Following on the company’s acquisition of the solar module
manufacturer Silevo last year, SolarCity began work on a “Gigafactory”
of its own — following in the footsteps of “sister company” Tesla
Motors, you might say. The SolarCity version will of course produce
solar modules, though, not lithium-ion batteries.
Unsurprisingly — given the somewhat similar functions, similar
people, similar mind sets, etc — the two projects both seem to be
sharing a resemblance. Well, during these early stages on construction
anyways. This is despite the fact that the two projects are on opposite
sides of the country — the SolarCity facility being under construction
in Buffalo, New York, and the Tesla facility under construction in
Nevada.
Of course, who can travel anywhere in this country without thinking
that much of the man-made environment looks remarkably similar to what
you see practically anywhere else? There just isn’t that much variety
with regard to modern constructions, to be honest.
Electrek provides a bit more information:
SolarCity and Tesla are not sharing
any designs or contractors for their respective factory projects
according to Kady Cooper, Director of Communications at SolarCity.
The plant, which should start low
volume production in 2016, is expected to produce 1 GW of solar modules
per year at planned capacity starting in 2017, and the company says it
could expand the facility to 5 GW. According to the general contractor
in charge of the project, LP Ciminelli, the structure is 35% complete.
In comparison, drone footage of Tesla’s construction site in Nevada
emerged last week and Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO and SolarCity’s Chairman,
confirmed the structure seen in the video represents about 25% of the
final building.
While Tesla could break the record
for the biggest footprint for a single building with the Gigafactory’s
10 million square-feet, SolarCity trails behind with 1.2 million
square-feet, but it should still be enough to be the biggest solar panel
plant in the northern hemisphere.
Worth noting here is that the solar panels that are set to be
produced at the SolarCity facility currently under development will
reportedly possess solar conversion efficiencies as high as 24% (as
compared to conventional panels with 21% conversion efficiency, as those
used by the company currently have).
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/05/31/solarcitys-solar-panel-gigafactory-resembles-teslas-gigafactory-so-far/