The Court authorized the notice because you had a right to know about a Settlement in a class action lawsuit involving BP solar panels and your options, before the Court decided whether to give final approval to the Settlement. The Long Form Notice, available for download here, explains the lawsuit, the Settlement, the benefits available, and your legal rights.

The Honorable Susan Illston of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California is overseeing this case. The case is known as Michael Allagas, et al. v. BP Solar International, Inc., et al., Case No. 3:14-cv-00560-SI. The people who sued are called the Plaintiffs, and the companies they sued are called Defendants. The Defendants in this case are: BP Solar International, Inc. and Home Depot U.S.A., Inc.

The lawsuit claims that the BP solar panels manufactured with S-type junction boxes are defective and prone to premature failure, do not generate the expected level of power, and create a potential fire hazard. The Defendants deny these claims. The photos below show examples of failed panels.

Clockwise from upper left: burn mark and shattered glass on front of panel; burnt junction box on back of panel; junction box damage on back of panel; and burn mark (without shattered glass) on front of panel.

The solar panels included in this Settlement are called “Class Panels.” Class Panels include all BP solar panels manufactured between 1999 and 2007 with an S-type junction box. This includes the model numbers listed below.

Please note: a new model number has been added, BP365TS, which was manufactured 2005-2007.

Category 1 (“FDK+ Panels”) 

(If the model number has an asterisk, it means that some of those panels are in Category 2. If you have one of those model numbers, the Claims Administrator can help you determine which Category your panels belong to.)

Category 2 (“Non-FDK+ Panels”)

All other BP solar panels manufactured between 1999 and 2007 with an S-type junction box which are not included in Category 1, including the following model numbers:

The claims period for Category 2 panels was extended. Claims with Category 2 panels filed through July 21, 2020 were honored.

This Settlement does not cover BP solar panels without the S-type junction box, which BP stopped using in 2007 at the latest. These solar panels look very similar to the Class Panels included in the Settlement, but are different products. If you don’t know whether your BP product is included in this Settlement, contact the Claims Administrator at 1-844-360-2767 for help.

In a class action, one or more people called “class representatives” sue on behalf of themselves and other people with similar claims. The class representatives and those with similar claims are referred to as the “settlement class” or “settlement class members.” In this Settlement, the Class Representatives are Michael Allagas, Brett Mohrman, Arthur Ray, and Brian Dickson. One court resolves the issues for all members of the Settlement Class, except for those who exclude themselves from the Settlement Class.

The Court did not decide in favor of the Plaintiffs or the Defendants. Instead, both sides agreed to a Settlement. By agreeing to the Settlement, the Parties avoided the costs and uncertainty of a trial, and the people affected got a chance to receive replacement or removal of their Class Panels. The Class Representatives and their attorneys think the Settlement is best for all Settlement Class Members. The Settlement does not mean that the Court has determined that Defendants have done anything wrong.

You are included in the Settlement and deemed a Settlement Class Member if you purchased Class Panels for initial installation on a property, or you acquired a property on which Class Panels had first been installed, and, in either case, you currently own some or all of those Panels.

“Property” means any structure, including but not limited to homes, townhouses, condominiums, apartments, multi-unit housing structures, hotels, motels, hospitals, schools, churches or other places of worship, commercial structures, government structures, homes within a homeowners association or other similar entities, other types of buildings (e.g., guest houses, garages, workshops, sheds, hangers), or other structures of any kind, whether commercial or residential (including permanent or temporary residential structures), or any improvement to real property.

The Settlement Class does not include the Defendants or any entity in which a Defendant owns a controlling interest and their legal representatives, heirs, and successors.  The Settlement Class also does not include the judge or judges to whom this case is assigned and their immediate family members.

The BP solar panel model number is located on the sticker affixed to the back of the solar panel. This information may also be contained in your purchase agreement or other documentation. Additional information about determining whether your Panels are BP panels can be obtained by emailing info@BPSolarSettlement.com or calling the toll-free number 1-844-360-2767.

If you would like to enter into commercial negotiation with BP regarding your Class Panels, please email info@BPSolarSettlement.com stating that you would like to participate in the settlement.

