SolarCity raises US$345 million

Elon Musk has promised for days that the sequel to his 2006 “master plan” is coming.

Last month, Mr. Musk revealed that it plans to acquire his solar installation company SolarCity in an all-stock deal, valuing as much as $2.8 billion.

CEO Elon Musk will release part two of the “Top Secret Tesla Masterplan” for the automaker Wednesday night.

Investors did not warmly welcome the idea of Tesla SolarCity tie-up, as they feared that both loss-making companies might not be able to survive, or Tesla Motors might be distracted from its goal to produce mass market cars scheduled to hit roads in 2017. Bidness Etc expects it to be an energy storage product paired with a SolarCity Solar panel. The company makes solar energy easy by taking care of everything from design and permitting to monitoring and maintenance. With SolarCity shares ending the week of the offer below the proposed price, the market is telling us this deal is no good. Tesla in May sold about $US1.7 billion ($2.3 billion) in new shares, indicating much of that will be used to accelerate development of its new Model 3 auto lineup and reach a production pace of 500,000 vehicles a year by 2018, two years ahead of an earlier plan.

SolarCity has raised more than $345m in tax equity in order to finance new solar projects, in one of several financing boosts announced by the United States renewable energy company today.

Musk’s confidence in winning shareholder approval on SolarCity is based partly on conversations he’s had with Tesla’s largest investors, including Fidelity Investments and other big mutual funds, the WSJ said.

Musk, in recent Twitter posts, said Tesla is working on improvements for its Autopilot system after a Florida crash that killed the driver of a Model S sedan.