By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
What Happened: Teslarati got hold of aerial photos of Tesla’s Gigafactory near Reno, Nevada, which show
- Significant progress in the past few weeks on constructing what Elon Musk has said will be a 70 MW system on its roof.
- Plenty of work still needs to be done to make the system operational.
SolarWakeup’s View: Elon Musk is one of the best showmen in the world. His ability to get earned media (as opposed to media he pays for) is uncanny and (I say this jealously) brilliant. Take, for example, his Reno, Nevada, Gigafactory (GF1),
which will someday build the Model 3’s batteries and drivetrains.
Our friends over at Teslarati posted photos of the factory’s roof this morning to show…..an incomplete solar array. An array planned to be 70MW when completed. Why is that news? Who knows? But honestly, I don’t care – with Musk’s ability to generate free media, he will get more publicity for solar than anyone else in the space currently can.
(The one exception to that was last year, when two companies I won’t dignify by naming held the entire industry hostage for five months and got plenty of news coverage. Excuse me while I go get my blood pressure medicine, which I have to take every time I talk last year’s infuriating and unnecessary Section 201 fight.)
If the factory gets completed on time (it’s scheduled to be completed by 2020), it will be a shining example of what solar can do when its shackles are removed. Musk has promised the factory will be entirely powered by renewable energy. Here’s hoping that when they flip the switch on this rooftop, utility-scale power plant, Musk will ensure the world is watching.
Something tells me I don’t have to worry about that.
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