Class Action Filed in Florida Over Alleged Generac SnapRS 801 Melting, Fire Issues

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A proposed class action alleges Generac Power Systems’ SnapRS 801 switch is defective in that the residential PWRcell solar energy system part is prone to repeatedly turn on and off before eventually deforming and melting during normal use. 

The 42-page complaint alleges the defective SnapRS 801 switch, known more fully as the Generac SnapRS Rapid Shutdown Inline Disconnect Switch, has decreased or “completely imped[ed]” energy production for residential solar users. In some cases, the lawsuit says, the SnapRS 801 switch, which is designed to be installed between each solar panel to allow for rapid shutdown, “deformed, melted, and/or caught fire during normal use,” causing property damage. 

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According to the suit, Generac knew that the SnapRS 801 switch was defective as early as April 2021, when solar contractor Pink Energy reportedly discovered a melted SnapRS 801 switch during a service call in Ohio, yet continued to manufacture and distribute the component while failing to notify the public. Generac also failed to timely provide replacement switches or compensate consumers for electric bills and replacement and troubleshooting costs incurred as a result of their SnapRS 801-equipped solar energy systems not working properly and at full efficiency, the case says.

“Plaintiff and Class Members would not have purchased residential solar energy systems equipped with SnapRS 801 switches and solar contractors would not have installed solar energy systems in Plaintiff’s and Class Members’ homes if the defects and potential safety hazards of the SnapRS 801 switches had been disclosed and mitigated,” the filing states. 

Rapid shutdown capability is required by the National Electrical Code as a way to de-energize residential solar panel systems, including to protect against lightning and in situations in which emergency responders need to access a roof equipped with solar panels where there’s an electric shock risk, the complaint relays. According to the lawsuit, Generac designed its PWRcell solar energy systems with the SnapRS 801 switch as a way to satisfy the NEC’s rapid-shutdown requirements. 

With a SnapRS 801 switch installed for each solar panel, a residential system with 50 panels would thus have 50 SnapRS 801 switches, the filing explains. In most cases, the suit says, a homeowner’s solar energy system will include “arrays” of roughly eight solar panels, with each array connected to a link that conducts the electrical energy to the inverter before it’s supplied to the home. 

After discovering a melted SnapRS 801 switch in April of last year, Pink Energy, who earlier this month was hit with a proposed class action after terminating roughly 1,500 employees in a layoff the company blamed in part on its partnership with Generac, immediately reported the problem to the defendant, the suit says. Then, in August 2021, another solar installer, Valley Solar, shared with the defendant similar reports that its SnapRS 801 switches were “experiencing a high failure rate and showing signs of heat deformation and charring,” the lawsuit relays. That same month, according to the suit, fires broke out at the homes of Pink Energy customers in Kentucky and South Carolina. The blazes were later determined to have been caused by overheating SnapRS 801 switches in the homeowners’ solar energy systems, the complaint says. 

Also in August 2021, a Generac director informed Pink Energy that the company had found that SnapRS 801 switches were “overactive” by turning on and off repeatedly when they should stay in either the on or off state, the suit continues. This condition, the case claims, was attributed to heat in the switches causing them to “bubble out,” and Generac assured Pink Energy that a firmware update would remedy the problem, per the complaint. 

Generac, however, knew that the firmware update would have an adverse effect on the overall operation and energy production of residential solar systems equipped with the faulty SnapRS 801 switches, the lawsuit alleges. Even with the firmware update, the SnapRS 801 switches at issue continued to malfunction, the suit shares. 

In the spring of this year, after continued incidents involving SnapRS 801 switches, Pink Energy asked Generac whether it had filed a report with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and whether a recall had been initiated, the case goes on. In response, Generac said that it had submitted a report to the CPSC, but that it did not believe “corrective action,” including a recall, was necessary, the complaint states.

In May, Pink Energy requested a copy of the report Generac filed with the CPSC, but the company “refused” to provide that information, the lawsuit claims. The following month, Generac “acknowledged a near 50% failure rate” with its SnapRS 801 switches, the suit states. 

“To date, the vast majority of Class Members remain unaware of the defects and potential safety hazards of the SnapRS 801 switches, including decreased energy production and the potential for damage to equipment and property because Generac has failed to issue a general communication to all homeowners who had solar energy systems equipped with the SnapRS 801 switches.”  

The case stresses that Generac customers relied on the company’s representations concerning its PWRcell solar energy technology and the SnapRS 801 switches, and had no way of knowing that the defendant’s claims were “false and misleading,” or that the switches were plagued by “common design defects.” 

The lawsuit looks to cover all persons and entities in the United States, including its territories and the District of Columbia, that purchased and installed a residential solar energy system equipped with Generac SnapRS Rapid Shutdown Inline Disconnect Switches. 

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