When SolarCity acquired Silevo in September 2014, SolarCity agreed to take over Silevo’s agreement with New York State, but on a much larger scale, and the company hammered out a deal with Empire State Development and Fort Schuyler.

In the end, New York agreed to commit $750 million in taxpayer funds for the project, $350 million to build the factory and $400 million –comprised of a $150 million tax credit and $250 million in funding from New York Power Authority and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority – to buy equipment.

SolarCity committed to investing $5 billion in equipment, which it would be able to keep, and payroll, both direct and indirect, over 10 years.

The state will own the factory and the equipment it buys. SolarCity will lease the facility and the equipment for $1 a year for 10 years.

Soraa is still in the Buffalo Billion program, but is looking for a new site in the Buffalo region. There is about $100 million left in the Buffalo Billion fund.

The facility itself is massive. It is a 1.2-million-sq-ft building on an 88-acre site, and the timeline calls for it to be built in 18 months.

When the plan for the new, larger building was unveiled, everyone working on the project had to scramble. EYP Architecture & Engineering had been working on the original design for six months. When SolarCity came in, the firm had to create new designs for over 1 million sq ft in less than a week, says Ken Drake, senior project executive at EYP.

Industrial Archaeology

The contractor broke ground at the site on a bend in the Buffalo River on Sept. 18, 2014. To keep pace with the aggressive construction schedule, LPCiminelli, the Buffalo-based general contractor overseeing work at the site, acted pre-emptively to ensure the project remained on schedule.

In the summer of 2014, between the selection of LPCiminelli as the “developer” of the project and finalization of SolarCity’s final design, LPCiminelli took advantage of that hiatus to prepare the site.