A report published by news agency Reuters citing documents available with it, the United States electric car maker Tesla is selling over seas a “great majority” of the solar cells that it is manufacturing at its factory in New York rather than those being used majorly in the company’s trademark “Solar Roof” as had been planned originally.

The extent to which the solar business of the company is in trouble is underscored by the exporting of the batteries. In 20916, the car maker had entered the US solar industry through the acquisition of SolarCity for $2.6 billion. That deal however had been questioned by many. .

According to Reuters quoting an employee at the Buffalo solar factory of Tesla, the company has only been making very limited and sporadic purchases of the solar cells manufactured in partnership with its partner Japan’s Panasonic Corp. The rest, according to a Panasonic letter to U.S. Customs officials reportedly seen by Reuters, are being mostly sold to foreign buyers,

A long term commitment from Tesla for the purchase of the solar cells from Panasonic was made when the two companies decided to partner on cell and module production in 2016. Solar cells are used to create solar panels for generating solar energy.

Solar Roof, a system meant to look like normal roof tiles, was the target for use of the cells according to the initial plan of Tesla. However so far, just a handful of handful of rooftops nationwide has been installed with the Solar Roof.

As of February 28, the three investor-owned utilities of California had connected only 21 Solar Roof systems according to the data from the state, claimed the Reuters report. Simial ri sthe situation in other targeted states of the US.

No comment was available form from Tesla over the issue.

This report has raised serious doubts about the commercial success of the solar business of Tesla which is also starved of cash.

The fact that Panasonic was looking to make use of the Buffalo facility to cater to demands for U.S.-made solar cells by foreign customers was confirmed to Reuters by Panasonic spokesman Alberto Canal. According to him, following the imposition of tariffs on overseas-made panels in 2018 by the Trump administration, that market has sprung up. The company’s sale to Tesla was however not provided by the spokesperson.

Additionally, Reuters had reported in August 2018 that reduced from the US electric car maker Tesla has also forced Panasonic to seek other customers – including many from outside of the US, for the traditional solar panels that is also manufactures at its Buffalo plant for Tesla. A 36 per cent drop in its overall solar sales for the first quarter was reported by Tesla last month which piled on the earlier huge drops since it had acquired SolarCity.

The move by Panasonic to seek out customers other than Tesla is a signal that the Japanese company is not in good terms with its longtime partner. Panasonic is the exclusive supplier of car batteries for the electric vehicles manufactured by Tesla. But Panasonic was pointed out to be the reason behind the delays in production of EVs of Tesla by the company CEO Elon Musk.

(Adapted from Reuters.com)