First image of Tesla’s German Gigafactory unveiled, with rooftop PV to boot

Tesla boss Elon Musk has published an image of the planned Gigafactory in Grünheide, near Berlin in eastern Germany. The picture, published on Musk’s Twitter account, shows a rendering of the new factory, which includes the deployment of a rooftop solar installation.
In previous days, doubts had been raised about the fact that the electric car manufacturer had not indicated the presence of the PV system in its approval application. It has since been pointed out that such information is not required by German authorities at the project’s current stage of planning.
This week, the Office for the Environment in Brandenburg – the state surrounding the German capital – granted a permit for groundworks on the facility to begin. Clearing of trees in the area had already been allowed, despite the ongoing environmental assessment.
Brandenburg’s Environment Agency has also granted permission for foundation and structural work, as well as the establishment of private traffic areas on the site. According to the authority, Tesla had applied for this approval on June 8 and all the bodies involved have now given approval.
The entire approval process for the factory should be finalized in the autumn.
The site will be the U.S. electric car manufacturer’s first Gigafactory in Europe. It plans to produce up to 500,000 units per year of its Model 3 and Model Y variants, and future models, at the location near Berlin. Manufacturing activities are slated to begin in mid-2021, with at least 12,000 jobs to be created.