Tesla Inc’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) solar strategy is getting a much bigger test in Texas. Just a day before Elon Musk declared that "solar is so obviously the future," a Houston-area school board was preparing to vote on Tesla’s proposed $10.1 billion Project Crystal Sun.
A solar-cell manufacturing plant that could become the centerpiece of Musk’s push to build 100 gigawatts of annual U.S. solar manufacturing capacity.
Tesla’s $10B Solar Bet
Project Crystal Sun would represent a dramatic expansion of Tesla’s solar ambitions. The proposed Fort Bend County facility would involve about $1.5 billion in real property and $8.6 billion in equipment, with Tesla estimating nearly 9,700 permanent jobs once operational. The company is seeking Texas tax incentives and has said it is evaluating multiple U.S. locations, meaning the project is not yet a guaranteed build.
The latest development came Tuesday, when Lamar Consolidated Independent School District was preparing to vote on the proposed tax arrangement. The Fort Bend site is reportedly one of two locations Tesla is considering, adding another layer of uncertainty to what could become its largest manufacturing investment.
Tesla’s filing does not disclose the factory’s annual production capacity. But the project would cover the solar supply chain from ingots and wafers through cells and modules, pointing to something much larger than Tesla’s existing solar operation.
From Solar Roof to Scale
The timing is striking because Tesla recently abandoned one of its most recognizable solar products.
In August, Tesla stopped selling its premium Solar Roof tiles, ending a nearly decade-long effort to integrate solar generation directly into residential roofing. Reuters reported that the product had faced technological and installation challenges that limited adoption. Tesla’s website now directs customers toward conventional solar panels instead.
That makes Musk’s new solar strategy look less like a return to the old SolarCity playbook and more like a bet on manufacturing scale.
Tesla has said its goal is to deploy 100 GW of solar manufacturing in the U.S. by the end of 2028, according to a company job posting reported by Reuters. Musk originally outlined the broader ambition at Davos in January, saying Tesla and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) were each working toward 100 GW a year of U.S. solar production.
The scale is significant. U.S. solar module manufacturing capacity was estimated at just over 45 GW entering 2026, according to pv magazine, although additional capacity was under development.
Solar Meets AI Power
There is another reason Musk’s solar push matters for Tesla investors: electricity demand is becoming a strategic bottleneck for AI and robotics.
At Davos, Musk argued that electrical power could become the limiting factor for AI deployment as chip production accelerates faster than new electricity generation. He specifically pointed to solar and batteries as a way to add large amounts of power.
Tesla’s July earnings commentary similarly highlighted rising electricity demand from transportation electrification and AI. Meanwhile, SpaceX is pursuing its own large-scale solar manufacturing plans tied to infrastructure ambitions beyond traditional terrestrial power.
Tesla’s solar story has changed dramatically.
The company just walked away from Solar Roof, yet Musk is simultaneously pursuing solar manufacturing at a scale measured in hundreds of gigawatts across Tesla and SpaceX. The next catalyst is whether Project Crystal Sun moves from a tax-incentive application into an actual factory — and whether Tesla can turn a 100-GW ambition into physical production by 2028.
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