Tesla Employee Revelations On Solar Fires Classified As Evidence In Federal Probe: Report

A former Tesla Inc. TSLA employee’s complaint about how the company managed and communicated about fire risks in its solar installations is being treated as evidence by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in its investigation, CNBC reported Monday.

What Happened: The CPSC is proceeding with the investigation and has interviewed Steven Henkes, a former Tesla solar field quality manager, as per the report, citing documents CNBC received through a Freedom of Information Act request. Henkes filed a complaint in spring 2019 and also filed a lawsuit against Tesla in November last year.

Henkes reportedly said in his lawsuit that he was fired from his job at Tesla in August last year for raising safety concerns internally and later filing formal complaints with government offices over the company’s failure to communicate accurately with customers over fire risks in its solar installations.

Henkes told CNBC through his attorney Robert Wallace that “there continues to be a real threat of fires due to serial defects in the Tesla installations and consumers have not been adequately informed of the risks.”

See Also: Tesla Sued By Customer Over Alleged 'Bait-And-Switch' Tactics In Solar Panel Deal: Report

Why It Matters: Tesla's solar business, born out of its 2016 acquisition of SolarCity, installs rooftop photovoltaics, carport and ground-based solar energy systems.  

The solar business is reported within Tesla’s “Energy Generation and Storage” segment. The segment represented only 6% of Tesla’s fiscal 2020 revenues, but grew 30% year over year, according to a regulatory filing. Tesla deployed 3.02 GWh of energy storage products and 205 megawatts of solar energy systems in the year.

Tesla has installed solar panels at more than 240 Walmart Inc. WMT stores. Walmart filed a lawsuit against Telsa in August 2019, claiming that "no fewer than seven" stores have experienced a fire due to Tesla's solar panels. However, the companies settled their lawsuit in November 2019.

Price Action: Tesla shares closed 2.3% higher on Monday at $670.00, but declined 0.2% in the after-hours session.

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