NEWS: As a solar array atop a Los Angeles warehouse burns, energy pros are stressing the dangers of aging panels.

The context: A 500K-square-foot frozen-food storage facility has burned for a week, polluting the air in a working-class neighborhood and challenging firefighters.

The spark: The fire likely started when the solar array’s owner, Altus Power, was running tests, building operator Lineage Logistics said. (The solar array doesn’t directly power the warehouse, but sends electricity to the city's grid.) In 2024, a smaller rooftop fire broke out at the same warehouse.

The lesson: “America’s first generation of commercial solar assets is aging,” Cesar Barbosa, CEO of solar repair company NuLife, wrote on LinkedIn. Now, he’s urging the industry to pay more attention to what happens after installation: inspection, maintenance, and lifecycle planning.