Last week, Tesla announced that its Gigafactory has begun mass production of lithium-ion battery cells in Nevada. But the company failed to mention one thrilling detail in their January 4 announcement: the Gigafactory could be powered by the world’s largest solar rooftop installation. According to an investor handout, a 70-megawatt (MW) solar array along with ground solar panels could let the factory operate entirely on clean energy. Inhabitat reports: The 70 MW solar array would be around seven times larger than any rooftop arrays currently installed, according to Tesla’s exciting handout released by Electrek and confirmed as genuine by The Verge. The rooftop array currently boasting the title of world’s largest is a 11.5 MW installation in India. The United States’ biggest rooftop array is a 10 MW array atop a California Whirlpool distribution center. SolarCity will likely manufacture the solar panels, according to The Verge, as Tesla acquired the solar energy company in November. Powerpacks will store any excess energy generated by the vast solar installation. Tesla said in the handout the “all-electric” factory will be able to run with greater efficiency and will produce zero carbon emissions. Heating and water use at the Gigafactory will also be sustainable. In the handout, Tesla said a large part of heating for the building would come from waste heat obtained from production processes. Also, “Gigafactory’s closed-loop water supply system uses six different treatment systems to efficiently re-circulate about 1.5 million liters (that’s around 400,000 gallons) of water, representing an 80 percent reduction in fresh water usage compared with standard processes.” Tesla even said they’re building a recycling facility at the Gigafactory that will be able to “safely reprocess” battery cells, packs, and modules to obtain metal usable in new cells.
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