A Yakima, Washington-based man has filed a compliant against Canadian Solar after 24 solar panels — a weight of nearly one ton — allegedly fell on top of him and caused him major bodily harm.
Patrick Gibbons has requested a trial by jury for the case in the Washington Eastern District Court. Co-plaintiffs on the complaint include Gibbons’ wife Lori and AG Products International, an agriculture marketing and analysis company owned by Gibbons. In the court filing, AG Products is described as “engaged in the business of brokering solar industry components, agrochemicals and food commodities.”
The accident happened in August 2023, after solar panels purchased by Gibbons and AG Products were being unloaded at Puterbaugh Farms, a hops grower in Yakima Valley that was constructing solar canopies on its property. Puterbaugh Farms, also known as Hops Direct, engaged with Gibbons and AG Products to purchase, deliver, unload, unpack and de-palletize the solar panels and instruct the farm’s staff on how to install the panels.
Gibbons purchased 155 Canadian Solar panels through distributor Surplus Solar Products. The 655-W BiHiKu7 bifacial panels were shipped to Puterbaugh Farms around Aug. 3 in five or six pallets.
Gibbons alleges that the pallets were arranged with 31 modules stacked vertically in portrait orientation. The court filing does not claim that Surplus Solar Products repackaged the Canadian Solar modules. He also alleges that Canadian Solar shipped solar panels vertically on pallets to “reduce shipping costs and increase shipping efficiency and capacity” from supply chain interruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Solar Power World reported around the same time that more companies were packaging panels vertically but in landscape orientation, ensuring weight was balanced on the panel’s longest side.
After the panels were delivered to the construction site, Gibbons claims he waited a few days to unpack them and read through Canadian Solar’s unpackaging instructions. The instructions “recognized the need for specialized stabilization equipment when unloading vertically palletized solar panels,” according to the court filing. Canadian Solar developed an “unpacking rack” that is prominent in unpacking diagrams and illustrations but failed to provide Gibbons with the device, nor warn him not to proceed without it, Gibbons claims.
On the day of the accident, Gibbons and an owner of Puterbaugh Farms removed seven panels from one pallet without incident. Gibbons then alleges he heard a “cracking” noise while standing near the vertical panels, and the remaining 24 panels fell on top of him. The BiHiKu7 panel’s data sheet is no longer listed on Canadian Solar’s website, but the company’s largest panels weigh an average of 80 lbs. each, which would mean that nearly 1,900 lbs. allegedly landed on Gibbons.
A Google Maps image of Puterbaugh Farms and its solar installations.
Puterbaugh Farms workers were able to lift enough panels to maneuver Gibbons out from underneath. He required immediate trauma care and was transported to a nearby hospital. Gibbons suffered severe injuries, including internal bleeding, bladder damage and a pelvis fracture, according to the court filing. He spent five days in an intensive care unit, and underwent operations placing nine bone screws and a steel plate, according to the filing.
The Gibbons legal team engaged an expert in “wood crate and pallet design and construction,” who determined that the packaging used to ship the solar panels was defective, claiming the lumber used in the pallets was of inferior quality and nails were too narrow and too short.
The court filing concludes that the packaging system was defective and unstable, and the warnings and instructions provided by Canadian Solar were inadequate. Gibbons is seeking damages for medical care, loss of income, physical pain, emotional distress and disability.
In emails included as exhibits to the court filing, Gibbons discusses Canadian Solar’s shipping and handling procedures with a Canadian Solar employee, requesting that the solar panels be palletized horizontally, calling them “tipsy while unloading.” That email exchange is dated Aug. 21, allegedly 10 days after the accident.
Solar Power World has reached out to the associated parties for comment and will report back with any statements.