So has CEO Elon Musk, who we emailed directly.įinally, in January, Investigative Post filed another FOIL request, this one specifically for the name of the manufacturer of the panels, the name of the company that sold the panels and the name of the company that installed the panels. Both the Fire Department and Department of Permits and Inspections said they had none, because the factory is not in its jurisdiction as a state agency owns the building.

In the meantime, Investigative Post sought any permits or inspection records from the City of Buffalo that may exist for the panels. Ference has also refused to return voicemail messages seeking comment. Investigative Post followed up with Ference, as well as an Empire State Development spokesperson and an ESD lawyer. Steve Ference, a Fort Schuyler spokesperson, said only, “Tesla purchased and installed the referenced solar panels at its expense no state funds were used.” 15, Investigative Post asked Fort Schuyler officials: Who made those panels? Included were records that revealed that Tesla had installed solar panels on the roof of the factory. began releasing heavily redacted documents in batches. After an appeal, Fort Schuyler Management Corp. The state was slow to respond to a March 8, 2023, FOI request filed by Investigative Post to follow up on that reporting. Manufacturing and logistical challenges caused the company to reduce production in Buffalo and use its factory for other manufacturing work and data-entry jobs instead, according to documents and former employees. In January 2023, Investigative Post reported that Tesla’s production of the Solar Roof had faltered. The company, in a January report to state officials, said the total installation represents a $10 million investment and can supply up to 30 percent of the electricity the factory needs.

The panels installed so far generate 2.5MW of electricity, and Tesla plans to install panels capable of generating an additional 5MW by year’s end. “Every major company in the world makes modules like that now,” he added. Johnny Weiss, a solar panel expert and the co-founder of Solar Energy International, said the panels appear to be “pretty much the most common standard module format in the market today.” A company spokesperson did not return a request for comment. The specifications for the racks indicate that Tesla-branded solar panels are not compatible. Photo by Garrett Looker.īut images of the solar panels, taken via drone by WGRZ, do not appear to be made of Solar Roof tiles and display a visible grid - raising the question of whether they’re a Tesla product.Īdditional records obtained by Investigative Post show the panels were mounted on a rack made by the company Unirac, which makes mounting gear for solar panels. And the solar panels Tesla sells are designed to have “no visible grid.” The design, as Tesla’s website makes clear, is meant to set its products apart from its competitors’ visually.Ī Solar Roof installed on the Buffalo Heritage Carousel at Canalside. If the panels installed on the factory roof were made by Tesla, they don’t look like any other solar product the company advertises.Ī Solar Roof, for example, is composed of sleek, black tiles, meant to look like glossy shingles. “As the taxpayers of the state of New York have provided $959 million to Tesla for their Buffalo factory, it should not be a secret as to who provided the solar roof panels,” said Paul Wolf, president of the New York Coalition for Open Government. Yet state and company officials won’t say who made them. Meanwhile, a solar panel expert said the panels look like standard, commercial solar panels - the kind sold by numerous companies. The closest we got to an answer? The names of the panel manufacturer and vendor are a “trade secret,” according to a state agency. We’ve asked Tesla, two state economic development agencies, the City of Buffalo, employees and a solar panel expert. Investigative Post has been asking that question since November. The differences posed an obvious question: Whose solar panels are they? The panels on the factory roof, however, show white grid lines, according to drone footage of the panels shot by WGRZ. Most notably, Tesla advertises its products as lacking the white grid lines seen on most solar panels. The plant, after all, was built to manufacture parts for solar panels.īut one thing doesn’t add up: The solar panels on the factory roof don’t look like the solar products Tesla sells. Tesla has installed solar panels on about one-third of the roof of its plant in South Buffalo, with plans to cover the rest by the end of the year.

Solar roofs musk