There’s much ado about some solar panels on a roof in Buffalo, but it’s just fine, and a very simple conversation really.
The Buffalo factory is a large commercial structure. None of the solar panels manufactured inside of the facility were commercial solar modules. In fact, the modules that Tesla makes there now – I doubt they’d even be able to work on this site.
When Tesla moved into the facility, they were working with Silevo. There was a very nice, high efficiency solar panel being suggested to be made in Buffalo – it never came to be, and in 2017, the relationship ended between the two companies. I don’t think the Buffalo factory was even open before that happened.
Next, one would think that Panasonic might have supplied modules – but they never actually made solar panels there. They only made solar cells. And then they left in early 2020, probably already in late 2019.
Now, we’re at a time where Tesla is making (a few at least…hopefully) solar roof tiles in the facility that are in no way proper for this building. This tiles are specifically for a residential roof at a certain angle, with a certain look. You don’t put these on a commercial rooftop. There’s a decent chance that the solar cells used in the Tesla Solar Roof actually come from LONGi, as the company is one of the world’s largest solar cell manufacturers.