No. The Settlement Class is defined as all persons or entities or entities in the United States (a) who purchased Class Panels for initial installation on a property or who purchased properties on which Class Panels had first been installed, and (b) who currently own some or all of those Panels. Based on the definition of the Class, if you have already removed and disposed of your Class Panels, you may not file a claim for reimbursement as part of this Settlement.

Yes, you may file a claim. In order to receive compensation, you must surrender possession of all panels for which you are receiving compensation. All Class Panels must be surrendered to an Approved Remediation Contractor for disposal at a qualified waste disposal facility in compliance with all laws.

If you are not sure whether you are included in the Settlement, you may call 1-844-360-2767 with questions or read the Long Form Notice, which is available for download here. You may also write with questions to info@BPSolarSettlement.com.

Common Fund for Category 1 (FDK+ Panels)

A Common Settlement Fund has been established to pay for the removal and disposal of Class Panels that fall into Category 1 (FDK+ Panels) (see Question 3 above). The Defendants paid $45.33 million into the Settlement Fund. Settlement administration costs, notice costs, attorney fees and costs, and any court-approved payments to the Settlement Class Representatives come out of this fund (see Question 27).

• The Net Settlement Fund is available to compensate Settlement Class Members. Labor will be provided by approved licensed contractors.

• If it is determined that additional costs, such as construction permits and/or a new inverter, are required by law to replace your system (under your local building code), you will be required to pay those costs. Three years into the program, an annual assessment will be made to determine whether there are sufficient funds to reimburse some or all necessary out-of-pocket costs. Reimbursement is not guaranteed.

• All Class Panel removal and disposal will be paid for by the Settlement. Once the Class Panels have been removed, you will receive payment up to the rate of $2.35 per watt removed, minus the removal and disposal costs.

Large Non-Residential Customers

A large non-residential class member (LNR Class Member) is a class member that owns a non-residential photovoltaic system that includes Class Panels and, in total, is comprised of 400 or more modules of any kind. If a LNR Class Member has not yet requested commercial negotiation, then any rights under the Settlement have expired. LNR Class Members' warranty rights under BP's applicable Warranty Certificate remain undisturbed.

If it is determined that you are entitled to compensation for all or some of your Category 1 Class Panels, an approved contractor will remove and dispose of the Class Panels.

All Settlement Class Members will need to submit a Claim Form to receive benefits. Claim Forms are available for download here. Please submit your Claim Form as soon as possible; priority in scheduling will be based on the order in which Claim Forms are received. Please read the instructions carefully, fill out the Claim Form, submit the completed Claim Form to info@BPSolarSettlement.com. You can also submit a Claim Form online.

All Settlement Class Members will need to submit a Claim Form to receive benefits. Please be sure to list all model numbers, if known, in question B.3 of the Claim Form. Your Claim will be evaluated based on the type of Panels you are determined to have in your PV system. Please email info@BPSolarSettlement.com or call 1-844-360-2767 for more information.

The claims period for both the Common Fund and the Claims Made Program began on February 6, 2017. Please see below for additional details concerning each claim category:

• Category 1: claims will be processed until the Common Fund is depleted. While there is no firm claim submission deadline for Category 1 claims, you are encouraged to submit claims as soon as possible. This is true for claims involving BP365TS panels as well.
• Category 2: claims for Category 2 panels had to be submitted by July 21, 2020.

Claims will be processed in the order received. You will receive a notice in writing identifying any deficiencies with your claim and instructions for resolving any such deficiencies. Once your claim is determined to be complete, and if you have provided information demonstrating that you are member of the Settlement Class, your claim will be promptly assigned for Initial Inspection of your Class Panels by an Approved Inspector. The Approved Inspector will contact you directly to schedule a mutually agreed upon date and time for your inspection. After the results of your inspection are received and processed, you will be sent a Notice of Claim Decision advising you of the status of your claim and any next steps. If your claim has been approved for remediation, your claim will be assigned to an Approved Remediation Contractor to schedule a mutually agreed upon time for the work to take place.

