kWh per day
• Large – 11.34 kW
  • Produces an average of 43-58 kWh per day
• X-Large – 15.12 kW
  • Produces an average of 58-77 kWh per day

The new incentive bodes well for Tesla who’s coming off of a strong showing in solar production in Q4 2019. The company reported 54 MW of solar deployment in the final quarter of 2019, or 26% in growth compared to the quarter prior. The subscription service was a significant contributor to the growth of Tesla’s solar program. “Where offered, subscription solar has grown significantly in Q4. With a monthly subscription that can generate income from the first month of usage, there is no reason not to have solar panels installed.”

One member of Tesla’s solar subscription program, Carolyn Donlin, voiced her content with the ability to simply pay a small monthly fee to power her home through solar energy. In a blog post on Tesla’s website, Donlin writes about her decision to commit to a solar program after buying a Model 3 sedan.

“The Tesla team made going solar a smooth, effortless experience. Never once did I feel oversold as the energy specialists ensured I would receive the best system to accommodate my needs while making sure our home’s aesthetics wouldn’t change. I was thrilled to convert my roof into a power system,” said Donlin.

Tesla unveiled the Solar Subscription program to reduce the cost of entry for those interested in powering their homes via solar energy.

Typically, buying solar panels carries an average cost of between $18,000 and $20,000 for a typical 2,500 square foot home, the average size of a house in the United States. It usually takes eight years to break even after purchasing a full solar system for a home. Tesla’s Solar Subscription allows those involved to immediately begin generating income from their panels through a small monthly rental fee, instead of a large initial payment to buy a system outright.

Currently, Tesla’s Solar Subscription program is available in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New Mexico.

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The Tesla-powered Hornsdale Power Reserve (HPR) in South Australia has saved businesses and local residents from three wide-scale blackouts, proving how big batteries can play a key role in maintaining a region’s power grid.

The Hornsdale Power Reserve, owned by French renewable energy producer Neoen, uses Tesla’s utility-scale Powerpack system. Based on an impact study from consulting firm Aurecon, it appears that the big battery has saved consumers AUD 116 million or roughly $76 million in 2019. The same report detailed how the HPR responded to three separate major events since it went online in 2018. The said events occurred in August 2018, November 2019, and January 2020.

“On each occasion, HPR responded by closely tracking the changing frequency and accurately changing its power dispatch as required,” the Hornsdale Power Reserve Year 2 Technical and Market Impact Case Study read.

The Hornsdale Power Reserve provides Fast Frequency Response using its fast dispatch capability to ensure power is supplied quickly, avoiding major power outages.

During the August 2018 event, the grids in South Australia and Queensland were cut off from the main grid following lighting strikes that resulted in major blackouts in New South Wales and Victoria. NSW shed 724MW of load while Victoria shed 280MW. Victoria and South Australia did not go in the dark. Tesla’s big battery was quickest to respond during the said event and has proven itself as a critical asset where power security is needed.

“The large-scale battery storage in SA was valuable in this event, assisting in containing the initial decline in system frequency, and then rapidly changing output from generation back to load, to limit the over-frequency condition in SA following separation from VIC,” the  Australian Energy Market Operator report about the Aug. 2018 event reads.

On November 16, 2019, another event caused the islanding of the grid in South Australia. In the early evening on the said date, the Heywood interconnector, the main link between South Australia and Victoria, tripped. Despite this, the lights in SA did not go dark, thanks to solar, wind, and big batteries. The Tesla Big Battery responded as required and helped return the supply to in a matter of minutes after the islanding event. As it maintained the supply in normal range, other energy producers that charge higher during such events were not able to perform as well.

On January 31, 2020, South Australia was once again separated from the National Electric Market due to a storm that broke a massive transmission line. The cut transmission lines actually meant there was an oversupply in SA and just like in undersupply events, the Hornsdale Power Reserve, together with South Australia’s other big batteries and windfarms, promptly responded to correct the fluttering frequency. SA effectively operated like an “island” until power was resynchronized on February 17.

The three events in South Australia highlight the vital role of how Tesla big battery-supplied Hornsdale Power Reserve can help maintain grid security and ensure that lights are kept on even when the state is “islanded.” These are only the beginning too, especially since Neoen has announced that it will be expanding its Tesla Powerpack Farm by 50%.

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Tesla’s “big battery” utility-scale Powerpack system at the Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia has yielded more than doubled the savings to consumers in 2019 than the year prior as it dominates fossil fuel generators on quicker demand response for the grid.

Hornsdale Power Reserve saved consumers AUD116 million ($75.78 million) in 2019, a big jump from  AUD40 million ($26.14 million) savings in 2018.

