Tempe solar company settles $350M lawsuit

TEMPE, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY, KSWT, AP)- A Tempe-based solar system production company has agreed to settle a $350 million lawsuit brought by investors who bought or acquired company shares between April 2008 and February 2012.

The First Solar Inc. agreement settles a lawsuit filed in 2012 in the U.S. District Court in Arizona, The Arizona Republic reported Tuesday.

The announcement comes Monday, a day before jury selection was scheduled to begin, officials said.

The lawsuit alleged that First Solar violated securities law by hiding a manufacturing defect causing rapid power loss from shareholders and by misrepresenting the cost and severity of the problem, law firm officials representing investors said.

Tens of thousands of individual investors and other institutions were affected, officials said.

The settlement won't include an admission of liability, wrongdoing or responsibility, company officials said.

First Solar expects the charge to be applied to its 2019 operations and statement of financial condition, officials said.