Tesla teases Gigafactory 1, aiming for largest rooftop solar array in the world
Tesla posted a picture of the Gigafactory on Twitter.
That's a lot of solar panels.
Tesla is currently building its massive Gigafactory 1 in the Nevada desert. The Gigafactory aims to produce more batteries than the entire industry did back in 2013, but it's also gunning for another superlative -- the largest rooftop solar panel array in the world.
On Thursday, Tesla tweeted an image of the Gigafactory's solar panels, teasing what this setup will look like.
Gigafactory 1 will have the largest rooftop solar array in the world upon completion – 70MW or roughly ~200,000 solar panels pic.twitter.com/OMkfXg3r7a
— Tesla (@Tesla) September 13, 2018
Tesla says the setup will include roughly 200,000 solar panels, or 70 megawatts. While this isn't the largest solar setup in the world, it might be the largest rooftop array. Tesla would probably know, seeing how it owns SolarCity, which specializes in rooftop solar installments.
For context, Apple Park's rooftop solar array -- said to be one of the largest -- is only 17-megawatt. That's big, but tiny compared to the Tesla factory.
Tesla's goal is to power the Gigafactory 100 percent with sustainable energy, and this giant solar setup will help Tesla reach that goal.