Tesla has officially opened its first solar-powered charging station in China. The company made the announcement in a post on Weibo Thursday.
The charging station, which has its own on-site power storage unit, was installed in the Tibet Autonomous Region's capital city of Lhasa. Tesla chose the location for its over 3,000 hours of annual sunshine. Tesla said the mountainous area was the ideal location for its new solar-powered Supercharger facility.
"Tesla's light storage and charging integrated supercharging station was officially completed in Lhasa. The annual average of 3,000+ hours of light lets the gifts of nature be used efficiently and help build a new green travel and low-carbon way of life. Come and take a look at the event site of the conference. Let's go to a more pure future together," the Tesla China Charging Team said on its official Weibo page.
The team said that the city's elevation, which is about 11,900 feet above sea level, and its sun exposure made the solar panel canopies on the Superchargers "incredibly effective." The team said the city receives an average of at least 53% sunshine every month of the year - with November getting the most chance at 84%. The amount of sunlight the city gets has earned it the nickname the "Sunlit City" by locals who live in the region.
China is Tesla's second-largest market after the U.S. but its charging infrastructure in the country is significantly smaller. The charging site is the first of its kind in China and Tesla plans to build more to lessen its reliance on China's predominantly coal-powered electricity grid.
Tesla entered the solar power business in 2016 with the $2.6 billion acquisition of California-based solar company SolarCity. Since then, the company has been developing new solar power products such as Solar Roof and Powerwall.
Tesla's Solar Roof is a power generating system that is made to look like normal roof tiles. Powerwall is the company's power storage system used with its solar canopies. Tesla's team in China said the Powerwalls installed in its Supercharging stations will allow drivers to charge their cars even on cloudy days or in the evening.
