SolarWorld Recalls Solar Systems with Copper Grounding Lugs Due to Electrocution, Electric Shock or Fire Hazard
Home product recall 14-260. Announced by CPSC on Aug 21, 2014.
Watch and the shortlist are kept with a free account, on every device. Your watch list. CPSC’s own notice is on cpsc.gov.
The short answer
Announced by CPSC on Aug 21, 2014. Copied from CPSC on Oct 19, 2026.
- Repair what’s offered
- About 1.3 million in the U.S. and 210,000 in Canada units, as CPSC gives them
- None injuries, CPSC’s notice says
Every line below is in CPSC’s own words, with its source beside it.
What’s wrong with it?
SolarWorld solar panels installed with bare-copper grounding lugs can corrode which could result in a faulty ground circuit, posing an electric shock, electrocution or fire hazard.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
What should you do?
Customers may be able to identify from the ground whether a tin-coated lug (silver) or a bare-copper lug (brown) has been used on their solar panels. Consumers who can identify the improper lugs should contact SolarWorld for replacement. If customers cannot determine which grounding lugs were used, they should contact SolarWorld to have an authorized SolarWorld agent inspect the installation and replace the lugs with tin-coated grounding lugs or equally safe alternative remedy at no cost to consumers. SolarWorld is requesting that distributors and others remove SolarWorld’s installation instructions dated before June 2014 from their websites or other commercial information sources.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
- What the company offers to fix a recalled product or vehicle: a repair, a replacement or a refund, as the recall notice says. For a vehicle, dealers make the safety repair free. Follow the notice’s own steps, or contact the company it names. Source: CPSC; NHTSA (49 U.S.C. 30120).: repair.
- How to reach the firm: Contact SolarWorld toll-free at (877) 360-1787 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT Monday through Friday or online at www.solarworld-usa.com and click on the “Product Safety” tab for more information.
Which ones are recalled?
This recall includes SolarWorld solar systems installed with bare-copper grounding lugs installed after June 1, 2010. These solar systems use energy from the sun to generate electricity within a system circuit. The installation instructions for SolarWorld solar systems sold after June 1, 2010 called for the use of GBL-4DB lugs for grounding. SolarWorld has revised these installation instructions to explicitly call for tin-coated lugs, specifically Ilsco part number GBL-4DBT. “T” is for tin-coated and indicated by the silver color of the lug.
About 1.3 million in the U.S. and 210,000 in Canada units, as CPSC gives them.
SolarWorld Solar Systems.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
CPSC’s photos
CPSC shows 4 photos on its notice. Hearth Record doesn’t copy them; each opens on cpsc.gov.
Who made and sold it?
- Distributed by SolarWorld Americas, Camarillo, California, a subsidiary of SolarWorld AG, of Bonn, Germany.
- SolarWorld installers and distributors, or other distribution companies from June 2011 to June 2014 for about $1,000 to $10,000 depending on system size.
- Made in United States, as the notice gives it.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
Was anyone hurt?
The firm has received one report of corrosion related to the bare copper lugs. No injuries have been reported.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
What the record doesn’t say
- The notice lists no UPCs, so check the model, the description and the photos.
- The notice lists no model numbers in a field of their own; its description may give them.
- How many have been returned or fixed isn’t in the notice.
Hearth Record wrote these lines.
Sources
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U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Recalls API.
Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily. Public domain (U.S. Government work). CPSC asks to be credited, and that no endorsement be implied.
Recalls of kids’ and home products are from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). CPSC does not endorse Hearth Record. Copied on Oct 19, 2026.