The Hornsdale Power Reserve, owned and operated by French renewable energy producer Neoen, is home to the largest lithium-ion battery energy storage system in the world with a 100 MW/129 MWh. Tesla Powerpack has been playing a significant role in grid stability since its installation in 2017, a function previously dominated by fossil fuel generators that bring energy prices high during system faults of planned maintenance.

“Hornsdale has just been the best asset for the state, and for us as well, it’s a real success story,” head of development at Neoen Australia Garth Heron said in an interview with RenewEconomy. We have shown that these kinds of systems can work. It saves consumers a lot of money, and it’s something we should be rolling out right across the market.”

The system that covers approximately one hectare of land at the Hornsdale Wind Farm provides grid stability to consumers, storing excess energy during off-peak periods and supplying the grid when renewable outputs are low. When a power plant goes down or when there is greater demand for energy, it is practically a race to meet that demand. Tesla battery-powered HPR beats power providers dependent on fossil fuel and gives consumers a win-win scenario. Consumers benefit from the lower prices of HPR and blackouts that can disrupt businesses or daily household activities are avoided. As South Australia shifts to renewable energy, fossil fuel power generators that did not have potent competition before in the market are now forced to bring their prices down back from the orbit.

A report by Australian consulting firm Aurecon analyzed the impact of the Tesla big battery at Hornsdale Power Reserve in its role in the Frequency Control and Ancillary Services (FCAS) markets. These are basically events that require quick reactions when there are sudden changes in demand or supply.

For example, when the Australian Energy Market Operator called for 35MW of FCAS in January, the Tesla big battery was quick to respond and kept prices reasonable. The prices were as low as AUD270 ($176)/MW instead of hitting AUD11,500($7,511)/MW  to AUD14,000($9,143)/MW if supplied by the fossil fuel-dependent generators. When South Australia was “islanded” because of a major outage in Victoria, the HPR was able to save consumers AUD14 million in five hours.

According to Aurecon, the biggest savings came from the raised FCAS  and amounted to more than AUD50 million ($32.65 million).

The Hornsdale Power Reserve also has a significant impact on FCAS market regulation.  Tesla battery use has pushed the average prices from AUD450 ($294)/MWh two years before the installation of HPR to just over AUD20 ($13)/MWH. With lower prices, battery-generated power practically brought fossil fuel power plants, that ruled the region like cartels, to their knees.

Tesla battery has demonstrated how lithium-ion battery power reserves can play a big role in the security of the overall grid. While fuel fossil-powered generators will take several minutes to feed power to the grid in need, the HPR’s fast-discharge capability beat these options and give consumers access to more affordable energy. This also bodes well for owner and operator Neoen to make most of the potential returns, and of course, for Tesla’s energy business.

Tesla’s big battery has proven that battery storage is a practical option on a grid-scale. And it’s very profitable. The state government only injected AUD4 million ($2.61 million) into the multi-million project.

During the final quarter of 2019, the revenue of the Hornsdale Power Reserve jumped by 56%.

The HPR also announced plans to expand its capacity by 50%, boosting it by 50MW/64.5MWh. The project is expected to be completed in the first half of 2020 and will provide stabilizing inertia services critical to the shift to renewable energy in the region, and help push Australia closer to its goal of being net 100% renewable by 2030.

With the numbers clearly showing the benefits of Tesla’s big battery, it is not just a big banana as Australian prime minister Scott Morrison once said.

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Tesla and PG&E are looking to build a massive 1GWh Megapack installation at the Moss Landing, California power facility. The Monterey County Planning Commission unanimously approved the Pacific Gas and Electric-backed project on Wednesday, which will be known as the Elkhorn Battery Storage Facility and will involve both solar and wind energy.

“It’s huge for the area and as you know the power plant has been gradually shutting down and they producing about one-tenth of the power they used to produce in the past and that hurts us from a tax standpoint,” Monterey County Supervisor John Phillips commented.

Brandon Swanson, Monterey County’s planning director, said that the project would be ready for the initial phases of construction after the 10-day appeal period ends.

Huge Tesla Megapack project (up to 1.2 GWh) in Moss Landing CA about to get underway after receiving final approval

Per local news: “Tesla and PG&E hope to break ground on their project next month with completion scheduled for the end of the year”$TSLAhttps://t.co/PJ8MXMddv1

— Not_an_Analyst (@facts_tesla) February 27, 2020

The project’s unanimous approval will allow Tesla and PG&E to work together to build a system capable of storing wind and solar power that will, in turn, be used during periods of high-energy usage. The project has the potential to become one of the largest battery storage facilities in the world as it can give 730-megawatt hours (MWh) of renewable energy during off-peak hours. Tesla’s contract with PG&E states that this could be bumped up to 1.095 GWh of energy storage in the future.

