Thousands of faulty home batteries remain installed in Australian homes, despite an ongoing nation-wide recall, a handful of reported incidents, and repeated warnings of fire risk.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said on Monday it is in the process of directly contacting thousands of households it believes to have “dangerous LG solar batteries,” as part of the ongoing recall effort.
The ACCC says the batteries, which may be branded LG, SolaX, Opal, Redback, Eguana, or VARTA, can overheat and catch fire, causing property damage and injuries.
“Unfortunately, since October 2019 there have been nine reported incidents involving these types of batteries in Australia resulting in property damage and one injury,” the notice says.
“We do not want to see any more incidents or injuries.”
Battery overheating problem grows
Originally, around 7,200 LG home batteries were recalled by the ACCC in Australia in March 2021, following a “voluntary” recall that itself had followed reports of “thermal events” in the US.
The ACCC then reissued the recall just over a year later, broadening the batteries involved to include the brand names SolaX Power or Opal and warning that nearly 6,500 faulty batteries were yet to be replaced.
In its update this week, the ACCC said about 2,900 batteries have been replaced or removed from consumers’ properties, while another 1,400 have been switched off or had their maximum charge capacity reduced.
But the notice says LG and SolaX are still trying to trace around 3,000 recalled batteries. Further, it notes that LG has advised the ACCC that it has identified about 10,000 additional batteries “at risk of overheating.”
To address the latter problem, the ACCC says LG proposes to install diagnostic software to identify and shut down dangerous batteries, which will then be replaced for free – a solution currently being assessed by electrical safety regulators.
“We remain very concerned”
“This recall has been updated twice to include new models, affected systems and dates of manufacture, so even if your battery was not recalled previously, you must check your battery’s serial number(link is external) again,” says ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard.
“We remain very concerned about the fire risks these faulty batteries pose, so please act quickly.”
As One Step Off The Grid reported in December of 2020, the South Korea-based company’s North American division issued a recall for the affected batteries in the US in November of that year.
The then-named LG Chem said at the time that it had received five reports of thermal events in the US causing “limited property damage,” but no reported injuries, and had undertaken the voluntary recall as part of a commitment to product safety and “highest quality and service” to customers.
In its notice this week, the ACCC advises consumers to turn affected batteries off, keep them off and contact the manufacturer for a free replacement or a refund.
It says LG will provide financial compensation to consumers who have higher electricity bills as a result of not being able to use their battery as expected.
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and deputy editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.
