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True. And yet, it's also a very Elon move: vertical integration, making a big bet on growth, and doing so domestically in spite of theoretically lower-cost fore
by jccooper 12y ago
True. And yet, it's also a very Elon move: vertical integration, making a big bet on growth, and doing so domestically in spite of theoretically lower-cost foreign production. (You can see all those factors in Tesla and SpaceX.)
Perhaps the Silveo technology convinced him that solar cells are not always commodity. And then he went with his usual instinct.
- trhway 12y agoin vertically integrated business, even 2 times difference in the price of some basic parts/materials may not matter if that is just a fraction of the total price of the resulting product/service. If you own the high margin exit point like installation of the solar systems, you may be more worried about quality and the performance of the parts, stability of supply, etc... - the factors which can significantly affect your downstream high-margin part of the pipeline. Add to that that Musk is going to own battery component of the solar systems as well.