Unless you “opted out” or excluded yourself, you are included in the Settlement. This allows you to obtain the Settlement benefits described above, but requires that you give up your right to separately sue anyone, including but not limited to the Defendants, for any claims being resolved by this Settlement, specifically, any claims related to alleged junction box failure or defect in the Class Panels, including any alleged property damage caused by the Class Panels. This includes all claims relating to the design, manufacturing, materials used, testing performed, warnings provided, marketing, advertising, sale, installation, instructions, performance or any failure to perform (including energy production or lack of energy savings or production), including any defect or warranty claim, as more fully described in Section XII of the Settlement Agreement. Personal injury claims, however, are released only if they arose or arise after you receive full replacement of all your Class Panels, or installation of a new inverter with arc fault protection. Category 1 Class Members give up all of their rights to file suit on any of these claims in the future.

Section XII of the Settlement Agreement describes the released claims in more detail, so read it carefully. The Settlement Agreement is available for download here. If you have any questions you can talk to the law firms listed in Question 26 for free or you can, if you wish, talk to your own lawyer at your own expense if you have questions about what this means.

Immediately following the Effective Date of the Settlement on January 23, 2017, BP transferred responsibility to the ICA for administration of the resolution of any warranty claims submitted prior to January 23, 2017, where:

1. a settlement arrangement had not been reached between BP and the Pending Warranty Claimant as of January 23, 2017; or
2. all compensation agreed to between BP and the Pending Warranty Claimant had not been paid as of January 23, 2017.

If you agreed to a settlement amount to be paid, the ICA administered that settlement, as agreed upon, providing compensation at the times and in the amounts agreed with the Class Member out of the Common Fund Trust Account or Claims Made Trust Account, as applicable. However, no Class Member was entitled to additional remedies or compensation duplicative of that administered by BP prior to January 23, 2017.

After the transfer, the ICA contacted all pending warranty claimants by telephone, email and/or letter to advise them that their Pending Warranty Claim was being resolved by the ICA per the terms of the Settlement. Pending warranty claimants did not need to file a class action claim form.

If you did not want the benefits from this Settlement, and you wanted to keep the right to sue the Defendants or anyone else about the issues in this case, then you had to exclude yourself from, or “opted out” of, the Settlement Class by mailing a letter or other written document to the Claims Administrator. The deadline to exclude yourself from the Settlement Class has passed. Exclusion requests had to be postmarked no later than November 28, 2016.

No. Unless you excluded yourself, you gave up the right to sue anyone, including but not limited to Defendants, for the claims that this Settlement resolves. See Question 18 for a description of the claims you are giving up by staying in the Settlement.

No. You will not get benefits if you excluded yourself from the Settlement.

If you are a Settlement Class Member and did not opt out, you could have objected to the Settlement if you did not like some part of it. The deadline to object to the Settlement has passed. To object, you had to mail an objection letter to the Court, the ICA, Class Counsel, and Defendants' Representatives, postmarked by November 28, 2016.

Objecting is telling the Court that you don’t like something about the Settlement. You can object only if you don’t exclude yourself from the Settlement Class. Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you don’t want to be part of the Settlement Class. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because the case no longer affects you. 

Yes, the Court has appointed the following to represent all Settlement Class Members as “Class Counsel:” 

You will not be charged for contacting these lawyers. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.

At the Fairness Hearing on December 22, 2016, the Court approved Class Counsel's request for attorneys’ fees of up to $11 million, plus reimbursement for costs and expenses up to $600,000, for a total of $11.6 million. Of this, $9.6 million was paid from the Common Fund, and $2 million was paid from the Claims Made Settlement Fund. (The $2 million paid from the Claims Made Settlement Fund is in addition to the $20 million maximum amount Defendants are contributing to pay for Settlement benefits to Category 2 claims.)

The Court also approved Counsel's request for a special service award to be paid to each of the Settlement Class Representative for their service to the Settlement Class as follows: $7,500 each to Michael Allagas, Arthur Ray, Brett Mohrman from the Common Settlement Fund, and $3,500 to Brian Dickson from the Claims Made Settlement Fund.

