Tesla in talks with Chinese firms to buy US$2.9 billion worth of solar equipment, sources say

Published Fri, Mar 20, 2026 · 11:23 AM

TESLA is looking to buy equipment worth US$2.9 billion for manufacturing solar panels and cells from Chinese suppliers including Suzhou Maxwell Technologies, two people familiar with the matter said, as Tesla chief Elon Musk aims to add 100 gigawatts of solar capacity in the US.

Musk said in January that solar power could meet all of the electricity needs of the US – including the ever-increasing demand from a growing number of data centres.

Job postings on the Tesla website said it aims to deploy 100 GW of “solar manufacturing from raw materials on American soil before the end of 2028”.

Suzhou Maxwell Technologies – the world’s biggest producer of screen-printing equipment used to make solar cells – is among the leading candidates to supply machinery for the project and has been seeking export approval from China’s commerce ministry.

The sources declined to be named because the information is not public.

Other potential suppliers include Shenzhen SC New Energy Technology and Laplace Renewable Energy Technology, they said.

Some of the estimated 20 billion yuan (S$3.7 billion) worth of equipment, including screen-printing production lines, will require export approval from Chinese regulators, according to the people. It was not immediately clear how much of the equipment would require approval or how long it would take.

The Chinese companies were told to deliver the equipment before this autumn, the people said, adding that it would be shipped to Texas. Musk plans to build the solar capacity mainly for use by Tesla, although some will be used to power SpaceX satellites.

The potential order highlights one issue for the US as it looks to reduce its dependence on China – reviving US manufacturing still requires some degree of trade with the world’s second-largest economy.

Chinese media reported last month that Tesla has visited several solar companies in China. The details of the companies in advanced talks, the estimated size of potential purchases, the delivery timeline, and regulatory requirements are reported here for the first time.

US gigaplant with Chinese equipment

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.

The US solar market, meanwhile, is heavily protected by tariffs aimed at curbing imports of cheaper panels and cells from China and South-east Asia, where many Chinese producers operate subsidiaries.

However, solar manufacturing equipment was excluded from tariffs by the US under former 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.

That exemption has been extended by US President Donald Trump’s administration, and the US has been pushing to create its own solar supply chain to reduce its dependence on Chinese companies.

Musk has criticised tariff barriers as making the economics of deploying solar in the US “artificially high”, when the country is facing a critical power shortage driven by a surge in demand from AI data centres and manufacturing.

His solar ambitions cut a stark contrast with the energy policies of Trump, who is seeking to maximise US fossil fuel production and has slashed federal subsidies for solar and wind projects, which he calls costly and unreliable.

Musk briefly worked for the Trump administration running the Department of Government Efficiency, which oversaw mass layoffs of federal workers to save money.

US power consumption hit its second straight record high in 2025 and will rise further in 2026 and 2027, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Setting up 100 GW of solar manufacturing in a couple of years would be a staggering feat, and Musk is known for making big promises on ambitious timelines that often do not pan out.

Overall, the US had 1,300 GW of capacity to generate electricity as of 2024, according to a report published last year by the American Public Power Association. Out of that, only 10 per cent, or 135 GW, was solar-powered.

Tesla has been on a push to source more components locally in different regions. However, it remains dependent on 400 China-based suppliers to keep its costs down. Sixty of them also supply Tesla globally, including for its US EV plants.

Production preparations for Tesla’s Cybertruck and Semi models in the US encountered setbacks last year after component shipments from China were suspended, following a significant tariff hike on Chinese goods imposed by the Trump administration. REUTERS