Nightmare apartment fire: Electrical faults are responsible for a third of cases.
Image: Picture Alliance
Storing solar power from the roof for hours when there is little sun can make sense. But self-sufficiency with electricity can become a nightmare if the home storage system burns. The ENBW subsidiary Senec replaces faulty devices.
DThe solar system on the roof, a power storage unit in the basement, the wallbox in front of the garage. This is what the glossy images that home storage providers use to advertise their technology look like. The most important part of the storage system are the batteries, which can primarily buffer between five and ten kilowatt hours of electricity, electricity that the photovoltaics produce during the day and which is then available to the residents in the evenings and mornings. This sounds like a sensible thing for the general public, as it can reduce the burden on the distribution networks, and also for the owner, who does not have to pay taxes and duties on their own consumption. In view of rising electricity prices, storage systems are currently experiencing a boom; according to market researchers, around half a million devices will be installed this year alone, more than twice as many as in 2022.
However, self-supply with electricity can become a nightmare if the battery catches fire. Ralf Haselhuhn documented 38 fires caused by photovoltaic storage from January to November 2023. The expert is chairman of the photovoltaics specialist committee in the German Society for Solar Energy and has been working on the topic of battery safety for ten years. Because there is no official body in Germany that collates the numbers, Haselhuhn does this on its own initiative. He cooperates with specialized research institutions, searches the Internet and also analyzes photos provided by the fire department. The manufacturer of the home storage system can only be identified in 20 to 30 percent of all cases. According to Haselhuhn, two providers have been particularly noticeable in the last two years: LG from South Korea and Senec from Leipzig.
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