--- title: "Amazon Secretly Shut Down All Its Solar Rooftops After They Started Catching Fire" description: "Amazon — which made solar power a key pillar of its plan to reach zero emissions by 2040 — secretly switched off all rooftop warehouse solar panels." date: "2022-09-03" modified: "2022-09-03" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/amazon-shut-down-solar-rooftops-fire" categories: - "Energy" - "Renewable Energy" - "Science & Energy" - "Solar Power" tags: - "Amazon" - "amazon warehouse" - "jeff bezos" - "the digest" --- # Amazon Secretly Shut Down All Its Solar Rooftops After They Started Catching Fire ![Amazon — which made solar power a key pillar of its plan to reach zero emissions by 2040 — secretly switched off all rooftop warehouse solar panels.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* According [to a *CNBC* investigation](), retail giant Amazon — which made [solar power]() a key pillar of its plan to reach [zero emissions by 2040]() — secretly switched off all rooftop warehouse solar panels amid multiple fires and safety concerns. "Out of an abundance of caution, following a small number of isolated incidents with onsite solar systems owned and operated by third parties, Amazon proactively powered off our onsite solar installations in North America, and took immediate steps to re-inspect each installation by a leading solar technical expert firm," an Amazon spokesperson conceded to *CNBC* in a statement. The issue here isn't necessarily that Amazon clearly had some faulty tech on their hands. And if equipment is catching fire and threatening employee safety — as AmazonBasics products [have done before]() — it should definitely be powered down. But the company failed to make the malfunctions and the subsequent shut-downs known to the public, which means that the company was apparently withholding info about both employee safety *and* its environmental efforts and impact. Internal documents obtained by *CNBC* showed that between April 2020 and June 2021, there were at least six separate incidents of rooftop solar panels either catching fire or suffering electrical explosions. Forty-seven North American Amazon warehouses had these panels installed, meaning the dangerous malfunctions impacted roughly 12.7 percent of all such sites. "The rate of dangerous incidents is unacceptable," an Amazon employee reportedly wrote in one internal report obtained by *CNBC*, "and above industry averages." But these incidents and the following string of shutdowns and evaluations remained undisclosed, even though the Amazon's [2021 sustainability report]() — released long after those shutdowns and evaluations were underway — praised itself for its commitment to solar energy, domestically and beyond US borders. "Many of our fulfillment facilities throughout the US, Europe, and India are powered by on-site solar," reads the 2021 report, "where a rooftop installation can power up to 80 percent of the facility's energy use." According to *CNBC*, the documents also detailed *extensive* — and frankly, alarming — issues with the thousands of panels, as discovered by the company's third-party inspector. "Over the past five years," read one internal document, blaming outside parties for Amazon's failures, "solar malfunctions have been caused by improper installation techniques, improper commissioning of a new system, inadequate system maintenance and equipment malfunction." Amazon is no stranger to [workplace dangers](), nor is it exactly a [climate hero](). But this seems especially egregious. Maybe new solar panels are a better use for [all that Blue Origin money](), hm? **READ MORE:** *[Amazon took all U.S. solar rooftops offline last year after flurry of fires, electrical explosions]()* \[*CNBC*\] **More on bad Amazon behavior:** *[Jeff Bezos Says the FTC Is Being Vewy Vewy Mean]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()