The addition of the new energy storage facility will become the second element of the Moss Landing power plant’s transition to sustainable energy. The first portion of the project was won by Texas-based company Vistra Energy in May 2019, which is building a 1,200 MWh facility on the nearby Dynegy power plant grounds.

This morning Monterey unanimously approved the installation of a Tesla Megapack in Moss Landing to store wind and solar power and then make it available for use during periods of high energy demand.

It will be one of the largest energy storage facilities in the world. @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/9NCruv9DbJ

— Third Row Podcast (@thirdrowtesla) February 27, 2020

Representatives from PG&E will be working to expedite the process, and the company has stated that crews will be on-site six days a week. The project was initially scheduled to be finished by the end of 2019, but was met with delays and held up for several months. There are no estimates as to when the new facility will be built as PG&E representatives declined to comment further to the Monterey Herald.

With the Moss Landing battery’s approval, Tesla’s growing energy business may have just landed one of its largest projects to date. The new storage facility in California will store nearly eight-and-a-half times as much energy as Tesla’s Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia, which is already setting records of its own. As Elon Musk ramps up Tesla’s energy solutions in the past months with the unveiling of new residential technologies, commercial energy storage is also being pursued by the company as it assists communities with their own respective transitions towards renewable energy.

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Tesla has a ton of things in the pipeline that will keep it busy for the foreseeable future — from building Giga Berlin, ramping the production of the Model Y in the US and China, rolling out the upcoming Cybertruck, Semi, and new Roadster, to further improving its core battery technology. In order to achieve these goals, Tesla has been on a hiring spree to acquire talent to boost its current workforce. In contrast, other carmakers have been cutting jobs as they start a difficult transition towards sustainable transportation.

“It’s hard to think of another company that has more exciting product and technology roadmap. So super-fired up about where Tesla will be in the next 10 years. If you look back 10 years from today to 2010, we will produce approximately 1,000 times more cars in 2020 than we produced in 2010… and we have also Solarglass and solar retrofit and Powerwall, Powerpack, all those things too. So where we will be in 10 years, very excited to consider the prospect,” Tesla chief executive and co-founder Elon Musk said during the company’s Q4 2019 earnings call.

Tesla Continues Its Push

Elon Musk has turned himself into a solar salesman and has kicked off 2020 by setting the stage for a Solarglass Roof installation ramp in the United States. Musk has also mentioned bringing the Solarglass Roof to other markets such as China and Europe. Aside from looking for roofers, it is also partnering with homebuilders and other residential industry players. Giga New York, where solar panels and other components are made, is also looking to add more employees to its workforce.

Tesla is also seemingly testing the waters to build Giga Texas, where it can potentially ramp the production of the Cybertruck and help its other facilities scale battery production. Amidst all this, Elon Musk has also announced that he will be hosting an AI hackathon to fish for talents who can potentially help accelerate the rollout of its Full Self-Driving suite.

Across the pond, Tesla is busy trying to prepare an industrial property in Grunheide to begin the construction of Giga Berlin, which is poised to go online next year. This Tesla Gigafactory in Europe aims to produce 10,000 vehicles per week and it will need a 12,000-strong workforce to do that. Giga Berlin is currently looking for people to help them in construction, engineering, manufacturing, and operations.

In China, Giga Shanghai is aiming to ramp production of the locally-made Model 3, while starting its program for the Model Y. Tesla is even looking for designers that would help it produce a new vehicle Tesla for the local market and the rest of the globe. Job openings for Tesla China skyrocketed 118% between October last year to February 2020 and have seen a 376% jump in the past year, according to Thinknum Alternative Data’s report. While the coronavirus outbreak in China slowed down job postings recently, the overall hiring activity of the Palo Alto, California-based carmaker is on the upswing across the globe.

Tesla is undeniably the leader in electric vehicles. Through the years, it has been trying to perfect its manufacturing processes, car software technology, and battery capacity. In fact, a recent Model 3 teardown by Nikkei Business Publications revealed that Tesla could be six years ahead of the competition on the hardware front. On the battery front, Consumer Reports recently validated its advantage over other carmakers, and we’re yet to hear the compelling story that will blow people’s minds Elon Musk promised come Battery Day in April.

