Tech giant LG will launch an urgent year-long advertising campaign after it emerged that more than 4,000 Australian homes were still using solar batteries that could overheat and catch fire without warning.
However, the company’s battery recall could affect thousands more homes in the future after it emerged that a battery that had been “remedied” with a software update had also caught fire.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on Monday published details of LG’s latest recall commitments, revealing that the company had signed a court-enforceable undertaking to increase the scope and number of its warnings.
LG Energy Solution has agreed to do more to alert and protect consumers from faulty LG solar storage batteries that can overheat and catch fire without warning, in a court-enforceable undertaking accepted by the ACCC.
Tech giant LG will launch an urgent year-long advertising campaign after it emerged that more than 4,000 Australian homes were still using solar batteries that could overheat and catch fire without warning.
However, the company’s battery recall could affect thousands more homes in the future after it emerged that a battery that had been “remedied” with a software update had also caught fire.
LG Energy Solution has recalled 18,000 solar storage batteries sold in Australia, with voluntary recall notices beginning in August 2020.
The defective batteries, sold by LG and SolaX, were produced between January 2016 and June 2019 and have the potential to overheat, suffer thermal runaway and catch fire.
Fifteen incidents of property damage have been attributed to faulty batteries so far, including a house fire in Victoria that destroyed the residence.
The company has not yet located some 4,400 defective batteries.
The defective batteries, sold by LG and SolaX (pictured), were produced between January 2016 and June 2019 and have the potential to overheat, suffer thermal runaway and catch fire.
LG’s latest recall commitment includes an advertising campaign to alert consumers about the risk of fire, emphasizing the urgency of the recall, using plain language and highlighting words including “fire” and “death.”
The company has also agreed to pay consumers the cost of its batteries and their installation, and to pay compensation for higher energy bills incurred while the solar batteries are off.
ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe said the measures were necessary to ensure all hazardous batteries could be removed within 12 months.
“We caution consumers who have a solar energy storage system to check to see if their battery is affected by these recalls,” he said.
“If you have an affected battery, including one that has already received a software update, turn it off and contact LG urgently.”
Lowe said the commission was also investigating whether software installed to address the problem in some batteries was a suitable solution.
Questions were raised about the remedy after an LG solar battery that had diagnostic software installed caught fire at a Townsville home in March.
Pictured: affected batteries and systems.
“The ACCC is extremely concerned about this development and we are following it closely,” Ms Lowe said.
“We urge all consumers who previously had a software update installed to immediately turn off the battery, pending the outcome of these investigations.”
LG’s new commitments come three months after Federal Deputy Treasurer Stephen Jones issued a proposed recall notice to the company for its defective batteries.
The ACCC has now recommended against a mandatory recall.
Solar battery owners can check if their products are affected by the recall by visiting the lg website or by calling 1300 677 273.