Misleading BI article about Solar panel fires (out of main)

[schonelucht]

Business insider is out with an article about faaukty amphenon H4 connnectors used by SolarCity and a secret project Titan to replace them. The faulty connectors are a fire hazard and Some of them were used af Walmart sites. Last year, Tesla initiated 'Project Titan' — a stealth nationwide program to replace solar panel parts that could cause fires

1/ is the connection with Walmart lawsuit as obvious at its seem and does that then indeed mean there is an increased fire risk associated with some SolarCity installations
?
2/ why is the remedy a ‘secret project’ instead of a quick and public recall
3/ why isn’t Tesla holding the supplier of this faulty part accountable? Or is Tesla?

Mod: Please note that despite the title, the article itself specifically says that the faulty part does not contribute a fire risk. --ggr.

 

[SPadival]

Don’t click on the link above in schonky’s post. It’s a Linette “2 months in a quarter” Lopez article

Business insider is out with an article about faaukty amphenon H4 connnectors used by SolarCity and a secret project Titan to replace them. The faulty connectors are a fire hazard and Some of them were used af Walmart sites. Last year, Tesla initiated 'Project Titan' — a stealth nationwide program to replace solar panel parts that could cause fires

1/ is the connection with Walmart lawsuit as obvious at its seem and does that then indeed mean there is an increased fire risk associated with some SolarCity installations
?
2/ why is the remedy a ‘secret project’ instead of a quick and public recall
3/ why isn’t Tesla holding the supplier of this faulty part accountable? Or is Tesla?

 

[LN1_Casey]

2/ why is the remedy a ‘secret project’ instead of a quick and public recall

Because undoubtedly it would have painted all of Tesla as a Fire Hazard company, regardless of the fact that it wasn't actually them. Better to fix it and be quiet about it than let the bears and CNBC lie aboout things.

 

[tinm]

Business insider is out with an article about faaukty amphenon H4 connnectors used by SolarCity and a secret project Titan to replace them. The faulty connectors are a fire hazard and Some of them were used af Walmart sites. Last year, Tesla initiated 'Project Titan' — a stealth nationwide program to replace solar panel parts that could cause fires

1/ is the connection with Walmart lawsuit as obvious at its seem and does that then indeed mean there is an increased fire risk associated with some SolarCity installations
?
2/ why is the remedy a ‘secret project’ instead of a quick and public recall
3/ why isn’t Tesla holding the supplier of this faulty part accountable? Or is Tesla?

Why the heck would Tesla use Apple’s already well-known secret EV project name for a project name?

It would be something if it turns out Tesla deliberately planted the Titan name to see Lopez run with it only later for her to learn that wasn’t actually the project’s name.

 

[schonelucht]

One bad scenario would be that SolarCity indeed used these faulty connectors in a small number of sites but did not correctly detail which sites exactly used what connectors. In that case the supplier would be liable for replacing and installing the faulty connectors but probably not for inspecting sites to find out what kind of connector they use.

It would explain why Walmart is seeing a disproportionate fire risk compared to other SolarCity customers, it would explain why Tesla can’t announce a public recall (they simply do not have the crew anymore to inspect sites). It also is consistent with a company in extreme growth modus like early SolarCity not always having the time to take of mundane tasks like proper auditing and documenting.

 

[schonelucht]

It would be something if it turns out Tesla deliberately planted the Titan name to see Lopez run with it only later for her to learn that wasn’t actually the project’s name.

That would then be indeed the best outcome. But why would Tesla plant a story that implies it isn’t recalling a connector with an increased fire risk?

 

[carterm2]

BI sucks. They will mislead, and deserve a libel class action from investors.

 

[wipster]

Business insider is out with an article about faaukty amphenon H4 connnectors used by SolarCity and a secret project Titan to replace them. The faulty connectors are a fire hazard and Some of them were used af Walmart sites. Last year, Tesla initiated 'Project Titan' — a stealth nationwide program to replace solar panel parts that could cause fires

1/ is the connection with Walmart lawsuit as obvious at its seem and does that then indeed mean there is an increased fire risk associated with some SolarCity installations
?
2/ why is the remedy a ‘secret project’ instead of a quick and public recall
3/ why isn’t Tesla holding the supplier of this faulty part accountable? Or is Tesla?

