Tesla has proposed a potential $10.1 billion solar manufacturing facility in Fort Bend County, Texas, subject to final site selection and tax incentive approval. Project Crystal Sun would integrate solar ingot, wafer, cell and module production and could create approximately 9,712 permanent jobs.
Tesla is seeking a 10-year property tax limitation in Texas for a proposed $10.1 billion solar manufacturing facility, according to documents filed with the Texas Comptroller. The project, known as Project Crystal Sun, is planned for a 3,050-acre site near Richmond in Fort Bend County, subject to final site selection and approval of the proposed tax incentives.
The proposed development would represent a major expansion of Tesla’s manufacturing footprint and could become the company’s largest single manufacturing investment if implemented as outlined in the application. The investment comprises approximately $1.5 billion in real property and $8.6 billion in manufacturing equipment and other personal property.
Tesla expects the facility to create approximately 9,712 permanent jobs once fully operational, while construction activity could generate up to 1,147 jobs at its peak. The project is therefore expected to have a significant economic impact on the surrounding region in addition to expanding domestic solar manufacturing capacity.
A defining feature of Project Crystal Sun is its proposed end-to-end manufacturing structure. Rather than focusing solely on module assembly, the facility is designed to cover multiple stages of the solar manufacturing chain, beginning with ingot production and wafer processing before moving into solar cell manufacturing and module assembly.
Equipment identified in the application includes systems for silicon ingot pulling, wafer slicing, chemical treatment, metallisation, screen printing, cleanroom operations and automated material handling. The proposed configuration would allow Tesla to bring upstream manufacturing processes that are still heavily dependent on international supply chains into the US.
The development would also distinguish itself from much of the recent US solar manufacturing expansion, which has largely focused on assembling modules from imported or externally sourced cells. By incorporating wafer and cell production alongside module manufacturing, Tesla could establish a more vertically integrated domestic solar supply chain.
According to the application, construction is expected to take place between 2026 and 2028, with commercial manufacturing targeted for the first quarter of 2029. Tesla has, however, indicated that it is considering another site outside Texas, making the proposed tax arrangement an important factor in determining whether the Fort Bend County location proceeds.
The economic impact assessment accompanying the application estimates that the project could contribute approximately $107 billion to Texas GDP and generate around $6.4 billion in state and local tax revenue over 38 years if the facility reaches its planned scale.
The application does not disclose the plant’s specific annual production capacity. However, the proposed investment is significant in the context of Tesla’s previously stated ambitions to develop large-scale domestic solar manufacturing capacity in the US.
The scale of the proposed facility could also have wider implications for the US solar supply chain. Domestic solar module manufacturing capacity was estimated at around 60 GW in early 2026, while US solar cell manufacturing capacity remained below 15 GW. A project involving substantial investment in upstream production could therefore materially alter the balance between domestic cell production and module assembly.
If approved and ultimately constructed, Project Crystal Sun could strengthen domestic manufacturing across several stages of the photovoltaic value chain while supporting Tesla’s broader expansion in solar technology. The project also reflects growing efforts within the US solar industry to establish more integrated supply chains and reduce reliance on imported upstream components.
