A solar panel is displayed on a wall near the signage at the entrance to the new Tesla Inc. showroom. of New York.
Mark Kauzlarich | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A U.S. federal agency is considering evidence of a former Tesla employee’s complaint about how the company managed and reported fire hazards and defects at its solar facilities, CNBC reported from documents received at through an application of the Freedom of Information Act.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is continuing an investigation and has also interviewed former Tesla worker who filed the complaint in the spring of 2019, Steven Henkes, who was then quality manager of the Tesla solar field.
CNBC learned of the investigation by asking the CPSC for a full copy of the whistleblower complaint. The agency declined to file the full complaint, but revealed, “The records we retain are related to an open investigation and consist of internal and external reports.” The exact scope and focus of the research is currently unknown.
Henkes is also suing Tesla, alleging retaliation.
In a lawsuit filed in Alameda County in November 2020, Henkes said he was fired from his job at Tesla on Aug. 3, 2020, after raising internal security issues and after filing complaints. formal in government offices, when Tesla failed to act to address this and communicate accurately with customers about what it said were unacceptable fire hazards at the company’s solar facilities.
Henkes declined to speak directly with CNBC, but answered some questions via email through his attorney, Robert Wallace. Henkes believes that “there is still a real threat of fire due to serial defects at Tesla’s facilities,” Wallace said in a statement. “Consumers have not been adequately informed of the risks.”
Tesla entered the solar business in late 2016 when it acquired SolarCity for $ 2.6 billion. Among other things, Tesla Energy installs rooftop photovoltaic systems, terrestrial and indoor solar power systems.
Tesla does not separate revenue from solar energy alone. “Energy generation and storage” accounted for only 6% of the company’s total revenue in 2020, but grew by 30% over last year, according to its year-end financial presentation. In a Jan. 27 earnings call, Musk told analysts, “We’re paying a lot of attention to solar energy and it’s growing fast. So I don’t think it’s going to be long before Tesla is, by far, the leader in the solar energy market “.
Tesla systems have been installed in homes including military housing units in Fort Bliss and other bases, Los Angeles Unified School District schools and commercial facilities, including Walmart stores and Amazon stores.
As previously reported by CNBC, Tesla’s solar facilities had previously caught fire. In August 2019, Walmart sued Tesla for negligence after rooftop solar systems installed by Tesla Energy were turned on at various Walmart locations.
In court records, Walmart said Tesla was unable to properly monitor, repair and maintain these systems, even after the fires. The fires caused significant damage and faulty systems posed serious risks to employees, customers and businesses, according to the then Walmart complaint.
On November 5, 2019, the companies issued a joint statement saying they expected “a safe reactivation of our sustainable energy systems”. The exact terms of the liquidation of the companies – and the costs for Tesla – have never been revealed. A Walmart spokesman noted a post-January 2020 statement noting that “Some of this work may include the replacement of certain solar equipment.”
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to Greg Sellers, general manager of a solar energy maintenance and repair business in Morgan Hill, California, the risk of fires is still very low in solar photovoltaics, whether home or large-scale systems. The Fraunhofer Institute’s research for solar energy systems supports its observation from the field.
Without commenting on Tesla specifically, the vendors explained, “For those of us who are into repair and safety, any incident is too big. Fires are still very rare. That’s why they get so much publicity when they happen.” . He said a fire is generally more likely to be caused by a failed installation practice than a component failure. And he said solar installers have been improving as these systems proliferate.
Public safety problem
CNBC asked the CPSC, a federal agency tasked with “protecting consumers from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical risk,” a copy of Henkes’ full complaint after his lawsuit was filed. the fourth quarter of 2020.
The head of the CPSC’s Freedom of Information Act, Abioye Ella Mosheim, rejected and cited an exemption from records related to an open investigation. She wrote: “The records you requested come from the active investigation files of the police of the Office of Compliance and Field Investigation.”
Henkes, through his attorney, Wallace, confirmed that the CPSC had interviewed Henkes and asked the former Tesla employee to submit additional materials to the agency. The articles Henkes filed with the feds in a “CP-15” complaint include:
· Fault analysis reports from a third party engineering company
· Proceedings of internal meetings, reports and emails
· Examples of customer notification
· Photos of thermal events linked to customer homes
· Minutes of meetings and presentations from a supplier called Amphenol and Tesla
Henkes wants Tesla to “rethink its clarity with the client,” his lawyer said on his behalf. The ex-employee was working on implementing a “permanent countermeasure” for the problems he encountered before being fired, the lawyer added. However, Henkes alleges that he was “continually frustrated and then fired for continuing to work for public safety” at the end of his tenure at Tesla.
Another former Tesla solar employee, who asked to be named because he still works in the solar industry, confirmed many of Henkes’ claims of public demand.
In particular, this person said that many of Tesla’s solar system installations, especially those that include some roof-to-ceiling components and Amphenol H4 connectors, present a significant risk of fire and that remediation or modification efforts of Tesla have not been transparent or effective. The person also said the company has not yet fixed or eliminated all systems with known fire hazards.
Tesla used to outsource remediation efforts and the maintenance of its aging solar fleet, but now cancels at least some of those contracts and returns the process home, according to the former employee.