Tesla executives announce that hiring is increasing to bolster Musk’s enhanced solar strategy

Tesla has launched a new hiring initiative to support founder Elon Musk’s recently unveiled plan to establish the largest U.S. manufacturer of solar energy components, as indicated by online posts from senior executives at the company.

The posts indicate that the company is responding to Musk’s recent vision of establishing 100 gigawatts of domestic solar production, a goal he revealed last month. “This is an audacious, ambitious project,” Seth Winger, Tesla’s senior manager for solar products engineering, stated in one of several posts by company executives on LinkedIn.

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A job posting on the Tesla website for a solar manufacturing development engineer stated that the company’s objective is to “deploy 100GW of solar manufacturing from raw materials on American soil before the end of 2028.”

Musk had not earlier provided a timeline for the objective or revealed intentions to increase hiring for it.

Tesla representatives and Musk have not yet provided a response to the requests for comment.

This week, Tesla’s Director of Engineering, Ralf Gomm, and Bonne Eggleston, a vice president in charge of battery cell manufacturing, shared updates regarding the company’s hiring initiatives in the solar sector.

The recent hiring calls indicate that Tesla is shifting its focus towards solar manufacturing as its electric vehicle sales begin to decline.

Last week, the company introduced a new solar panel being manufactured at its facility in Buffalo, New York. Additionally, local media in China reported earlier this week that delegations dispatched by Musk had toured several Chinese solar companies.

Musk has stated that solar energy and batteries represent the most effective means of integrating substantial electricity into the power grid, especially during periods of heightened demand from data centers associated with the growth of artificial intelligence.

The perspectives presented are in opposition to those held by the administration of President Donald Trump, under which he formerly led the Department of Government Efficiency. Trump has publicly denounced renewable energy, labeling it as costly and ineffective, and has enacted laws that reduce subsidies for clean energy.

Solar in Space

Musk has proposed the idea of placing some of those solar panels in space, indicating possible synergies with his SpaceX venture.

Establishing 100 GW of solar manufacturing in the United States within a few years would be an extraordinary achievement.

The United States currently has 65 GW of solar module capacity and only 3.2 GW of solar cell capacity, as reported by the Solar Energy Industries Association. Cells are essential elements that convert sunlight into energy and are significantly more intricate and costly to produce. China is currently at the forefront of their production.

The capacity for solar production in the U.S. has seen significant growth due to a law enacted during the Biden administration that introduced tax incentives for clean energy manufacturing. However, numerous factories that were announced have yet to come to fruition, and current producers have faced challenges in competing with low-cost imports from Asia.

Musk is recognized for setting grand expectations with ambitious timelines, and his predictions frequently do not materialize as anticipated.

TD Cowen analyst Jeff Osborne noted in a client communication that although Musk’s long-term predictions tend to be directionally correct, he has frequently missed near-term timelines, particularly for projects that involve new manufacturing ecosystems. “We view these targets as aspirational rather than probable for the U.S. solar supply chain in the midterm.”

Since 2016, Musk has made annual promises that driverless Teslas would be available by the following year. In July, he forecasted that Tesla robotaxis would cater to “half the population of the U.S.” by year’s end.

Tesla is currently running a restricted robotaxi service in Austin and has recently eliminated human safety monitors from certain vehicles. The “Full Self Driving (FSD)” service provided by Tesla necessitates the presence of a vigilant human driver.

Tesla has faced challenges in solar manufacturing previously. The company obtained a factory in Buffalo, New York, as part of its 2016 acquisition of installer SolarCity, and stated its intention to increase solar production to 1 GW.

However, Panasonic, the manufacturing partner, exited the project in 2020, and Tesla has since utilized the facility to produce superchargers alongside its premium solar roof tiles, which constitute a minor segment of its business.