Yeesh . This has not been a good news hebdomad for Tesla subsidiary SolarCity . It seems Walmart is n’t the only oneclaimingthat theflaggingrenewable muscularity company ’s solar panels caught fire ; according to a newBloomberg written report , Amazon had a likewise incendiary incident hap in 2018 . A Tesla representative later on confirmed to Gizmodo that there was an “ obscure issue ” at one of Amazon ’s sites last class .
Per Bloomberg , the east - commerce giant said Friday that one of its warehouse in Redlands , California , also experience a rooftop blaze plug in to a SolarCity solar control board scheme in June of that twelvemonth . And the company has since taken steps to assure it does n’t happen again ; Amazon told Bloomberg it presently has zero plans to install any more Tesla system at its quickness .
This news come just days after Walmart filed a causa alleging that SolarCity ’s solar panels lead to fires atop at least seven of its locations with incidents dating back as far as 2012 . Walmart wane Gizmodo ’s request for comment on the lawsuitat the time .
Photo: Ross D. Franklin (AP)
“ At each location , the fire had originated in the Tesla solar panels , ” Walmart claims allot to the suit . After three such fires occurred in relatively quick succession , the ship’s company called in Tesla last year to disconnect the rest solar panels at around 240 of its shop . When Tesla later carried out safety inspections on these systems in 2019 , it found 157 items require replacement or fixture , “ 48 of which Tesla itself characterized as reflect conditions that fork up the land site unsafe or potentially unsafe , ” the lawsuit states .
On Thursday , Walmart and Tesla release ajoint statementto several outlets stating that the companionship are crop to dissolve these issues . “ Above all else , both companies need each and every system to run reliably , efficiently , and safely , ” the program line reads .
Tesla has find out its share of the renewable energy market flounder since acquire SolarCity three geezerhood ago , and these late allegations are n’t the first to chevy the sectionalisation . Back in October , Tesla forked over a$13 millionsettlement after a yearslong investigation found SolarCity had been less than truthful about the toll of several installations made on behalf of the state of Oregon .
Gizmodo has reached out to Amazon and will update this clause with the company ’s response .
Update : 2025-04-11 , 2:19 p.m. : A Tesla spokesperson provided the following statement to Gizmodo :
“ All 11 Amazon land site with solar from Tesla are father vim and are proactively monitored and keep .
Last class , there was an quarantined result that occurred in an inverter at one of the Amazon site . Tesla worked collaboratively with Amazon to root cause the result and remediate . We also performed inspections at the other internet site , which sustain the integrity of the system . As with all of our commercial-grade solar installations , we continue to proactively monitor the systems to ensure they operate safely and dependably . ”
AmazonSolar PanelsSolar powerTESLAWalmart
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