Germany: Solar Storage Fire In Nrw's Werne Under Investigation

By Author: Barry Allen
Total Articles: 3
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According to pv-magazine Germany, a fire occurred a week ago in the Werne region of North Rhine-Westphalia. The local volunteer fire brigade received an alarm about a "suspected basement fire" via a digital reporting receiver. According to their report, when the fire department arrived, the house was filled with smoke, but no one was inside. The smoke came from a residential solar energy storage system, which had caught fire in the basement. The cause of the fire is still unknown.
"A team attempted to extinguish the closed 6 kWh battery, but it was difficult due to flames constantly reigniting behind the metal plates," the volunteer fire department's report continued. When asked, a spokesperson for the fire department confirmed to pv-magazine that it was an E3/DC S10 home power plant.

E3/DC also confirmed this when asked. The company issued a statement regarding the incident: "Regarding the fire event on November 18, 2024, in Werne, we can confirm that photos taken during the firefighting action show battery modules from the manufacturer .LG Energy Solution ...
... The battery modules caught fire after being in operation since 2019 in the E3/DC S10E 6.5 home power station, and the cause of the fire is still under detailed analysis. E3/DC explained, "Based on the appearance of the burned battery modules, its performance at the time of the fire appears to meet the standard."

"We support LG Energy Solution in determining the possible cause based on our detailed battery analysis. Regardless of the results of further investigations, E3/DC will proactively replace the battery modules from the same production batch as a precautionary measure," the company continued. E3/DC will notify the 77 affected customers.

Regarding the firefighting operation itself, the Werne fire department reported that they shut off the system power to the basement distribution box and continued to cool the battery. "However, the thermal imaging camera clearly showed that when cooling was interrupted and internal temperatures rose again, the battery repeatedly reignited," the report said. The fire department eventually investigated the manufacturer and summoned battery storage installers to the scene. Meanwhile, the battery was continually wiped down with a gel fire extinguisher.

After consulting with the installers, the fire department finally disconnected the DC connection to the battery, and "the battery, which was fixed to the wall, had to be painstakingly removed using dismantling tools." The removed battery was then submerged in a 600-liter portable container outside for further cooling.

The fire department's report stated that due to fire damage in the basement and damaged power cables to the fire room, RWE technicians were sent to the site to close off the house via the main fuse box. After taking control and firefighting measures, exhaust openings were made in the smoke-filled apartment and basement, and positive pressure ventilation was created using high-performance fans.

A total of 38 volunteer firefighters were on site for nearly four hours of firefighting efforts, with the local fire department also involved.

Germany has experienced multiple fires in residential solar energy storage systems in the past. However, considering that over 1.5 million systems have been installed in Germany, the number of fires is negligible.