Energy
Could Tesla really rebuild Puerto Rico’s grid with batteries and solar?
Puerto Rico remains largely without electricity after hurricane Maria ripped through the island and destroyed much of its electricity grid. With rebuilding efforts underway from both non-profits and governmental aid, the U.S. territory has been able to reactivate just over 12% of the electricity grid and expects 25% of the grid to be online in the next month. Reconstruction of transmission lines and electrical infrastructure is expected to cost upwards of $5 billion, according to Ricardo Ramos, chief executive of Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority. With a public utility service that’s strapped in massive debt and linked to a bankruptcy filing in July, major funding for the crucial project to rebuild remains largely unknown.
Concept image of Tesla’s scalable battery storage solutions (Photo: Tesla)
While the U.S. government has failed to help restore power on the island, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is up for the challenge. In response to a question that asked if the billionaire entrepreneur would be able to restore power to Puerto Rico using independent solar and battery systems, Musk said, “The Tesla team has done this for many smaller islands around the world, but there is no scalability limit, so it can be done for Puerto Rico too. Such a decision would be in the hands of the PR govt, PUC, any commercial stakeholders and, most importantly, the people of PR.”
This caught the eye of Puerto Rico Governor, Ricardo Rossello, who suggested that the island could become Tesla Energy’s flagship project.
With 3.4 million residents on the island that use roughly 19 billion kWh of energy per year (19 million MWh), or an average of 5,310 kWh (5.2 MWh) per capita, building a Tesla solar and battery solution to meet some of the island’s needs will easily exceed the complexity and cost of Tesla’s existing massive battery project in Australia.
The Tesla Solution
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Puerto Rico consumes 19 billion kWh of electricity per year with 96.4% of it being produced by fossil fuel generators. The other 3.6% is from renewable energy sources.
For the sake of coming up with some hypotheticals, let’s assume that Puerto Rico transitions at least 40% of its power generation to solar energy. To meet that goal, Tesla would need to install a 4,164 MW solar system (factoring in available sun hours), or roughly 5.2% of total global solar deployments in 2017, which is about 320 times larger than the solar plant that Tesla built in Kauai.
Tesla’s Solar and Battery project in Kauai
While it’s difficult to calculate the exact cost of a project of this caliber, we can still make some general estimates that are based on comparable projects and standard rates. In Q3 2016 SolarCity reported that its installation costs, excluding marketing and general administrative costs, were approximately $2 per watt-hour. Based on this assumption, a solar system for Puerto Rico could cost upwards of $8.32 billion.
Tesla would also be installing batteries to help balance the solar power generation and stabilize the grid. A Tesla battery storage solution in Puerto Rico of this size would far exceed the company’s existing “world’s largest lithium-ion battery” project in South Australia. Tesla would likely need a 5,000 MWh (5,000,000 kWh) battery system to support the installed solar.
Musk had previously said that projects over 100 MWh can expect a price of $250 per kWh. For a project of this size, Puerto Rico would be buying $1.25B worth of batteries from Tesla.
To put the size of the project in perspective, it’s worth noting that Tesla’s solar division (formally SolarCity) installed nearly 900 MWh of solar in 2016 and nearly 2,400 MWh over its history. The company is also expanding both solar and battery production at Gigafactory 1 and 2, both of which will help reduce costs over time as economies of scale are realized.
The real cost…
While projects as large as a proposed Tesla solution in Puerto Rico may seem incredibly expensive at first, it’s important to look at them with the right lens. Right now, households in the region pay $.198 per kWh, over 50% higher than the US average.
The total cost of solar and batteries would be $9.58B and would supply 40% of the island’s energy for decades. With Puerto Rico’s poor credit rating and high debt, financing this project won’t come easy, nor cheap. Factoring in a presumed 7% interest rate and the total project cost would exceed $21B over 20 years. In exchange, households would see a price drop in cost per kilowatt-hour to around $.112, as Puerto Rico transitions to a cleaner energy source with a more stable grid.
This project would clearly require a substantial investment in money and labor, something Musk doubters would find too large of scale for the company to tackle. But then again, when compared to building a network of massive rockets that would transport people across the world and eventually to Mars, a large-scale battery and solar system doesn’t seem all that difficult.
Energy
Tesla Semi factory is getting a celebration nobody expected
Tesla will inaugurate its Nevada Semi factory September 24, five months after production quietly began ramping.
Tesla says it will officially inaugurate its new Semi factory in Nevada next month. The Tesla Semi account posted the announcement on X, sharing a graphic titled “Semi Rollout” with a date of September 24. No further details were given about the format of the event or who would attend.
While Tesla’s dedicated Semi plant in Sparks, adjacent to Gigafactory Nevada, opened back in April, with the first trucks rolling off the high volume line on April 29, the timing for the factory inauguration comes at a surprise. The ribbon cutting event five months into production is a break from how Tesla has usually handled its other factories, where the first truck or car off the line typically served as the milestone moment.
Inauguration of new Semi factory in Nevada next month pic.twitter.com/a8kAlxrOOn
— Tesla Semi (@tesla_semi) August 24, 2026
The 1.7 million square foot factory was built as part of a $3.6 billion expansion Tesla announced in early 2023, and it shares a site with the battery cell lines that feed the Semi’s structural pack, a decision meant to remove the supply bottleneck that delayed the truck for years. The plant is designed for 50,000 trucks a year at full ramp. Semi program director Dan Priestley has said production “is now ramping” rather than claiming it has reached scale.
