Amazon pauses rooftop solar after fire incidents and global audit reveals hundreds of flaws

Amazon’s rooftop solar program faced safety setbacks after six critical fire or arc-flash events occurred at six of its 47 North American sites from April 2020 through June 2021, representing about 12.7 % of its installations. The most notable incidents were a three-alarm fire at a Fresno, California fulfillment center that destroyed 220 modules, and a two-alarm blaze at a Perryville, Maryland facility that summoned roughly 60 firefighters.

In response, Amazon suspended all U.S. solar operations by June 2021 to ensure proper design, installation, and maintenance before re-activation. An audit commissioned from Clean Energy Associates later uncovered one critical issue and 259 significant findings across sites in the United States, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, the Middle East and Africa, highlighting problems such as mismatched module connectors, incorrect connector installation, inadequate wire management, and water ingress in inverters.

The company’s internal analysis labeled the incident frequency as “unacceptable and above industry averages,” estimating each event cost about $2.7 million and that the shutdown cost roughly $940,000 per month in lost power generation. Amazon subsequently requested $3.6 million for site re-inspections and advocated for a larger salaried workforce to manage solar assets, while continuing to operate rooftop solar at 115 fulfillment centers worldwide.