Walmart Reaches Settlement With Tesla Over Solar Panel Fires, Drops Lawsuit

Walmart has dropped a lawsuit that accused Tesla of breach of contract and gross negligence after rooftop solar panel systems on seven of the retailer's stores allegedly caught fire. TechCrunch reports: A settlement has been reached and stipulation of dismissal has been filed with the court, a Walmart spokesperson said in an email. It is unclear what the settlement entails. TechCrunch has requested more information and will update the article if new details emerge. The two companies issued a joint release Tuesday announcing that the issues raised by Walmart have been resolved. "Safety is a top priority for each company and with the concerns being addressed, we both look forward to a safe re-energization of our sustainable energy systems," the emailed statement reads.

Walmart said it sued Tesla after years of gross negligence and failure to live up to industry standards by Tesla, according to court documents. Walmart asked Tesla to remove solar panels from all 240 locations where they have been installed, as well as pay for damages related to fires that the retailer alleges stem from the panels. The lawsuit points to several fires on the retailer's rooftops that allegedly stem from Tesla solar panels.

Solar Heating ;D.

[rtb61]

Tesla needs to be careful with solar reflections focusing in on particular locales with dried up refuse. Panels are shiny and quite reflective.

Re:

[Narcocide]

So, in other words, you're letting us know that Tesla was able to prove to Walmart that Walmart's own employees probably started the fires either on purpose or on accident by leaving discarded lunch break trash around the solar panels, in direct violation of the safe operating instructions that were explicitly communicated to Walmart management? Is that what you're saying? Because it pretty much sounds like that's what you're saying, only you're trying to spin it like it's someone else's fault.

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[BoogieChile]

And flat. So how do they focus anything? And aimed, usually, in an upward direction. So where do the reflections go?

avoiding bad P/R

[Tablizer]

Such a lawsuit would be bad publicity for Tesla. They are a luxury brand, and the well-to-do expect quality. It seems at first they had a hunch they could possibly win, but realized the publicity angle was more powerful than the monetary angle of the lawsuit.

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[Narcocide]

Win or lose, it's a huge platter of egg on the face of both these companies if they really had to remove the solar installations from 240 stores over 7 of them catching fire due to gross negligence for which nobody could actually be proven to be directly responsible. Cooler heads prevailed and could see that this is childish behavior and blatant scapegoating, probably instigated by disgruntled employees angry that their favorite smoking spot was now cluttered with solar panels.

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[bloodhawk]

until we hear what the settlement terms were your statement seems a little silly. For all we know Tesla have acknowledged fault and agreed to pay all costs to avoid the court case. 7 out of 240 catching fire is a MASSIVE catastrophic failure rate.

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[Narcocide]

Yea, or obvious sabotage, one or the other. What I want to know is if these stores were all mysteriously clustered in the same corner of some backwoods red state with a ton of old oil money families living on the surrounding private lands.

Installed by Solar City, not Tesla

[jfdavis668]

These Walmart installations were done by Solar City prior to their purchase by Tesla. Yes, Tesla is now responsible, but they did not do the initial installation.

Re: Installed by Solar City, not Tesla

[viperidaenz]

Yes, however Elon Musk was the largest shareholder and chairman of SolarCity before the acquisition and the company was run by his cousins.

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[slack_justyb]

Okay and? A shareholder isn't someone who dictates day to day policy within a company. That's what the operational officers are there for. Shareholders can oust the current officers but that's typically post-facto. I'm not trying to absolve blame but I am saying, there's a bit of reality checking that's necessary here. Does any one like micromanagers? Does any company with a majority of micromanagers succeed? C'mon this "let's blame Elon" mentality is just unrealistic on anything we'd assume to be a

Re: Installed by Solar City, not Tesla

[viperidaenz]

He wasn't just the largest shareholder, he was the chairman of the company. The founders were his cousins and the company was his idea in the first place.

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[thegarbz]

It would make no sense to talk about solar city in this article since people would simply wonder why a company that no longer exists can somehow reach a settlement.

Solarcity is Tesla, both now, and as part of the acquisition for their entire history. Due diligence done during acquisition involves checking what kind of liabilities you are buying.

So were the connectors at fault or not?

[drinkypoo]

Tesla blamed Amphenol H4 connectors, Amphenol denied that their products had anything to do with the fires. Do we know who was right?

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[Khyber]

I would not know as I was not there for that day's production run and was handling the scrapped panels the next day. Only visible damage was that the connector wires got clipped from the junction box for reuse at the flash testing station, since they blow through those at a rate of a pair a week.

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[LostMyAccount]

What's the energy source that ignites face down solar panels, which AFAIK are mostly metal framing, glass and silicon?

It's the face down part that's weird, they should have so little energy input at that point that it would be hard to generate a fire. Bad junctions in the cells themselves?

Re: So were the connectors at fault or not?

[ethanms]

We've got over 25,000 panels installed in our equipment, and as far I'm aware we've had 0 fire incidents related to panels.

I have an extremely hard time believing that a panel Itself spontaneously caught fire, especially considering there is nothing flammable as part of the typical panel assembly except for maybe a bit of labeling or wire insulation?

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[geekoid]

Yeah, a panel wont do that. It has to be improper wiring(wrong gauge) at a point a connector or inverted.

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[drinkypoo]

Or counterfeit connectors made out of the wrong plastic, melting when they get hot. That's been a problem with other types of solar connector.

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[Khyber]

https://www.instagram.com/p/B4... [instagram.com]

What connectors? They're not even attached, removed for re-use at the flash-testing station. You can see the junction box sans cabling and sans junction box cover (purely the potting compound showing) in the video. See where the fire is? Connectors ain't the fucking problem.

Try again.

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[drinkypoo]

What connectors?

Amphenol H4 connectors. I stated that quite clearly.

They're not even attached, removed for re-use at the flash-testing station. You can see the junction box sans cabling and sans junction box cover (purely the potting compound showing) in the video.

No, I can't. The video only shows the back side of a panel, it doesn't show any junction box, nor is there any sign that there was a box connected at the point of ignition. Maybe you thought you were linking a different video? The kind of connector we're talking about isn't even necessarily used at junction boxes, it's commonly used for connections between cables. That's why the photo on the product page [amphenol-industrial.com] shows two such connectors, and zero bulkhead connect

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[Khyber]

"Amphenol H4 connectors. I stated that quite clearly."

As I point to the fucking panel in my link with NO GODDAMNED WIRING OR CONNECTORS - AGAIN WHAT FUCKING CONNECTORS you disingenuous sack of shit? Is your reading comprehension broken along with your visual recognition?

"No, I can't. The video only shows the back side of a panel, it doesn't show any junction box"

I have circled the fucking box, wide open without its cover plate, showing the white potting compound inside. I even circled the goddamned clipped [imgur.com]

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[drinkypoo]

As I point to the fucking panel in my link with NO GODDAMNED WIRING OR CONNECTORS - AGAIN WHAT FUCKING CONNECTORS you disingenuous sack of shit?

I never argued that a panel couldn't catch fire on its face, that was other people. So calm down, son, you're frothing. It make it looks like your parents beat you once too often. I'm talking about the fires at Walmart, not whatever is wrong with the garbage panels you've been involved with assembling.

I have circled the fucking box, wide open without its cover plate, showing the white potting compound inside.

Oh, the thing that appears for about a fraction of a second at the very beginning of the video? Great video, kid.

Shows what you fucking know about solar PV manufacturing (protip: This is where I worked, AS A PV DESIGN ENGINEER.)

Too bad you couldn't design panels that wouldn't spontaneously burst into flames, numbnuts. Or s

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[Khyber]

"Too bad you couldn't design panels that wouldn't spontaneously burst into flames, numbnuts. Or should I say, NUMBNUTS?"

Too bad you failed chemistry and can't see that this only happens during the manufacturing process due to faulty materials. Learn your vinyl acetate chemistry fucktard.

"You just posted a link to a picture of the connector not being used at the junction box."

You continue to be a disingenuous sack of shit, especially since I stated said connectors were SALVAGED FROM THE PANEL before being ta

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[Khyber]

https://www.instagram.com/p/B4... [instagram.com]

A panel won't do what? DO YOU ACTUALLY MANUFACTURE THE FUCKING THINGS OR DO YOU TALK OUT OF YOUR ASS?

That's straight off my account, straight from when I worked at the solar module production plant here in Riverside.

Care to try again when you're an actual professional who has worked in the fucking field?

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[Khyber]

"especially considering there is nothing flammable as part of the typical panel assembly"

Backsheet, two layers of EVA, and various glues, junction box plastic, connector insulation. Every last bit of that flammable, leaving only your soldered wires, cells, and glass and frame. The bulk, part-wise, of the panel is flammable. That's why we have 1000V fire ratings on them. Fire started in the center of the panel. first the backsheet started smoking, then it blew flames. My best guess is a chemical reaction ca

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[Khyber]

You do not produce/manufacture solar panels, now do you?

So you would know nothing about the sometimes utterly batshit failures that happen during manufacturing. You don't get to see those panels because obviously we catch them before they ever go out the door.

Follow Interace on Instagram. Enjoy the batshit things that he shows off from the factory where I used to work. He's one of the primary engineers.

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[Khyber]

Likely trace amounts of vinyl acetate in the polyvinyl acetate used in panel manufacture (this is what glues everything together [glass, cells, backsheet] before putting on sealed frames) most likely began to self-polymerize or react with trace amounts of acidic flux residue on the cells/cell bus ribbon, and while sitting out in the sun waiting to be scrapped, began to have a thermal reaction as noted to be possible in the safety sheet for Vinyl Acetate here: http://msdssearch.dow.com/Publ... [dow.com]

There were no e

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[LostMyAccount]

So it was more or a less a chemical fire catalyzed by thermal heating from the sun.

Were you guys making your own epoxies or polymers from precursor chemicals, or buying premixes?

I guess I can see an enhanced risk factor if you're rolling your own polymers/epoxies that require more intensive blending to get the proportions right. I've worked (casually, not professionally) with some industrial grade two part epoxies and even then Part A and Part B can be pretty nasty individually.

I can also see where for act

Re:

[Khyber]

Entirely premixed. Only two people worked there when the video was taken whom had any capability to self-compound fluxes or solvents/glues, myself and the lead engineer, and we didn't have time to mess with that kind of stuff, certifications and regulations would've made that a bit prohibitive on top of training other people to do it, so we just buy standard stuff from manufacturers.

The only vertical integration the company has is that it manufactures its own lamination and cell-stringing/tabbing machines a

Improve the world

[jfdavis668]

Since the stated goal of both Tesla and Solar City is to improve the world, maybe burning down Walmarts was a means to an end.

Settlement secrecy

[spinitch]

Settlement secrecy Often facilitates expediency but at the expense of sharing potentially useful experience for minimizing risks in future endeavors. Electrical fires occur in non solar facilities as well. But public now unlikely find out the root causes.