[caption id="" align="alignright" width="280"] A SolarCity crew installs roof panels on a Los Angeles home as U.S. demand grows. (Bloomberg News file photo)[/caption]

When the SolarCity factory is running full-tilt two years from now , it will be the biggest solar panel plant in North America. And to run at full speed, the plant will need an elaborate network of suppliers and service firms to support its operation – one that SolarCity will have to build essentially from scratch. As the shell of the sprawling SolarCity factory – the size of eight Home Depot stores – is steadily rising, the task of building a supplier network for the plant is in the much earlier stages, with the company’s push to find local companies that could become part of that supply chain expected to kick off in less than two weeks.

While the supplier and support network have been largely out of the spotlight, shunted aside by the construction of the million-square-foot factory, the supply chain will be a key part of the SolarCity project, providing almost as many jobs as the factory itself.

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