Note who wrote the article...

 

[MarcusMaximus]

Business insider is out with an article about faaukty amphenon H4 connnectors used by SolarCity and a secret project Titan to replace them. The faulty connectors are a fire hazard and Some of them were used af Walmart sites. Last year, Tesla initiated 'Project Titan' — a stealth nationwide program to replace solar panel parts that could cause fires

1/ is the connection with Walmart lawsuit as obvious at its seem and does that then indeed mean there is an increased fire risk associated with some SolarCity installations
?
2/ why is the remedy a ‘secret project’ instead of a quick and public recall
3/ why isn’t Tesla holding the supplier of this faulty part accountable? Or is Tesla?

I have yet to see a Linette Lopez article that didn’t contain numerous falsehoods. Remember when she claimed Tesla was skipping a necessary safety test on the Model 3, and then it turned out that test is actually a shortcut for a much more in depth test they were doing? Or when Sheryl Crow’s Model 3 screen was black and Lopez came out with an article mocking Elon’s suggestion that the brightness might be turned down(which ended up being the case), and only updated the article much later to remove any reference to any solution? Or the supposedly huge amount of scrap from Model 3 production?

If I see her name attached to any report, my immediate assumption is that it’s false.

 

[Foghat]

Note who wrote the article...

It is also interesting the reddit “whistleblower” post specifically mentioned the exact thing in their post 220 days ago and gave a warning to investors to sell their stock because of it. Oh this warning came after she/he instructed people to google “Walmart fires.” Again this was nearly eight moths ago.

Hmmm...

 

[StealthP3D]

If I see her name attached to any report, my immediate assumption is that it’s false.

Not only false but deliberately deceiving. It's so bad her employer must want her to create negative news, otherwise, she would be out of a job.

 

[mongo]

Why the heck would Tesla use Apple’s already well-known secret EV project name for a project name?

It would be something if it turns out Tesla deliberately planted the Titan name to see Lopez run with it only later for her to learn that wasn’t actually the project’s name.

Phonetics: it's Project Tighten /joke

Tesla’s main grievance is that panels haven’t been re-energised after safety inspection. That is addressed in the statement. Also, Tesla will lose money until the panels start producing electricity.


“re-energizing Tesla solar installations at Walmart stores, once all parties are certain that all concerns have been addressed.”

Enh, part of Tesla's grievance was Walmart would not agree to the concerns Walmart had already approved (inspections and such). So I read this and think, Walmart is concerned about many things that have nothing to do with Tesla...

Let me get this straight. Fred who worked at SolarCity and Tesla as counsel for litigation until 2017 is one of the chief lawyers who is representing Walmart ?

Is this ethical ?

Or who is the opposing position ? Walmart or Tesla ?

Fred is on Tesla's side, Walmart filed first.

 

[KarenRei]

Business Insider Hit piece out this morning by Linette Lopez

Synopsis: Tesla has been installing faulty solar roof parts which are responsible for the fires at Walmart, and has been secretly replacing all of them under a stealth project called “Titan”.

“In the summer of 2018, Tesla initiated a massive undertaking - a stealth replacement of solar-panel parts across the US. It was called Project Titan, Business Insider has learned.

The faulty parts in question were connectors - Amphenol H4 connectors - and SolarEdge optimizers. These parts are supposed to regulate the flow of energy and heat to a solar panel, ensuring that as much power goes through the part as possible without overheating. Overheating can lead to a fire.”

Nafnlaus on Twitter

(FYI, said part has not in any way been associated with any of the Walmart fires, which are reportedly due to different causes from each other - on a collection of solar systems that have collectively generated more than 600 GWh over their lifespan thusfar (p.2 sec. A), and good luck generating 600GWh by any means without having some incidents)

 

[SPadival]

I simply tweeted at Linette - "Tim Apple called. He wants his 'project Titan' back"