German home destroyed by 30 kWh battery explosion
From pv magazine Germany
Germany experienced another accident involving a battery storage system on Oct. 6.
“At around 2 p.m., the fire safety department of the Wernges district was alerted of smoke coming from a two-family house,” Police Chief Inspector Andre Müller of the East Hesse Police Headquarters told pv magazine.
When the police arrived at the scene, local fire departments were already present, but they could not detect any fire. However, an explosion had occurred, resulting in the collapse of the home’s eastern wall.
The explosion has been linked to a 30 kWh storage unit in the basement. Preliminary findings from the investigation suggest that a technical defect may have caused the explosion, according to the police officer.
The homeowners managed to evacuate the house independently. The police reported that three individuals sustained minor injuries, including the homeowner, a resident, and a neighbor.
The police estimate the damage to be in the mid-six-figure range, rendering the house currently uninhabitable. Firefighters secured the area with construction fences and provided support to prevent the residential building from collapsing. The police did not disclose any information about the battery manufacturer.
During the latter part of September, there were multiple instances of home photovoltaic storage systems catching fire. In total, pv magazine has learned about five similar incidents in Germany and Austria.
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In stories of the sort, even if the manufacturer isn’t named, it’s important to know the battery chemistry involved (LFP, NMC…). Without that information the inforation in the article is somewhat useless.
Paul, please elaborate why the information in the article is useless without the info of the battery chemistry involved. What does the chemistry tell us?