No. Class Counsel attended the Fairness Hearing on behalf of the Class, although you were welcome to attend at your own expense. If you sent an objection, you did not have to come to Court to talk about it. You could also have hired a lawyer to attend, but it was not required. 

You could have asked the Court for permission to speak at the Fairness Hearing. If you objected and intended to request permission to speak, that request should have been included in your written objection (see Question 24).

If it is determined that you may possess Class Panels, your claim will be assigned to an Approved Inspector will arrange an inspection who will contact you to schedule an Initial Inspection at a mutually agreed upon time.

No.

No, you will not have to pay for the Initial Inspection.

An Approved Inspector will contact you within approximately 20 business days (i.e. four weeks) to schedule an Initial Inspection.

An Approved Inspector may not yet be available in your area.  As soon as an inspector has been assigned, their service team will contact you to schedule the inspection.

No.  However, you will need to complete an Absentee / Designee Form if you will not be present during the inspection.  If you are unable to be present or would like to have a designee be present during the Initial Inspection, please coordinate this with the Approved Inspector.  Please note that designees must be at least 18 years old.  If you or your designee won’t be present during the Initial Inspection, you will be able to view and sign your inspection checklist electronically.

The inspector will determine whether and how many solar panels in the PV system meet the definition of a Class Panel, and if so, whether they are FDK+ or non-FDK+ Panels.  The Inspector will visually inspect and document failed panels and any special conditions that may be a factor in your overall PV System performance. You can review the claims protocol for more details about the inspector’s instructions during the inspection.

A copy of the completed checklist will be provided upon request. Please email your request to info@BPSolarSettlement.com and allow approximately two business days for your request to be processed.

Only an Approved Remediation Contractor can remove and dispose of your panels. The settlement will cover the cost of removal and disposal. Any replacement costs will have to be paid by you.

No. you may choose any model or brand of panel to replace your Class Panels. You will receive a cash payment of $2.35 per watt, less removal and disposal costs (estimated to be $0.75 per watt), to retain your own contractor for the replacement work (or forgo replacing Class Panels). An Approved Remediation Contractor must remove and dispose of the Class Panels at a qualified waste disposal facility in compliance with all laws.

The Approved Inspector needs to be able to inspect your PV system. If you are concerned about potential property damage resulting from an inspection, please discuss your concerns with the Approved Inspector prior to your appointment.

If an unsafe condition is identified during the Inspection, the inspector will notify you of the condition. The scope of the Initial Inspection is limited to identifying and documenting Class Panels and does not include any alterations to the PV system. It is always best to err on the side of caution. If you decide to make changes to your PV system, that work is outside the purview of the settlement. However, you may decide to hire the Approved Inspector to correct any immediate issues with your PV system that are outside the scope of the settlement. To maintain eligibility under the settlement, failed Class Panels must be surrendered to the Approved Contractor for disposal. If panels are removed from the roof to eliminate an unsafe condition, they must be surrendered to the Approved Contractor for disposal in accordance with the Settlement.

As a Claimant, you have 10 days from the date on the Notice of Claim Decision to object. Your Claim Objection must be made in writing and sent to info@BPSolarSettlement.com. You should include any supporting documentation and materials you wish to be considered. If the Objection is not resolved, either you (acting on your own behalf or through Class Counsel) or Defendants’ Representatives may submit the disputed matter to the Special Master as provided in Section V(A)(2) of the Settlement Agreement.

Although serial numbers and bar codes are helpful in identifying and tracking Class Panels, your claim will be administered your claim using any other available information regarding your panels if these identifiers are absent or difficult to read. If you have supporting documentation from the time of purchase or subsequent service calls that identifies the model, serial, barcode numbers or other information that will aid in identifying your panels, please submit promptly to info@BPSolarSettlement.com.

If you have FDK+ panels, they are automatically subject to settlement relief.

To the extent that you have time remaining on your BP warranty, at the end of the Claims Period you may contact BP’s warranty department to submit a warranty claim.

Once the initial inspection is complete and it is determined that you have qualifying Class Panels, removal and disposal will follow and you will receive any payment thereafter. This process could take approximately 60 business days after you receive your Notice of Claim Decision.

