Elon Musk, Chairman of SolarCity Coperation, announced that the company has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Silevo, a U.S.-based high-efficiency PV module manufacturer.
Silevo is famous of solar technology and PV modules with a unique combination of high energy output (up to 22.1% cell efficiency) and low cost. The acquisition was unveiled on Musk’s blog (//blog.solarcity.com/silevo/). SolarCity said the company was finding a “breakthrough in the cost of solar power” by combing Silevo’s technology, and it has been planning to build a new manufacturing facility in the state of New York. If everything goes smoothly, SolarCity expects to surpass a 1GW capacity in two years.
SolarCity’s mega-factory plan is another huge project after Tesla’s $5 billion investment in mega battery factory. When being completed, SolarCity and Silevo’s module plant will become one of the largest module makers in the world.
Elon Musk, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Peter Rive and Co-Founder and Chief Executive Lyndon Rive wrote in the post: “one or more significantly larger plants at order of magnitude greater annual production capacity.” It is explained that SolarCity is preparing for a future market that needs more high-efficiency PV products.