Tesla to acquire US solar panel supplier

Tesla plans to acquire a solar panel supplier in the USA, fulfilling its promise of a fully sustainable energy business model.

Its power division, Tesla Energy, has made an offer for Solar City, a company that has installed solar panels throughout 27 American states since it was established in 2006.

With a means of offering customers solar panels to complement the PowerWall domestic energy storage solution, Telsa will be able to provide a one-stop-shop service to keep its automotive products on the road – all the while reducing customer reliance on fossil-fuel and even nuclear energy generation for domestic and business power.

In that context, Tesla's move to acquire Solar City is potentially more 'disruptive' in the American energy market than its car-building business has been within the automotive industry. And it keeps Tesla one step ahead of automotive rival Mercedes-Benz, which recently announced its own PowerWall competitor.

Tesla has already worked alongside Solar City, supplying battery packs for the latter's solar projects. According to Tesla's press information, the combined might of Tesla and Solar City would make Tesla "the world's only vertically integrated energy company offering end-to-end clean energy products to our customers."

The cars would become an integral part of a household's energy usage mosaic, free of dependency on a traditional power grid. Tesla says that Solar City is "a great fit" for the company's energy division.

"Both companies are driven by a mission of sustainability, innovation, and overcoming any challenges that stand in the way of progress," the company noted in its press release.

Subject to due diligence, the deal amounts to a share swap, with Tesla offering 0.122 Tesla shares for 0.131 Solar City shares. Depending on the prevailing share price, the deal is said to be worth between $26.50 and $28.50 (a 21 to 30% premium) over the market value of the Solar City shares. Tesla CEO Elon Musk already owns shares in Solar City, and has recused himself from voting on the proposal placed before the Tesla board of management. His counterpart at Solar City, Antonio Gracias, will do likewise when the proposal is officially considered by the Solar City board.

Although the proposed acquisition only covers around half the continental USA, it's likely to be a portent of things to come in Tesla's future. For the moment, according to the company's Senior Marketing and Communications Manager, Heath Walker, there are no plans for Tesla to acquire a firm like Solar City in Australia.

"Given we are at offer stage, it is too early to provide a perspective for our market," Walker told motoring.com.au this morning.