No. Per the terms of the Settlement, all Class Panels must be removed and disposed of by an Approved Remediation Contractor at a qualified waste disposal facility in compliance with all laws. You will not receive compensation until you surrender possession of all Class Panels.

No. The Parties, the ICA, the Common Fund Trust Account and Claims Made Trust Account are not subject to any responsibility, warranty or obligation for the performance or maintenance of the inverter, or for ongoing operations of the inverter, including, without limitation, to test or check any trips or faults.

If your existing PV system is compatible with these components, then replacement panels will not alter that ability to use or make these types of additions to your PV system.

A Court authorized the mailing of a new notice because you had the right to know about a proposed modification to the Settlement Agreement of a class action lawsuit involved BP solar panels and your options before the Court decides whether or not to give final approval to the proposed modification of the Settlement Agreement. The new notice explained the lawsuit in general, the proposed modification, the benefits available, and your legal rights.

The Settlement Agreement was modified to include a new BP Solar panel model number in the list of model numbers eligible under this Settlement.  That new model number is the BP365TS integrated roofing panel. The Court approved the modification to the Settlement Agreement (Modified Settlement) on July 23, 2020. All BP365TS panels manufactured 2005-2007 are covered by this class action settlement.

If you're not sure whether your solar panels are included in the settlement, modified or otherwise, call 1-844-360-2767 for help.

The Court did not decide in favor of the Plaintiffs or the Defendants. Instead, both sides agreed to a modification of the original Settlement Agreement. By agreeing to this modification, the Parties avoided the costs and uncertainty of a trial, and the people affected got a chance to receive replacement or removal of their BP365TS panels. The Class Representatives and their attorneys think that this modification was best for all Settlement Class Members. This modification does not mean that the Court has determined that Defendants have done anything wrong.

You are included in the Modified Settlement and deemed a Settlement Class Member if you purchased BP365TS Panels for initial installation on a property, or you acquired a property on which BP365TS Panels had first been installed, and, in either case, you currently own some or all of those BP365TS Panels.

A Settlement Fund has been established to pay for the removal and disposal of BP365TS Panels that fall into Category 1, which includes BP365TS Panels manufactured between 2005-2007. The Settlement Fund will be available to pay to remove the BP365TS panels and compensate Settlement Class Members. All Class Panel removal and disposal will be handled by licensed contractors.

Section XII of the Settlement Agreement describes the released claims in more detail, so read it carefully. The Settlement Agreement and Modified Settlement are available online at www.BPSolarSettlement.com. If you have any questions you can talk to the law firms listed in Question 26 for free or you can, if you wish, talk to your own lawyer at your own expense if you have questions about what this means.

The procedure to obtain benefits for those persons who possess BP365TS panels is no different than that of any other member of this Settlement They must submit a Claim Form to receive benefits. Please see Question 14 above for details on how to obtain said Claim Form. As with other Class Panels, those who possess eligible BP365TS panels may receive a cash payout on the basis of $4.50 per watt removed. Please call 1-844-360-2767 for further details.

No. If you did not exclude yourself by the deadline of May 28, 2020, you are bound by the Modified Settlement, and you gave up the right to sue Defendants for the claims that this Modified Settlement resolves. If you have a pending lawsuit, you should speak to your lawyer in that lawsuit immediately. You had to excluded yourself from this Class to continue your own lawsuit.

The deadline to exclude yourself or “opt out” from the Modified Settlement was May 28, 2020, and has now passed.

No. Unless you excluded yourself, you gave up the right to sue anyone, including but not limited to Defendants, for the claims that the Modified Settlement resolves.

No. You will not get benefits if you excluded yourself from the Modified Settlement.

The deadline to object to the Modified Settlement was May 28, 2020, and has now passed.

Yes, the Court approved the Modified Settlement. A copy of the Court's Order is also available on the Court Documents page.

No. Class Counsel answered any questions the Court had. However, you were welcome to attend at your own expense. If you sent an objection, you did not have to come to Court to talk about it. You could also have hired a lawyer to attend, but it was not required.

You could have asked the Court for permission to speak at the Fairness Hearing. If you objected and intended to request permission to speak, you had to include that request in your written objection.