Cooperation between the companies could go deeper than manufacturing.
Deepening ties between Tesla and Panasonic could help the U.S. car maker fast track its ambitious plan for solar-powered systems that charge smart homes and electric cars.
The two companies said Monday that Panasonic will use what would have been a SolarCity factory in RiverBend, New York, to manufacture up to 10,000 solar panels per day. Tesla will buy the panels for use on houses as part of the deal, which is contingent on its acquisition of SolarCity.
The partnership extends work between the two companies that began with Panasonic's Gigafactory in Nevada. The multi-billion-dollar factory is a huge manufacturing facility for lithium-ion batteries used in Tesla's electric cars.
But the companies share a grander vision: one where energy from solar panels is pumped into storage batteries in each house rather than being sold to the power company. Combined with smart home technology, the batteries could virtually eliminate reliance on the power grid and recharge Tesla electric cars each night, but adoption of the batteries remains an elusive goal due to their high cost.