Tesla Competitors Trying To Catch Up, But That’s All They Can Do — Try

While Tesla keeps on looking for new hires to help it bring its product and technology roadmap into fruition, other carmakers have been cutting jobs. As legacy automakers try to catch up on the electrification of its fleet, most of them need to lay off workers to free funds that they can use for research and development of technology that can come close to what Tesla has had for years.

Last December 2019, Daimler and Audi announced that it will cut 10,000 jobs as the major shift in vehicle technology happens. Audi is also getting rid of 9,500 jobs to free funds for its electrification efforts. Bloomberg News compiled data that revealed carmakers in Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom are eliminating around 80,000 jobs as they reassess their current workforce in an era of electrification. In China, electric vehicle startup NIO also retrenched about 20% of its workforce. Asian automotive leaders Toyota and Honda have also cut costs to bolster research and development of electric cars and ride-sharing programs.

Tesla has had its own challenges but the company is definitely thriving now, as evidenced by its tangible lead in the EV space. For Q4 2019, Tesla posted revenue amounting to $7.38 billion, beating Wall Street’s estimates. Maintaining profitability, it was able to generate $1.1 billion of free cashflow in 2019. Its stock price also saw a meteoric rise recently propelling its market cap value to $169.16 billion on Feb. 19.

The striking contrast affecting the labor force of Tesla and other carmakers paints the difficult task of traditional automakers who seemed to have been caught flat-footed in a rapidly changing auto industry. Not that these giant car brands do not have the money, but Tesla is just way, way ahead in electrification. With all the activities on the side of Tesla, perhaps legacy carmakers should indeed be frightened.

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Tesla’s Powerwall residential battery storage system and Australian solar company 5B’s solar panels are being used by Atlassian co-founder and CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes’ new collective to assist those who have lost power due to the country’s tragic bushfires.

Cannon-Brookes, who previously pledged $12 million to help recovery efforts in Australia’s bushfire-affected regions, announced that he would be partnering with both Tesla and 5B on Twitter. Cannon-Brookes and wife Annie recently established the Resilient Energy Collective that will be geared towards providing alternative energy sources for those who live in regions that have been affected by the bushfires.

Here’s a little something I’ve been working on with brilliant mates at @5B_Au & @Tesla to bring power to bushfire communities v fast. Installed in under a day, can last 20 years. An amazing Aussie story of resilience, ingenuity & action in the face of terrible circumstances 🌱❤️ https://t.co/t32hUgAQbt

— Mike Cannon-Brookes 👨🏼‍💻🧢 (@mcannonbrookes) February 19, 2020

Cannon-Brookes may be a familiar name to some after he made a bet with Elon Musk in 2017 when Tesla’s Big Battery was being installed in South Australia: Up and running in 100 days or Tesla pays. Musk made good on his promise and the Big Battery has just exhibited its strongest performance last quarter.

The Resilient Energy Collective’s solution will be offered to towns, businesses, and residents. The Powerwalls and solar panels provided by the two companies are expected to last decades and are going to be installed as soon as possible.

Credit: Twitter/Resilient Energy Collective

Credit: Twitter/Resilient Energy Collective

“After a horror summer, many Aussies need our help to get their lives back on track. We’ve got to do all we can to get them back on their feet,” Cannon-Brookes said to the Australian Financial Review. “In three weeks we’ve come together, found the technology, adapted it, put it on trucks and right now it’s operating, generating electricity.”

Not only can these solar solutions be installed promptly, they can be transferred quickly, too. The technology the collective will use, “is flexible and can be packed up and moved onto another site within a day, making it useful for shorter-term building projects,” the collective’s website states.

The collective has already started operating in several towns, including Cobargo, New South Wales by getting a series of systems back in operation. “This unit is supplying a police radio tower and an RFS, National Parks, and radio tower. It was installed and operational in less than two days and has saved RFS volunteers from spending valuable time refueling generators,” according to the collective’s site.

In Goongerah, Victoria, a Town Hall office is back in operation and is poised to provide residents with relief services, internet connection, refrigeration for food, and access to community meetings.

The teamwork from Tesla, 5B, and the Resilient Energy Collective will expedite the rollout of solutions that can address the power issues in the country which resulted from the wildfires in the area. With the help and good nature of both Musk and Cannon-Brookes, the lights will be back on in Australia soon enough.

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Revenues for Tesla’s big battery in South Australia, officially known as the Hornsdale Power Reserve, spiked 56% in the final quarter of 2019, thanks to an increase in the value of frequency and ancillary services in the region. This marks yet another milestone for Telsa’s Powerpack farm, emphasizing once more that grid-scale batteries are feasible.

