Risks of purchasing solar panels from Amazon

When you buy anything on Amazon, you run the risk of receiving a poorly made product. However, online retailer solar panels can take it to a whole new level. In September 2022, CNBC reported that Amazon had turned off all solar panel roofs in its warehouses because they kept burning. The incidents began on April 14, 2020, when an “electrical event” occurred in the solar system on the roof of a Fresno warehouse, causing a fire that damaged solar panels and other equipment.

A year later, there was another fire, this time in a warehouse in Maryland. Over the following months, four more fires occurred at various Amazon fulfillment centers, all due to solar panel failures. An internal audit later revealed more than 200 serious system problems, including mismatched connectors and water damage. Amazon blamed third-party partners and suppliers for most of its problems.

So you may be asking, what is the problem with solar panels available on Amazon? Well, the vast majority of products in the online store come from external partners and suppliers. If Amazon purchased solar panels from the same sources it promotes to customers, what’s to stop a similar event from happening on the roof of your home? We’re not saying that all solar panels on Amazon are guaranteed to catch fire, but it’s certainly a risk to consider when purchasing.