The plant is scheduled to start manufacturing cells and modules in 2016 and is expected to boost battery production while also bringing costs down. In addition to producing battery backs for Tesla' vehicles, the gigafactory will also manufacture batteries for the company's new Tesla Energy line of residential and commercial storage batteries. Tesla currently has a partnership with SolarCity, which counts Musk as its chairman, to install the batteries to supplement the latter's solar panels. Batteries such as Tesla Energy's products will play a big role in the growth of the distributed storage sector moving forward, SolarCity spokesman Jonathan Bass told the Reno Gazette-Journal earlier this year. The gigafactory is especially crucial due to its ability to bring costs down as Tesla Energy battery production shifts from Tesla's Fremont plant to the Reno area facility.