As general manager of SolarQuotes, Trevor Glen is no stranger to consumer energy resources but even his deep expertise in solar panels to batteries and even heat pumps didn’t shield his Adelaide home from a recent electric fire that might have incinerated it.
An electric fault – unrelated to his solar and storage devices – ignited a blaze in his garage, close to his family’s battery stack and electric vehicle.
Fortunately, Glen’s wife was at home, and noticed the power had gone off. Venturing outside she heard a popping noise and on inspection, found flames reaching as high as a metre. She called the fire brigade and they arrived in time.
“The batteries could have caught fire, the car could have caught fire, and then the house would have burnt down,” Glen tells Renew Economy about the event 10 days ago.
Glen will likely detail the lessons learnt on SolarQuotes’ blog, including the value of installing smoke detectors in garages. But his broader takeaway is that even with top-quality products and expert installers, things can go awry when devices involve high current and high wattage.