Nine years passed between the Semi’s 2017 unveiling and this stage of production, with the truck slipping from an original 2019 target through hand built pilot units for PepsiCo and a slow build out of the Nevada plant. An inauguration event now gives Tesla a stage to talk up that ramp and reset expectations for how many trucks it can begin delivering at scale.
The September date also lines up with the Semi’s next milestone. Tesla confirmed the truck is heading to Europe with a full unveiling at the IAA Transportation trade show in Hannover, Germany, running September 15 through 20. Between the Nevada event and the Hannover reveal, Tesla has roughly a week and a half in September to make the case that the Semi is now a truck being built and sold on two continents rather than tested in a handful of fleets.
Tesla Energy has introduced the Powerwall Lease in conjunction with Tesla Electric, making the service available in Texas. This new option delivers whole-home backup power using two Powerwall units for a net monthly cost of $35 after credits, accompanied by a low fixed electricity rate.
Under the lease terms, customers pay a one-time order fee of $100. The base lease payment for the two Powerwalls is approximately $122 per month during the first year, subject to a 3 percent annual escalator thereafter. Enrollment in a qualifying Tesla Electric Backup plan or Virtual Power Plant plan provides an $87 monthly credit.
Powerwall Lease is now available with Tesla Electric in Texas
Whole-home backup for $35/month, with a low fixed electricity rate
– Two Powerwalls, $0 installation
– Storm Watch outage protection
– One app to manage it all pic.twitter.com/oTzqc6K3aF— Tesla Energy (@teslaenergy) August 13, 2026
This credit lowers the effective cost to roughly $35 per month plus applicable tax.
Installation of the standard system carries no additional charge. The package features Storm Watch for outage protection and allows complete management through a single Tesla application. The system supplies continuous whole-home backup capability.
The Powerwall system enables households to maintain electricity during severe storms that disrupt the utility grid. When outages occur, the batteries automatically provide seamless backup power to the home.
Tesla announces 100k Powerwalls are participating in Virtual Power Plants
Tesla Storm Watch monitors weather forecasts and ensures the units are fully charged ahead of anticipated severe weather events so that power remains available throughout the disruption, keeping lights, refrigeration, and other essential systems operating without interruption.
Availability is restricted to select Texas locations where retail electric choice exists. Participants must lease exactly two Powerwall units and maintain continuous enrollment with Tesla Electric. Solar panels cannot be included under this particular lease arrangement.
The monthly credit activates automatically once the system is installed, receives permission to operate, and enrollment is confirmed. To retain the credit, customers are required to stay enrolled in Tesla Electric and fulfill all program conditions.
Nonstandard installations that involve electrical upgrades or special permitting may lead to extra expenses and might impact eligibility for the credit, so be sure to check with either your installer or Tesla to ensure you will still qualify.
Elon Musk
Inside Tesla’s secretive $10 Billion “Project Crystal Sun” filing
Tesla filed for a $10.1 billion Fort Bend solar factory, but the site isn’t confirmed.
Tesla has filed paperwork in Texas for a second massive manufacturing project in the same week it locked down its chip fabrication site, this time for a $10.1 billion solar cell plant in Fort Bend County. The filing, submitted July 22 under the state’s Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation Act and first surfaced by Sawyer Merritt on X, lists an internal project name of “Project Crystal Sun” and targets a site off FM 762 and FM 1994 near Richmond, about 40 minutes outside Houston.
Tesla is planning to build a $10.1 billion vertically integrated solar cell manufacturing facility in Fort Bend County, Texas, about 40 minutes from Houston, according to a new public application filing.
Tesla is aiming to start construction this year and finish in 2028, with… pic.twitter.com/f3HIK5HGST
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) August 7, 2026
The application, prepared by Kroll Tax Services on Tesla’s behalf, spans five parcels totaling roughly 3,000 acres within the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District. Tesla wants a 10 year property tax limitation in exchange for the investment, split as $1.5 billion in real property and $8.6 billion in equipment and personal property. The company projects 9,712 permanent jobs once the plant reaches full operation, with 1,147 peak construction jobs during a build window running from this year through 2028 and commercial operations targeted for the first quarter of 2029.
Tesla is not fully committed to Fort Bend County yet. The filing states the company is weighing the site against an unnamed out of state alternative, and frames the tax abatement as what would make Texas competitive against that option. If the district and county decline the incentive, Tesla says it may build elsewhere.
Tesla Megapack Megafactory in Texas advances with major property sale
The plant would handle the full solar cell production chain in one facility, according to the filing, covering wafer and ingot manufacturing, coating, metallization and printing lines, cell testing, automated material handling and cleanroom infrastructure. That scope points to Tesla vertically integrating a part of its supply chain it currently sources largely from overseas partners, mirroring the approach behind its expanding Megapack production in Brookshire, Texas, where Tesla has already built out two buildings for its grid battery business.
The timing lines up closely with Tesla and SpaceX’s other big Texas commitment this month. SpaceX confirmed its Terafab chip factory would land in Grimes County days before this filing surfaced, with construction on that $16.8 billion project starting almost immediately after local officials met with residents. Terafab is meant to produce the AI chips running Tesla’s Optimus robots and Full Self-Driving software, while a solar cell plant would feed a different part of the business, the panels and storage systems Tesla sells to homeowners, businesses and utilities, and increasingly needs to power its own data centers.
Musk has talked about building domestic solar manufacturing capacity before, tying it to the amount of power Tesla’s AI ambitions will require.
Tesla Model Y L gets suspension complaints in over odd issue China
Tesla Cybercab event gains steam ahead of massive launch
