Tesla is in advanced talks to buy roughly $2.9 billion worth of solar panel and cell manufacturing equipment from Chinese suppliers, in what would be one of the boldest clean energy moves the company has made in years.
The equipment, valued at approximately 20 billion yuan, is part of CEO Elon Musk’s plan to build 100 gigawatts of solar manufacturing capacity inside the United States by the end of 2028. Tesla’s own job postings describe the goal as deploying “solar manufacturing from raw materials on American soil,” signaling an intent to own the full production chain domestically.
Chinese suppliers at the center
Suzhou Maxwell Technologies, the world’s largest manufacturer of screen-printing equipment used to make solar cells, is among the leading candidates to supply the machinery. The Suzhou-based firm has already applied for export approval from China’s Ministry of Commerce to fulfill Tesla’s order.
Two other Chinese companies are also in discussions, Shenzhen S.C New Energy Technology and Laplace Renewable Energy Technology. News of the deal sent shares of all three companies surging more than 7% after Reuters first broke the story.
The deal follows a secretive tour last month in which Musk’s team visited multiple solar equipment manufacturers across China, inspecting production lines for equipment, silicon wafers, and battery modules. Chinese media reported on those visits at the time, but the full financial scope and supplier details are only now coming to light.
Equipment headed to Texas
According to sources, Chinese companies were instructed to deliver the equipment before this autumn, with much of it destined for Texas. The solar capacity will primarily serve Tesla’s own energy operations, though a portion is also expected to power satellites for SpaceX.
Some of the equipment, particularly screen-printing production lines, will require export clearance from Chinese regulators before it can ship. How much of the order requires approval, and how long that process might take, remains unclear.
The deal hinges on a critical policy detail. While the U.S. imposes heavy tariffs on finished Chinese solar panels and cells, manufacturing equipment was explicitly exempted from those tariffs by the Biden administration in 2024, at the request of U.S. solar makers who argued they had no domestic alternative. The Trump administration has since extended that exemption, which effectively allows Tesla to import Chinese production lines and manufacture “Made in USA” panels without penalty.
Musk has been vocal about his frustration with tariffs on solar products, calling them artificially inflating the cost of solar deployment at a time when America is facing a power shortage driven by AI data centers and industrial growth. U.S. power consumption hit its second consecutive record high in 2025 and is projected to climb again through 2027, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
A domestic push that still runs through Beijing
The potential deal puts a spotlight on a contradiction at the heart of America’s manufacturing revival strategy. Even as Washington pushes to reduce dependence on China, building out domestic solar infrastructure still requires Chinese technology and machinery, at least for now. China controls roughly 90% of the global solar supply chain, and no U.S. or Western supplier can currently deliver equipment at the scale Tesla needs within its compressed timeline.
As of 2024, solar accounted for only about 135 GW, or 10%, of the United States’ total 1,300 GW electricity generation capacity. If Musk’s 100 GW ambition comes to fruition, it would dramatically reshape that ratio. Critics note, however, that Musk has a history of setting aggressive timelines that slip, and turning a $2.9 billion equipment order into a fully operational gigafactory within three years would be an extraordinary logistical feat.
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