Tesla’s Gigafactory and a 70-Megawatt Solar Farm

Just across Los Angeles from Plug It In Solar, resides the largest US rooftop array of solar panels at the Whirlpool Regional Distribution Center, but that will soon change.

The Tesla Gigafactory 1, located in Nevada, broke ground in June of 2014. This monstrous facility will become the largest building in the world and will be entirely powered by renewable energy, more specifically the 70-megawatt solar panel rooftop array. The 200,000+ solar panels will also become the largest rooftop photovoltaic installation in the world and will power the entire facility through alternative energy sources also using wind and off-site ground panels as well.

By comparison the current largest facility in the US is the Whirlpool Regional Distribution Center in Perris, California, at 10-megawatts and worldwide, India has a slightly larger rooftop array at 11.5-megawatts. The Gigafactory 1 will be the largest facility in the world with a photovoltaic installation by 7 times in size to the second largest.

Gigafactory 1

Earlier this year the structure had 1.9 million square-foot footprint over several floors with about 4.9 million square feet of operational space which represents only 30 percent of the planned facility. Construction of the facility is still underway with anywhere between 250 and 1,800 construction workers at the facility depending on the building season with completion set for 2020.

The Gigafactory 1 will have a climate control system to supply heating provided by waste heat recovered from the production process. Its closed-loop water supply system will use six different treatment systems to reuse about 1.5 million liters of water which is about an 80 percent reduction in fresh water usage compared to the standard process.

Construction is also underway for an on-site recycling facility that will process all types of battery cells, modules and packs, into new metal products to be re-used in new battery cells.

However, this isn’t the only Gigafactory that Tesla plans to build. At a Ted Talk in 2017, Elon Musk mentioned that he intends to announce three or four new Gigafactory sites that will manufacture batteries and cars to begin global production of their products.

Even though your rooftop installation will not be in competition for the largest photovoltaic installation, you can still reap the benefits of solar energy by contacting Plug It In Solar. Our friendly experts can provide you with a free consultation with your home in mind and lead you into the future of renewable energy. Don’t get stuck in the past and call us today!