Renewable energy developer Swift Current Energy is suing First Solar in New York state court, alleging the manufacturer knowingly supplied defective solar modules and used deceptive testing to hide significant performance issues.
The complaint, filed in Sept. 2026, alleges that First Solar supplied over 2.4 million defective Series 6 Plus and Series 7 thin-film cadmium telluride modules across three major U.S. solar installations, including the 800 MW Double Black Diamond project in Illinois.
The developer states it paid more than $360 million for the equipment, which it claims has consistently failed to meet promised power output metrics.
According to the complaint, the modules experienced increased degradation and significantly lower-than-expected output immediately upon installation in 2023 and 2024. Swift Current says it initially submitted formal warranty claims on Dec. 23, 2024, after discovering the widespread underperformance.
First Solar formally responded on May 2, 2025, stating that the developer had not adequately described or provided evidence of the claimed defects, and noted that evaluating power output claims based on system-level performance data is invalid under the warranty terms.
The module maker requested that Swift Current coordinate with its technical support to conduct individual module power output measurements in a laboratory. Swift Current’s court filing called this proposed remedy “commercially impossible,” arguing it would require shipping more than 1.5 million modules back to First Solar at a cost exceeding the value of the claims.
In the complaint, Swift Current points to its inability to meet commitments to its commercial offtakers under power purchase agreements as a result of the power output loss.
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