Cause of fire in German home with Senec battery unclear

Almost a year ago, Senec announced that all of its Home4, V3 and V2.1 photovoltaic home storage units would be exchanged for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) models free of charge for the customers. The campaign launched in August following reports of fires in houses in which Senec products were installed. Thus far, around 15,000 storage units have been replaced across Germany, according to the company.

However, another fire was reported in the town of Hechingen, southwest Germany, in late August. The fire broke out in the basement of the single-family home, which housed a Senec battery. No one was injured.

Senec confirmed when asked by pv magazine that the storage unit was an “old” model, meaning that no new LFP storage unit was affected. The company also pointed out that the house is currently being renovated, which means the ongoing renovation work could have been the reason behind the fire. The cause is still being investigated.

The Hechingen fire department reported that the entire house was filled with smoke as the firefighters reached the scene. “After the fire was brought under control and the basement room was ventilated with positive pressure, it was clear that an electricity storage unit had caught fire,” the fire department report said.

Since March 2022, several Senec photovoltaic home storage systems have caught fire across Germany. Initially, all systems were switched off remotely and later transferred to “conditioning mode”, which allows system owners to use a maximum 70% of their rated output. In return, Senec pledged to compensate the owners for the reduced availability of their systems.