Your Solar Battery Might Be Under Recall. Here’s What That Means for Your California Contract

Your Solar Battery Might Be Under Recall. Here’s What That Means for Your California Contract

You financed a home battery for one reason: so the lights stay on when the grid goes down. Then your app tells you the battery’s been remotely shut off for safety, and it stays that way for weeks, sometimes months, while you wait for a replacement. Meanwhile, the loan or lease payment keeps coming.

If that sounds oddly specific, it’s because it’s already happened to thousands of homeowners.



Two real recalls, not a hypothetical risk

Tesla Powerwall 2. In November 2025, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a recall of roughly 10,500 Powerwall 2 units sold between November 2020 and December 2022. Tesla identified certain lithium-ion battery cells from a third-party supplier that could fail and overheat, and the company received reports of affected units smoking or emitting flames, with some resulting in minor property damage. Tesla’s own cause was described as a third-party battery cell defect.

LG Chem/LG Energy Solution RESU 10H. This battery has gone through multiple US recalls over fire risk, in 2020, 2021, and again in 2022, totaling roughly 10,000 to 11,500 units, after LG received reports of units smoking and catching fire.

Both recalls are confirmed through CPSC consumer alerts, and both involve products that were widely installed in California, the largest residential solar and storage market in the country.

The remedy that can leave you without the thing you paid for

The Tesla recall’s safety response is where the story gets complicated for homeowners. For affected units still online, Tesla remotely discharged the battery to near-zero charge to reduce fire risk while a replacement is arranged. That’s a reasonable safety measure. It also means the backup power you financed can be sitting at zero for an extended period, in some reported cases for months, while you wait.

For the LG recall, the remedy for some units was a remote software update designed to monitor the battery and automatically shut it down if it detects a fire risk, with owners then needing to contact LG for further instructions before the unit can be used again.

Either way: the safety fix and the “working battery” you were sold are not the same thing, and the gap between them can last a long time.

Check whether yours is affected

• Tesla Powerwall 2: Check the Tesla app for a recall notification. The affected units were sold between November 2020 and December 2022.
• LG RESU 10H: Check the serial number on your unit against the notices at cpsc.gov, or contact LG Energy Solution Michigan directly at 888-737-8104 or RESUservice@lgensol.com.
• Any other battery brand: Search the product name and model directly on cpsc.gov/Recalls, since recalls aren’t limited to these two products and new ones are issued regularly.

What this means for your contract

A battery recall doesn’t touch your underlying solar contract, loan, or lease directly, but it raises real questions worth sorting out:

• Are you still paying for a working system? If your battery was bundled into a loan or lease payment and it’s now sitting discharged for weeks or months, that’s worth raising with whoever holds your financing. Ask in writing whether any credit or adjustment applies while the unit is non-functional.
• Was “backup power” part of what you were sold? If a salesperson’s pitch leaned on uninterrupted backup power during an outage, and the battery manufacturer’s own recall remedy defeats that for an extended stretch, that’s a gap between the promise and the product, separate from the recall itself being the manufacturer’s responsibility rather than the installer’s or lender’s.
• Who’s responsible for what. The battery manufacturer (Tesla, LG, or another) handles the recall and replacement. Your installer, lender, or lessor is a different company and generally isn’t who fixes a defective battery cell, but they are who you financed the equipment through, so document the outage and any payments made during it.
• Lost savings or compensation. At least one source reports Tesla has said it will consider compensation for lost energy savings from discharged units on a case-by-case basis. If your Powerwall has been discharged, ask Tesla directly what that process looks like and keep a record of your request.

What to document

• The date you learned of the recall, and any notification you received through the app or by mail.
• The date your battery was discharged or shut down, if applicable.
• Every outage during the discharge period, including dates and how long backup power wasn’t available.
• