Amazon Shuts Down US Rooftop Solar Systems After Critical Incidents
Amazon's US rooftop solar systems were shut down in 2021 after six critical incidents across 47 North American sites. The problems included fires and arc flash events, with one site experiencing a three-alarm fire that damaged 220 solar modules.
The incidents led Amazon to take its US solar operations offline by June 2021. An internal audit found 'unacceptable' rates of dangerous incidents, with issues including mismatched module-to-module connectors, incorrectly installed connectors, poor wire management, and water intrusion in inverters.
The cost of keeping the systems offline was estimated at $940,000 per month, or around $20,000 per site. Amazon brought in an outside inspection firm to examine its rooftop solar portfolio, finding 259 significant findings across sites in the US, Asia Pacific, and Europe, Middle East, and Africa.
The audit found that many of the problems were linked to how different parts of the systems had been connected or installed, rather than defects in the solar panels themselves. Amazon's divisions requested $3.6 million in late 2021 to reinspect sites where significant findings had been reported.