Panasonic s withdrawal from buffalo follows scrutiny of the factory that new york spent close to 1 billion to develop for solarcity the solar energy company tesla acquired in 2016.
Solar city solar panel factory in buffalo.
The state of new york was so excited about the prospect of solarcity s solar panel plans that it handed the company a 750 million subsidy to build a 1 gw solar manufacturing plant in buffalo.
The factory s original occupant entered into an agreement with the research foundation for the state university of new york.
Originally a steel manufacturing site the 88 acre property located along the buffalo river was transformed to produce solar panels and solar cells.
The company had spent years trying to develop a high efficiency solar panel called project whitney with the aim of churning out 10 000 units per day in buffalo by mid 2016 but it.
Tesla secured gigafactory 2 through its acquisition of solarcity in 2016.
Construction of the factory started in 2014 and was completed in 2016 17.
First several new york state lawmakers called for state and federal officials to scrutinize the finances behind the solarcity project in buffalo.
New york state spent 958 6 million to build tesla inc s solar panel factory in south buffalo and buy a big chunk of the equipment inside.
On the often cloudy shores of the buffalo river where a steel factory once thrived lies the rising framework of one of new york s most ambitious economic endeavors ever.
But the city will soon be the home of the largest such manufacturing facility in the western hemisphere according to solarcity the san mateo calif based company that is set to begin moving into the complex later this year.
It is not the first place one would think to build a solar panel factory.
That s largely because the buffalo billion s main event the 750 million 1 2 million square foot solarcity riverbend solar panel factory in buffalo has been facing some challenges.
Buffalo is a city known for snow.
In 2013 the site of gigafactory 2 was planned as a clean energy business.