LG ESS solar battery recall gets serious – 5000 homes unaccounted for (off-grid)

The LG ESS solar battery recall is not going well. Despite LG’s efforts, about 5,000 batteries remain unaccounted for. So far, the batteries may have caused 13 fires.

The voluntary recall has been in place since 2021, and TV and publications like CyberShack have made it prominent. As third-party installers sell many of the batteries, LG does not have user contact details.

LG ESS solar battery recall gets serious

The Federal Assistant Treasurer, Hon. Stephen Jones, issued a proposed recall notice, which is the final step in a mandatory recall notice.

LG will advertise extensively and add special efforts to ensure culturally and linguistically diverse consumers are aware of the recall and risks.

The remedy for the Initial Voluntary Recall is a free replacement, including labour to uninstall and install the new one, or a full refund for affected LG batteries.

The remedy for the Software Fix Recall is the installation of diagnostic software to identify and shut down batteries at risk of overheating and the replacement or full refund of batteries shut down by the software.

For all recalls, consumers should switch off affected LG batteries. LG is offering compensation for higher power bills incurred while waiting for a replacement or refund.

If you have an LG ESS solar battery, rebranded SolaX or bought from the following suppliers, please download the recall app for Android or iOS.

Affected batteries

ESS Home Batteries have a unique serial number, which will identify affected batteries. More details here.

  • RESU3.3
  • RESU6.5
  • RESU10
  • RESU13
  • RESU7H Type R
  • RESU10H Type C
  • RESU10H Type R
  • RESU10H Type R Secondary
  • S/A Gen2 1P (EM048063P3S2, EM048063P3S4, EM048063P3S5)
  • S/A Gen2 2P (EM048126P3S7, EM048126P3S8)

Affected S/A Gen2 batteries in non-LG branded systems, include:

  • SolaX Power Station, SolaX X-Cabinet and Opal Storage (also included in a related recall by SolaX here)
  • Redback SH5000
  • Red Earth Sunrise and Red Earth Drop Bear
  • Eguana Evolve
  • VARTA Pulse Neo

 Sold nationally from 15 May 2017 via various residential solar energy storage system retailers, installers and distributors, including:

  • AGL Energy
  • Baywa
  • Cool or Cosy
  • CSR
  • Eguana Technologies
  • Energy Australia
  • Krannich Solar
  • MMEM
  • One Stop Warehouse
  • Rheem
  • Red Earth Energy Storage
  • Solar Juice
  • Solargain
  • SolarHub
  • SolaX
  • Sonepar (as Solar Plus Solutions)
  • Supply Partners
  • VARTA
  • Various residential solar energy storage system retailers

CyberShacks’ view – The LG ESS solar home battery is being responsibly managed

Lithium batteries from any manufacturer can be subject to faulty batches – even the fabled Tesla has some issues. LG has been upfront, helpful, and proactive, but it cannot control where its batteries go. The extended recall is one last opportunity to get suspect LG ESS solar home batteries checked and replaced at no cost if they are part of the faulty batch.

This has not shaken my faith in the product. The main issue is that at least you have a battery from a brand that stands 100% behind its product, which is beyond what many dodgy home storage solar battery importers would do.

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