According to comprehensive reports from Chinese financial media, a team under American tycoon Elon Musk has recently made private visits to multiple Chinese solar photovoltaic companies, inspecting projects covering equipment, wafers, and cell modules, with a focus on the cost advantage of China’s large-scale manufacturing. Some Chinese companies have already confirmed contact with Musk's team.
Aggregated from reports in Caixin and 21st Century Business Herald, insiders revealed that both Musk’s SpaceX and Tesla teams have secretly visited Chinese solar photovoltaic companies. Among them, the Tesla team is currently only at the plant inspection stage and has visited several companies along the industry chain; the SpaceX team mainly visited photovoltaic equipment manufacturers and has entered into an order cooperation with a leading Chinese heterojunction solar cell equipment manufacturer.
The reports mention that the projects inspected by Musk’s team included segments such as equipment, wafers, and cell modules, with a particular focus on Chinese photovoltaic companies possessing heterojunction and perovskite technologies.
Staff from JinkoSolar confirmed that the company has indeed recently been in contact with a related Musk team delegation, which sought to understand the company’s technology reserves and production equipment, but specific cooperation intentions and details of the inspection were not disclosed. In addition, Musk’s team has also inspected major Chinese solar photovoltaic companies.
Chinese industry insiders speculate that both Musk’s SpaceX and Tesla units need to find more efficient and lower-cost solar energy supplies, while heterojunction and perovskite technologies are seen as future high-efficiency solar pathways. As module costs remain relatively high in the United States, China's large-scale manufacturing advantage is seen as key for the massive deployment they seek.
However, an industry insider in China who had contact with Musk’s team stated that their main objective was to understand the current state of China’s relevant industries. He noted that it is unlikely SpaceX would purchase photovoltaic modules from Chinese manufacturers, but the probability of purchasing equipment is higher. As for what role Chinese companies might play in the future, this remains unclear.