E3/DC storage system with LG battery module catches fire in Germany

A week ago, a volunteer fire brigade was called to a “suspicious” fire in the basement of a house in Werne, a town in Germany. According to reports, the fire was caused by an electrical fault with a photovoltaic home storage system that was in the basement of the building. There was nobody present at the scene. Authorities are still figuring out the cause of the incident.

“The troop tried to extinguish the enclosed 6 kWh battery, which was difficult due to repeatedly igniting flames behind the sheet metal panel,” the report by the volunteer fire brigade said. A fire brigade spokesman explained on pv magazine‘s request that this was a S10 home storage system from German solar, storage, and heat pump company E3/DC.

E3/DC confirmed their system had been involved in the blaze. The group added that a battery module from manufacturing company LG Energy Solution could also be seen in the photos taken during the firefighting operation. The battery module was connected to an E3/DC home power plant S10E 6.5, which was commissioned in 2019.

E3/DC said it would support LG Energy Solution in identifying the possible causes of the fire. It added that regardless of further investigations it would replace the battery modules in a precautionary measure. A total of 77 customers are potentially affected and E3/DC will reach out to them.

The Werne fire brigade reported that the thermal imaging camera clearly showed that the battery repeatedly self-ignited when the cooling was interrupted and the temperature inside rose again. The fire brigade researched the manufacturer and called the installer of the battery storage to the site of operation. Meanwhile, the battery had been continuously extinguished with so-called gel extinguishers.

In consultation with the installer, the fire brigade finally separated the DC connection to the battery and dismantled the wall-mounted battery. The battery was eventually submerged in the outside and further cooled in a portable 600-liter container.

In its report, the fire brigade said due to the fire damage in the basement and damaged power lines, the house was switched to the main security box by technicians. Following an inspection, the smoke damaged apartment and basement were ventilated.

The fire brigade was on site for almost four hours to extinguish the fire, joined by 38 volunteers. Germany has recorded some instances of residential photovoltaic storage systems going on fire, but the amount of fires is negligible compared to the number of installed systems across the country. Germany has more than 1.5 million installed residential PV storage systems.