Tesla eyes Chinese gear for vast US solar pushReutersTesla is looking to buy equipment worth US$2.9 billion for manufacturing solar panels and cells from Chinese suppliers including Suzhou Maxwell Technologies (蘇州邁為科技), two people familiar with the matter said, as chief executive officer Elon Musk aims to add 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity in the US. Some of the estimated 20 billion yuan (US$2.9 billion) of equipment, including screen-printing production lines, would require export approval from Chinese regulators, according to the people. Musk plans to build the solar capacity mainly for use by Tesla, although some would be used to power SpaceX satellites, the people said. An order from Tesla would mark a big boost for Chinese producers of solar manufacturing equipment, which have struggled with weak demand because of a domestic production glut. However, solar manufacturing equipment was excluded from tariffs by former US president Joe Biden in 2024 at the urging of US solar panel makers who argued they had nowhere else to buy the machines needed to set up domestic factories.

Source: Taipei Times March 20, 2026 17:14 UTC