1.5 Million Solar Panel Systems Recalled for Shock, Electrocution or Fire Hazard

SolarWorld is recalling approximately 1.5 million of its systems due to a possible electric shock, electrocution or fire hazard. Solar panels installed with bare-copper grounding lugs can corrode. This may result in a faulty ground circuit, which could pose the potential hazards. The lugs are brown in color.

SolarWorld has received one report of corrosion related to the bare copper lugs. No injuries have been reported. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission report, customers may be able to identify from the ground whether a tin-coated lug (silver) or a bare-copper lug (brown) has been used on their solar panels. Consumers who can identify the improper lugs should contact SolarWorld for replacement. If customers cannot determine which grounding lugs were used, they should contact SolarWorld to have an authorized SolarWorld agent inspect the installation and replace the lugs with tin-coated grounding lugs or equally safe alternative remedy at no cost to consumers.

The company is recalling about 1.3 million systems in the U.S. and 210,000 in Canada. The systems were sold by SolarWorld installers and distributors and other distribution companies from June 2011 to June 2014. They were priced between about $1,000 and $10,000, depending on the system's size.

SolarWorld is requesting that distributors and others remove SolarWorld's installation instructions dated before June 2014 from their websites or other commercial information sources.