BP, Home Depot Hit With Faulty Solar Panel Class Action Lawsuit

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A class action lawsuit filed accusing Home Depot USA Inc. and BP Solar International Inc., which is no longer in business, of selling defective solar panels has been moved to a California federal court.

The putative class action lawsuit was filed originally on Jan. 9 in a California state court in Contra Costa County, in suburban San Francisco, and was transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Thursday.

The Home Depot solar panel class action lawsuit filed by California residents Michael Allagas, Arthur Ray and Brett Mohrman, who claim that the defects in the solar panels cause them to not only fail to conduct electricity properly but to also pose a potentially dangerous safety risks.

“A defect in a component of the solar panels — known as the junction box — causes the solar panels to fail, resulting in a loss of electric current and serious safety risks, including the risk of fire,” the Home Depot solar panel class action lawsuit explains. “The solar panels cannot be repaired; they must be removed and replaced.”

The plaintiffs also allege that BP knew about the defects in 2005 but continued to sell the solar panels until 2010.

When solar panels are installed, they are attached to racks that are either mounted on the roof or ground. They are then connected together with cables for the purpose to produce output voltage, which creates electricity. For this function to stop working, only one solar panel has to fail.

There is a junction box connected to each solar panel that connects the solar panels to each other. The plaintiffs allege the defects in the BP junction box and solder joints leads the solder joints to overheat.

“When the solder joint overheats, the connection between the solar panels breaks,” the class action states. “This break in the circuit results in an arc of an electrical current which generates heat between 2,000 – 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The heat caused by this failure melts the junction box, burns the cables and the solar panel and shatters the glass cover of the solar panel.”

Because of the heat generated, if there is any flammable material in its path, it could result in a fire.

Once this type of damage occurs to solar panels, they are destroyed and there is no way to repair them. The only recourse is to have them completely replaced. However, BP stopped making solar panels in 2010 and are not able to replace them from their own inventory.

“The only effective remedy for break of the warranty is to remove the existing solar panels and replace them with solar panels manufactured by others,” the plaintiffs claim.

The BP solar panels came with two warranties — a defect warranty and a power warranty. The defect warranty guaranteed that the panels would be “‘free from defect in materials and workmanship'” and was good for two to five years. The power warranty promosed that the solar panels would provide “at least ninety percent of their minimum peak power output for a period of [12 years] years and at least eighty percent [for 25 years] from the date of installation.”

The plaintiffs are charging BP with violating California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, breach of express warranty, violating the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, violating the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, breach of implied warranty, breach of implied warranty under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, breach of implied warranty under the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act and violating the Unfair Competition Law.

They are charging Home Depot with breach of implied warranty, breach of implied warranty under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and breach of implied warranty under the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act.

The plaintiffs are asking for compensatory damages, restitution, and that BP be made inform all customers of the potential risks associated with their solar panels.

The plaintiffs are represented by David M. Birka-White and Mindy M. Wong of Birka-White Law Offices.

The BP Solar Panel Class Action Lawsuit is Michael Allagas, et al. v. BP Solar International Inc. et al., Case No. 4:14-cv-00560, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: A federal judge trimmed claims from the BP Solar, Home Depot class action lawsuit on April 21, 2014.

UPDATE 2: The BP solar panel class action settlement is now open! Click here to file a claim.