French renewable energy developer Neoen’s 2019 revenue statement was recently released on February 19, and it showed a 14% rise in battery storage revenues for the entire year. Nearly all of the rise in Neoen’s revenues came from the 100MW/129MWh Hornsdale Power Reserve.

The big battery’s revenue jump in Q4 was somewhat expected, according to Renew Economy. The Tesla battery at Hornsdale pocketed $4 million of revenue in the fourth quarter according to the Australian Energy Market Operator’s most recent Quarterly Dynamics report. The report also highlighted a shift in focus toward energy storage, time-shifting, and energy arbitrage.

Neoen CEO Xavier Barbaro stated that the Hornsdale facility has been a “wonderful” success for his company and the South Australian grid as its power has provided a “valuable service” to those who are in need of energy.

“We keep proving that what we do with lithium-ion batteries is the right solution and a competitive one for the grid. We are asked often to inject electricity for FCAS. It has proven to be well placed in terms of merit order in Australia, and has dramatically reduced costs,” he added.

However, the impressive performance of the Big Battery in Q4 2019 may be overshadowed by its performance in Q1 2020. A series of wind farms are currently out of commission after a tornado pulled down main power lines in Victoria, Australia. This will effectively cause South Australia to become an “energy island” that will be responsible for supplying power to residents in the region for two weeks.

Allan O’Neil of Watt Clarity expects the two weeks of dependence on Victoria’s big batteries to result in an additional $45 million of revenue. At least half of this amount will likely be captured by Tesla’s Hornsdale battery.

Tesla’s 100MW battery in Hornsdale was installed in less than 100 days in 2017 after a public Twitter conversation between Elon Musk and Australian software tycoon Mike Cannon-Brookes. The Twitter conversation revealed the Tesla CEO’s willingness to put his money where his mouth is. “Tesla will get the system installed and working 100 days from contract signature or it is free. That serious enough for you,” Musk said. True to his words, the Powerpack Farm was established in less than 100 working days, and it was promptly deployed to help support the region’s grid.

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It appears that Tesla will be meeting its workforce goals in its Gigafactory New York facility, with the company reportedly only a few hundred workers short of its 1,460 target for April 2020. With this in mind, Tesla seems poised to meet its end of its deal with the state, avoiding a potential $41.2 million penalty in the process. 

Tesla’s Giga New York was not originally a facility of the electric car maker. Instead, it was a factory of SolarCity before the company was acquired by Tesla. Giga New York was intended to be a facility for Tesla Energy, producing the company’s flagship residential energy product, the Solar Roof, among others. Tesla received benefits for Giga New York, to the tune of more than $950 million. 

Yet, inasmuch as Tesla’s plans for Giga New York were aggressive, the facility and its operations were put aside during the company’s well-documented Model 3 production ramp. Over this time, Tesla shared only a limited amount of information about the Buffalo, NY facility, at one point simply conducting a controlled press tour. 

But Tesla is no longer struggling with the Model 3 ramp. Elon Musk’s recent tweets and statements indicate that Tesla is now at a point where it can scale and ramp its energy and solar business. Tesla has released the Solarglass Roof V3 tiles, which are larger than the original Solar Roof and easier to install. Elon Musk has been very supportive of the product, promoting it on his Twitter account and even noting that the shingles will be released in territories beyond the United States such as Europe and China. 

For Tesla to accomplish this, Giga New York would have to be working at an optimal pace. According to Assemblyman Sean Ryan (D-Buffalo), and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, both of whom were able to tour the facility, this does seem to be the case, with Giga New York now employing over 1,100 workers. That’s a bit over 300 short of its April 2020 goal. Tesla seems intent on hiring even more employees for the facility as well, with Elon Musk mentioning that an upcoming “company talk” will be held at the factory this coming April. 

“I was pleasantly surprised. It was encouraging to see solar roofs, batteries and charging stations being built in the facility,” Ryan said. The Buffalo Mayor was even more optimistic after his visit, noting that his confidence in the facility has been raised after seeing the factory’s activities firsthand. “I was impressed. A lot of people working,” Brown said Thursday. My confidence is certainly much higher after taking the tour. It certainly gives me a great sense of confidence that they will meet the goals,” Brown remarked.

True to Elon Musk’s words last year, Tesla appears to be focusing more of its attention and efforts on its energy business. Together with the Solarglass Roof V3, the company has also launched a more aggressively-priced residential solar program, as well as a large scale battery called the Megapack. Propelled by this momentum, Tesla’s Giga New York may soon find itself working at full capacity to meet the company’s demand for its energy products. When this happens, the 1,460-worker target this April might very well be just a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things.

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