Amazon briefly shuts down solar roofs in all US facilities due to fires

Sep 5, 2022 04:46 PM ET
  • A fire burst out at an Amazon warehouse in Maryland in June 2021 because of an 'unspecified occasion including the solar panel system'
Amazon briefly shuts down solar roofs in all US facilities due to fires
Image: foxbusiness.com

A string of current fires at Amazon gratification centers as well as various other facilities compelled the e-commerce giant to momentarily close down rooftop solar panels that were condemned for the expensive blazes.

" Out of an abundance of caution, complying with a handful of isolated events with onsite planetary systems owned and run by third parties, Amazon proactively powered off our onsite solar installations in The United States and Canada, and took prompt actions to re-inspect each installment by a leading solar technological professional firm," an Amazon spokesperson informed Fox Business on Sunday.

According to interior files obtained by CNBC, which originally reported the news, Amazon experienced "important fire or arc flash occasions" at six websites in The United States and Canada with solar setups, representing concerning 12.7% of all applicable facilities.

" The rate of hazardous occurrences is inappropriate, and above market standards," an Amazon worker wrote in an interior report, according to CNBC.

One such fire broke out at an Amazon warehouse in Perryville, Maryland, in June 2021 and triggered $500,000 worth of damages. An examination by the Office of the State Fire Marshall figured out that the cause was "unexpected" and also included "an undefined occasion including the photovoltaic panel system."

Amazon promoted itself as the "world's biggest corporate buyer of renewable resource" in 2015's sustainability report that outlined its goal to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.

The company had actually mounted planetary systems at 176 facilities worldwide as of April.

"We acquire new renewable energy via contracts for utility-scale wind as well as solar, on-site roof solar setups, and green tariffs with regional energies that provide new, renewable energy to the grids where we run," the firm wrote in the 2021 sustainability report.

Amazon claimed that its solar installments will certainly return online after evaluations are finished.

"Amazon also constructed a team of devoted solar experts overseeing the building and construction, procedures, and upkeep of our systems in-house to guarantee the safety of our systems," the spokesperson stated Sunday.

Amazon's procedures are currently powered by 85% renewable resource and also the business has established a goal of 100% by 2025.


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