Elon Musk stated that SpaceX and Tesla are each rapidly building photovoltaic manufacturing capacity of 100 gigawatts per year, but will still need natural gas as a supplement and to initiate photovoltaics in the coming years; the limiting factor for increasing natural gas turbine production is the casting of blades and vanes. If SpaceX completes the casting in-house, it could bring the grid connection of the units forward by up to approximately 18 months.

This photovoltaic goal was first mentioned in Davos to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink: the two teams are advancing domestic manufacturing in the U.S. separately, which will take about three years. He viewed energy availability as a constraint on the expansion of artificial intelligence, comparing it to China's annual manufacturing capacity of about 1500 gigawatts and over 1000 gigawatts of installed capacity. According to the U.S. Solar Industry Association, the current component capacity in the U.S. is about 74.1 gigawatts.

Tesla has applied for tax incentives for a photovoltaic factory named Project Crystal Sun in Texas, located in Fort Bend County, with an investment declaration of approximately $10.1 billion, aiming for commercial operation in Q1 2029 and creating over 9,700 full-time jobs. The application referenced the aforementioned 100 gigawatts/year statement but did not specify the gigawatt capacity of the factory. SpaceX is also linking photovoltaics with its solar AI satellite program.

Natural gas is described as a transitional power source. SpaceX has committed to over $2.8 billion in turbine procurement related to xAI, including approximately $805 million in agreements and a potential $2 billion for mobile units; the Colossus site has operated over 40 mobile gas turbines, adding more than 500 megawatts of generation. The company acquired mobile power provider APR Energy for about $1 billion, with antitrust review expected to pass in May 2026; the mobile gas and diesel fleet has a capacity of over 1 gigawatt and has procured five 380-megawatt units from Doosan Enerbility for fixed power stations. The planned super-large manufacturing and computing facility Terafab will also use on-site gas turbines and batteries as a voltage stabilization solution.

The casting of blades is concentrated in a few high-temperature alloy foundries, and Musk views the supply cycle as unacceptable. In-house casting means migrating aerospace hot-end processes into power equipment. Photovoltaics are responsible for long-term energy supply, while natural gas provides dispatchable capacity and the energy quality required for chip production lines; Musk referred to the 18 months as a decisive variable.

In market mechanisms, buyers are the electricity-deficient training clusters and future photovoltaic factories, while sellers are the traditional turbine casting supply chains. The event is driven by the gap in computing power and electricity. Funding flows from the capital expenditures of the two companies into component production lines, mobile power stations, and casting workshops. Beneficiaries are self-sufficient power sources that can shorten waiting times, while the pressure is on external foundries where blade delivery cycles still operate at the pace of the aerospace and power duopoly.

Source: Public Information