Tesla is reportedly contemplating a Texas $10.1b solar cell manufacturing facility. The facility will be at the Fort Bend County. If green-lit, this project would significantly increase the domestic solar production of the company and could result in creating almost 9,700 full-time jobs.
The proposed facility, which is called Project Sun City, is expected to be built on a 3,050-acre site outside Richmond, Texas, based on documents that were filed with the Texas Comptroller’s Office. CultureMap Houston reported that the facility would manufacture photovoltaic solar cells and modules, with construction expected to be completed in 2028 and operations scheduled to start in the beginning of 2029.
Tesla is looking for tax incentives under the Jobs, Energy, Technology, and Innovation – JETI Act from Texas, and in its filing, it noted that the Fort Bend County site would prove to be less competitive with no state support. The company reportedly is looking at other sites in the U.S., but did not name them in its filing.
The plan is part of a broader push by CEO Elon Musk in order to expand U.S. solar manufacturing. Speaking in comments at the WEF earlier in 2026, Musk stated that Tesla and SpaceX are striving for a joint goal of generating 100 gigawatts of solar manufacturing capacity per year in the U.S. in about three years. He added that it will probably take them three years or further, stating that even if production in China is cheap, it would be a good idea to continue doing large-scale solar manufacturing locally.
Interestingly, the planned investment comes as Tesla seems to be transitioning away from one of its most high-profile solar products. Multiple reports, including the one from Yahoo Finance, show that the organization has discontinued its solar roof offering from its website after being unable to meet installation targets for years.
Launched after the 2016 acquisition by Tesla of SolarCity, the product was meant to incorporate photovoltaic technology right into the roofing material. But industry projections quoted by Canary Media say Tesla had installed roughly 3,000 solar roof systems by the end of 2022, which was well short of the earlier target of 1,000 installations per week by Musk.
Instead of giving up on the solar market, Tesla appears to be transitioning back to traditional solar panels and energy storage products. The company still manufactures traditional solar panels at its Buffalo, New York, manufacturing facility and is growing its energy generation and storage business, Yahoo Finance said.
Tesla just brought 300 megawatts of manufacturing capacity online for a newly developed residential solar panel in Buffalo, which is the first solar panel that is designed and manufactured entirely by Tesla, Canary Media reports.
The fact is that the Texas plant would go on to be a major upgrade to Tesla’s existing solar manufacturing footprint. Tesla develops its solar products in California and assembles them in Buffalo, with a yearly production capacity in excess of 300 MW.
If successful, the Texas $10.1b solar cell manufacturing facility would be among the biggest manufacturing investments that the company has proposed and might assist in addressing a domestic shortfall of solar cell manufacturing capacity as consumer appetite for U.S.-made solar components grows.
This development would also be another in an increasing number of large-scale manufacturing investments made by Musk-led companies in Texas. SpaceX, it is being reported, has recently advanced plans for a semiconductor manufacturing plant in Grimes County, Texas, that will cost $16.8 billion and is projected to create around 3,000 jobs.