{"id":71457,"date":"2023-02-21T05:46:27","date_gmt":"2023-02-20T19:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=71457"},"modified":"2023-02-21T05:46:27","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T19:16:27","slug":"home-battery-fire-mb2835","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/home-battery-fire-mb2835\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgy DIY Home Solar + Battery Disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Solar<\/p>\n

This solar and battery installation was the stuff of sparkie nightmares, and occupants of the Sydney home were very lucky to avoid an even greater tragedy.<\/p>\n

Good quality solar batteries are expensive and part of the reason for this relates to safety. But some have been lured into self-installing their own home batteries and other solar gear using components of dubious provenance to save money. Beyond potentially breaching various electrical safety rules and regulations, this is a recipe for disaster.<\/p>\n

Last Wednesday, fire destroyed a home in Kent Street, Epping NSW. The culprit was determined to be a battery pack made up of second-hand lithium-ion cells. The nature of the cells aside, the entire installation looked to be *really* dodgy.<\/p>\n

A video from Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) shows the occupant had a bunch of solar panels lined up along and beside a fence.<\/p>\n

\"DIY<\/p>\n

These were wired *through* the home’s back door into the laundry area. In the laundry area, the wiring went into a toilet cubicle. The wires were then connected into the lithium-ion battery pack. An investigation has shown this is where the fire started.<\/p>\n

“These lithium-ion batteries, you can see there are lots of them, have failed and blown and exploded; causing the fire,” said FRNSW Fire Investigation and Research Unit Team Leader Michael Forbes. “And as you can see, as a consequence of this fire, it has destroyed this house.”<\/p>\n

You can get a better sense of the installation and damage in the following video:<\/p>\n