Tesla starts production of solar cells in Buffalo

Tesla has already begun installing its solar roofs, which look like regular roofs but are made of glass tiles. (Tesla via AP)

DETROI: Tesla Inc. is starting production of the cells for its solar roof tiles at its factory in Buffalo, New York.
The company has already begun installing its solar roofs, which look like regular roofs but are made of glass tiles. But until now, it has been making them on a small scale near its vehicle factory in Fremont, California.
Tesla’s Chief Technical Officer, JB Straubel, says the company has now several hundred workers and machinery installed in its 1.2 million-square-foot factory in Buffalo.
Tesla’s partner, Panasonic Corp., will make the photovoltaic cells and Tesla workers will combine them into modules that fit into the roof tiles. The tiles will eventually be made in Buffalo as well.
Tesla acquired solar panel maker SolarCity for around $2 billion late last year.