Amazon took all U.S. solar rooftops offline last year after flurry of fires, electrical explosions
Summary
In the intervening months, at least four other Amazon fulfillment centers caught fire or experienced electrical explosions due to failures with their solar energy-generating systems, according to internal company documents viewed by CNBC. The documents, which have never been made public, indicate that between April 2020 and June 2021, Amazon experienced "critical fire or arc flash events" in at least six of its 47 North American sites with solar installations, effecting 12.7% of such facilities. In 2019, founder Jeff Bezos launched the Climate Pledge, promising the largest online retailer would zero out emissions by 2040, embrace renewable energy and move away from gas-guzzling delivery vans, including through a billion-dollar-plus investment in electric vehicle company Rivian. Many will be able to reap financial rewards for renewable energy efforts after Congress in August passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes climate provisions projected to reduce the countrys carbon emissions by roughly 40% by 2030. In late 2021, the divisions requested $3.6 million in funding to reinspect sites where major findings were identified in order to ensure the systems were safe to be brought back online, according to internal correspondence.