The dream behind the $950 million that New York taxpayers pumped into the Tesla factory in South Buffalo was to make the region a leader in the up-and-coming solar energy industry.It was a complete con from the beginning (a product con, a business con, and a state con). Though a minor subplot compared to Tesla, "Elon's solar roof company is bullshit, also, too" would get a lot of pushback! Even from people who knew self-driving was bullshit!
It started with a high-risk bet on a solar panel startup that was working on developing panels that turned more of the sun’s energy into electricity. It morphed into a high-volume bet on rooftop solar through SolarCity, and then, when that company was on the verge of imploding, it shifted to Tesla, where CEO Elon Musk went all-in on a radical concept: A solar roof that looked like a regular roof.
Now, six years after Musk first touted the solar roof on a Hollywood set with great fanfare, the solar roof is barely generating a spark within the solar energy industry.
There are a lot of well-meaning people who are marks for "green" technology because they want to believe. And, well, ...