Satellite images show that the Nevada-based Tesla Gigafactory 1 has been quietly expanding its rooftop PV capacity towards the goal of being the largest such installation in the world.
Tesla announced in 2017 that it intended to make the best use of Giga Nevada’s rooftop by installing 70 MW of PV capacity there, thereby creating the world’s largest rooftop PV array. However, Tesla did not put the plan to work until 2018, during which it began gradually installing PV modules. To this day, the prior stated goal of 70 MW has yet to be met.
Tesla indicated last summer that it had already installed about 3.2 MW, or 3,200 kW, of PV capacity at Giga Nevada, which among other things includes a planned 24 MW of rooftop capacity in the future. Although the installed capacity is quite a bit lower than previously announced, Tesla believes that “[t]his will make [Gigafactory Nevada] the largest rooftop solar installation in the US”.
Realistically, multiple PV panels have been installed in the vicinity of the Gigafactory, although Tesla has been mainly – and majorly – concerned with said vicinity’s rooftop PV capacity. According to Electrek, satellite images show that Gigafactory Nevada’s rooftop PV capacity has seemingly been on the rise. Granted, the exact amount of the increase cannot be pinpointed, but what is known is that a noticeable increase has indeed been taking place across the past months.
▲Left picture: September 2021; right picture: January 12, 2022 (Source: Building Tesla)
Turning back to the Gigafactory Nevada’s business operations, Gigafactory 1 is built across multiple phases, with each phase being able to independently operate multiple EV assembly/production lines. Although the Gigafactory has yet to be fully built (only 30% of the whole construction is completed after four years as of yet), certain production lines have been fully built, and the Gigafactory manufactured one million battery packs in 2021.
At the moment, Gigafactory 1 manufactures not only the electric motors and battery components of the Model 3, but also the Powerwall and Powerpack series of ESS products from Tesla.
(Image: Tesla)