Tesla has filed documents with the state of Texas outlining plans to construct a massive solar cell manufacturing facility at an estimated cost of $10.1 billion, a project that would rank among the largest single investments in U.S. clean energy manufacturing infrastructure to date.

The proposed site, internally referred to as Project Crystal Sun, would be located in Fort Bend County, just outside Houston, according to the filings. Tesla already operates Gigafactory Texas in Austin, its electric vehicle manufacturing hub, and this expansion would deepen the company's manufacturing footprint in the state.

In its pitch to state regulators, Tesla warned that if Texas declined the project, the state would "miss the opportunity to attract billions of dollars in investment, help create thousands of full-time jobs for its residents and become a hub for domestic solar cell manufacturing in the U.S."

"Tesla is currently evaluating the feasibility of constructing its solar cell manufacturing facility at various locations across multiple U.S. states," the company told the state comptroller's office. The company's acknowledgment that it is evaluating multiple states is consistent with a broader trend of large-scale manufacturers competing jurisdictions against each other for incentive packages.

If the project moves forward, Tesla said the facility would create more than 9,700 permanent full-time jobs along with 1,147 temporary construction jobs. The company also estimated it would owe approximately $1.1 billion in local property taxes over the next 37 years if no incentives are granted.

Tesla plans to break ground on the factory this year, with construction expected to be completed by 2028 and commercial operations slated to begin in 2029.

It remains unclear whether the solar panels produced at the facility would be intended for ground-based installations or for use in satellites. Tesla CEO Elon Musk also leads SpaceX, which operates thousands of satellites in low-Earth orbit, all equipped with solar panels. Tesla's existing solar energy business currently relies on cells produced by third-party suppliers, and domestic solar cell manufacturing capacity remains limited compared to global leaders in Asia.

Although Tesla's filings did not disclose the expected output capacity of the proposed factory, Musk has previously set a goal of establishing 100 gigawatts of domestic solar production. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 100 gigawatts is roughly equivalent to 8% of the entire U.S. power grid capacity.