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A recall of certain LG, SolaX Power And Opal Storage battery systems is ongoing, with thousands of at-risk units still to be replaced says the ACCC.

First, a bit of background.

In late 2020, LG Energy Solution implemented a voluntary recall in the USA after several reports of fires associated with certain LG Chem RESU 10H residential energy storage systems.

Then in February last year, a recall notice was published on the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s (ACCC’s) Product Safety Australia web site for various LG battery models and battery packs with cells manufactured between March 2017 and September 2018 from certain production lots. At that point, 479 units in Australia were affected by the recall.

In late March this year, a new recall notice went up on the Product Safety Australia web site in relation other brands using affected LG battery packs – SolaX (X-cabinet, PowerStation) and Opal Storage (rebadged SolaX). This wasn’t a recall that could be ignored – affected units may overheat and cause a fire.

The scale of the issue wasn’t clear at the time, but it turns out around 7,200 battery systems were impacted. Considering 140,000 battery systems had been installed in Australia up to the end of last year, it’s a significant chunk of the total tally.

On Friday, the ACCC expressed serious concern that 6,400 of the recalled batteries have not been replaced, and owners may not be aware of the recall and the fire risk.

“These batteries have already caused injury and fire damage to properties and could lead to serious injuries or death,” ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said. “Consumers who identify they have an LG energy storage battery under recall are urged to immediately contact LG to discuss next steps, including a free replacement when available.”

Owners of affected systems wishing to switch off their battery should follow their instruction manual for shutdown procedures or contact their installer or LG/SolaX Power for advice.

In the interim while replacement batteries become available, among the measures LG has implemented to reduce risks for owners is to drop the maximum state of charge of an affected system to 75 per cent. In cases where battery systems are connected to the internet, LG has been able to do this remotely. In other cases, this needs to be performed on-site by a qualified technician.

LG battery owners should see instructions on this page on how to identify an affected system. It’s a two-step process; first gathering the required serial number information and then submitting those details to LG via a form. For any questions or further information required, the ACCC advises contacting LG Energy Solution Australia’s product department via phone on 1300 677 273 or email at [email protected]

SolaX/Opal Storage owners are urged to immediately contact SolaX Power by email at [email protected] or by telephone on 1300 476 529 for assistance in determining if they have an affected LG battery; which have model numbers LG S/A Gen2 1P (EM048063P3S4) and LG S/A Gen2 2P (EM048126P3S7).

If you know of someone who owns an LG, SolaX Power or Opal battery system, do them a very big favour and point them to this or the recall notice pages: LG here and SolaX Power/Opal Storage here.

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Michael caught the solar power bug after purchasing components to cobble together a small off-grid PV system in 2008. He's been reporting on Australian and international solar energy news ever since.

Can you provide some info about the Sungrow batteries? We are seriously considering adding a battery to our existing solar system but feel a bit uncertain. Would/could we get a rebate in the future and would it therefore be wise to wait a little? Or would prices go up instead of down seeing the current crazy world we live in?

We have a little bit of information on the Sungrow battery here:

https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/best-home-batteries-2022/

Many installers consider it to be a good budget battery. It will only work with the Sungrow hybrid inverter. This should not be too expensive as hybrid inverters go if you need to get one installed. Even though electricity prices are likely to go up, a battery is still unlikely to save your money. So unless you have other reasons for wanting a battery, such as a desire for convenient and quiet backup power, I generally don’t recommend getting one now. That said, if your evening electricity consumption is unusually high, it may be able to pay for itself.

Unfortunately, batteries have generally increased in price lately due to supply chain issues. I definitely expect battery prices to come down in the future, but you may have to wait a long time.

We notified LG of our battery under the recall late 2021 and were advised that the battery would be replaced in early 2022. Since the we have had the batter turned down to 75% capacity and notified the the replacement will not be available until late 2022. Do I have a claim on lost power?

According to Australian Consumer Guarantees, you can claim for losses. This page by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission gives information:

https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees/compensation-for-damages-loss

If you can’t come to an agreement, you should be able to get advice from fair trading or consumer affairs.

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