Attorney Robert J. Nelson of the national plaintiffs’ law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, announced today the settlement of consumer claims relating to allegedly defective solar panels manufactured and sold by BP Solar and Home Depot. The Settlement has been well-received: close to 900 claims have been filed since preliminary approval was granted in September 2016, and no class member has objected to the Settlement terms. Information on the settlement is available on the BP Solar Panel settlement website.

Plaintiffs alleged that the BP solar panels at issue were substantially certain to fail within their warranted lives due to an inherent defect in the junction box, the small casing on the back of the panel where soldered output cable connections are housed. Settlement Class Members with certain higher failure rate models, or with high failure rates in their arrays, will be eligible for complete replacement of their solar panels. Others will receive replacement of failed panels and a new inverter with advanced safety technology. Owners of large, non-residential systems will be entitled to a mediated commercial negotiation with BP, with extended opt-out rights. The Settlement thus helps eliminate any danger associated with these panels – either the allegedly faulty panels are removed or a state-of-the art inverter is installed.

“We are very pleased that after extensive litigation and strenuous negotiations, the parties were able to reach a settlement that provides significant and substantial relief valued at more than $67 million,” said Mr. Nelson, who helped negotiate the deal. “The Settlement eliminates all the uncertainty and risk in this complex class action matter, extends relief to a nationwide class, and provides that meaningful relief now, rather than the mere hope of relief many years in the future.”

Plaintiffs are represented by

Richard M. Heimann
Robert J. Nelson
Nimish R. Desai
John T. Spragens
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP
275 Battery Street, 29th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94111-3339

David M. Birka-White
Mindy M. Wong
Birka-White Law Offices
65 Oak Court
Danville, CA 94526

About Lieff Cabraser

Recognized as “one of the nation’s premier plaintiffs’ firms” by The American Lawyer, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP is a seventy-attorney law firm with offices in San Francisco, New York, Nashville, and Seattle. We are committed to achieving justice for consumers, employees, patients, investors, and business owners; promoting safer products and fair competition; protecting our environment; assisting individuals blow the whistle on fraud; safeguarding the rights of patent and copyright holders; and remedying violations of the civil rights of citizens worldwide.

Visit us at www.lieffcabraser.com or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.