Tesla announces plans to buy SolarCity for $2.6 billion

Tesla announced this morning that it plans to buy solar energy firm SolarCity. The two companies hope that joining forces will allow them to scale their battery and solar energy operations, with Tesla describing the resulting firm as "the world's only vertically integrated sustainable energy company." Buying SolarCity, says Tesla, will allow it to create "fully integrated residential, commercial and grid-scale products" for generating, storing, and distributing solar power.
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