That went well! - Tesla Megapack fire.

[Crossy]

Not exactly breaking news but it's worth noting for those who have their solar battery packs inside their homes.

 

A Tesla Megapack part of a giant battery project in Victoria, Australia, has caught on fire – creating a blaze that’s almost impossible to control.

The cause of the fire is currently unknown.

More https://electrek.co/2021/07/30/tesla-megapack-caught-fire-giant-battery-project-australia/

 

 

 

[Crossy]

Each of those MegaPack blocks holds up to 3MWh of energy, enough to keep many of us in power for 6 months!

 

In the event of a failure it has to go somewhere!

 

[sezze]

Which batteries do they house ? If i'm correct these are Li-ion based , like 18650 cell or similar . These batteries have advantages over Lifepo4 ( much larger capacity) but also disadvantages , biggest one being more unstable then lifepo4 . Li-ion should only be used by well known users/companies , since they build in several safety features , but even then it can happen . Lifepo4 is much more stable and can be used for building battery packs for home , also with safety features like BMS to not overload them .

This is important since not all battery techniques are the same , and news like that might set people of to use such systems while they are very good .

[Crossy]

7 hours ago, sezze said:

If i'm correct these are Li-ion based

 

Yes, I believe you are correct, the same as they use in their vehicles.

 

Even with LiFePO4 I would keep the packs in a fireproof housing outside the house. They don't suffer from thermal runaway but an accidental short can still lead to conflagration.

[tjo o tjim]

The upshot is damage was limited to two packs, and repairs were prompt. For residential I would much rather go with a LFP chemistry than NMC, but at utility scale you need to pick lowest cost and design around it. Ironically NMC is low cost for Tesla.