The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has warned all households with a solar storage system to check if their system at home contains recalled LG batteries and, if so, switch them off immediately.
These affected batteries could get overheated or cause fire and, therefore, may result in an injury or even death, ACCC said.
Consumers with affected LG batteries are asked to register their details with LG to receive a free replacement, refund or software update.
While all affected batteries should be immediately turned off, some will be directly replaced or fully refunded.
At the same time, other affected batteries could just receive a software update that will be able to shut down batteries at risk of overheating.
Meanwhile, LG is also asking for all the batteries in their solar energy storage system to be switched off immediately until a remedy is found. They may be branded with different names such as LG, SolaX, Opal, Red Earth, Equana or VARTA.
“It is critically important that anyone with a solar energy storage system checks their battery’s serial number, as this recall has been updated to include new models, affected systems, and dates of manufacture,” ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said.
Ms. Lowe further suggested that even if you did not have an LG-branded solar storage system, your LG-branded battery might have been recalled, and if so, you need to turn it off for peace of mind.
LG has agreed to provide financial compensation to consumers who have higher electricity bills because they cannot use their batteries.
LG will further advise consumers of which remedy applies to their affected LG battery.
At this stage, it’s not known whether any fires in Australia have been attributed to the LG batteries.
What should consumers do?
1. Check if your LG battery has been recalled at the Product Safety Australia website. The recalled products are PRA 2020/18529, PRA 2022/19550, and PRA 2022/19420.2. If your battery has been recalled, switch it off.
3. Contact LG or SolaX for a refund or replacement
