Since nowadays there is a green energy trend, everyone is going for those solar panels and grids, right? And sure enough, that’s what a couple down there in Pennsylvania did, though, and they decided to go with the DIY off-grid solar kit option, and they installed it in their vacation home. But it turns out, after the installation, at some point, this solar kit malfunctioned and eventually burned down their vacation home entirely. This is pretty much the core of this Signature Solar Lawsuit, and since there is not much info about it online, we’re here to make things clear for you.
The Basic Background of the Case
Court documents indicated that the plaintiffs acquired a vacation home in Abaco, Bahamas, sometime around July 16, 2020. They intended to refurbish the house and so decided to install a solar battery system without connection to the grid to provide power to the property.
Plaintiffs say that they came across a DIY off-grid solar kit on the defendants’ Facebook page and decided to buy it. They made a total payment of $16,113.85 through wire transfer. There is an invoice around June 15, 2020, and the payment was made the next day, as per the records.
According to the complaint, the solar kit broke down seriously on October 15, 2021, and resulted in a fire. The fire, they say, completely destroyed the house and, therefore, they decided to sue the defendants. So yes, pretty much after that, they went ahead with it and it all became a legal mess that dragged this far and became a matter of thousands of dollars.
Claims Made Against Signature Solar
The plaintiffs in their complaint contend that the solar kit was unsafe and defective. Besides, they allege that certain written and implied promises concerning the product were not fulfilled.
Among the legal claims are negligence, strict product liability, breach of contract, and breach of warranties. In layman’s terms, the product was not only defective, the manufacturer/customer account was irresponsible, and the sale’s conditions were disregarded.
From a decently big company like this one, you don’t expect all this, and sure enough, whenever something like this happens, you either sort things out with them and if they don’t comply, no doubt you have to take the legal route.
Jurisdiction Dispute in Court
First, the court had to determine whether it had the right authority to handle the case before it could get to the real issues raised by the claims. This issue is called jurisdiction, and it was the first big disagreement between the parties.
The defendants claimed that the court in Pennsylvania federal district did not have personal jurisdiction over them. The court went over this matter before anything further was done.
Court Decision and Case Transfer
On February 5, 2024, Pennsylvania court delivered an opinion that the case be thrown out for lack of jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(2). However, the court did not totally terminate the case, but it rather weighed the option of transferring it.
Not long after, on February 20, 2024, the court completely threw out the case and commanded the case to be transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1631.
Afterward, the lawsuit was given a fresh docket number, 4:24-cv-00146, in the new court with the identical group of defendants still present.
Settlement Status
At present, there are no records of the amount of settlement or a settlement order that has been finalized in the public court documents. According to the information that is available, it is not clear if the parties have come to a settlement agreement. So, just consider this case an ongoing one where no settlement has reached so far, and if there is one, we’ll certainly update you with that info.
