Tesla Motors Inc. and Panasonic Corp. completed work on an agreement to begin manufacturing solar cells and modules at Tesla's factory in Buffalo, New York, eventually bringing some 1,400 jobs to the region.
Production will begin this summer, with the factory's output capacity expanding to 1 gigawatt by 2019, the companies said in a statement Tuesday. Panasonic will invest more than ¥30 billion ($256 million) for the installation of production equipment, said Yayoi Watanabe, a spokeswoman for the Osaka-based company. The total investment wasn't disclosed in the statement.
Among the jobs being created are more than 500 manufacturing positions. Palo Alto, California-based Tesla is expanding its manufacturing base in the U.S. and CEO Elon Musk is on President-elect Donald Trump's business advisory team.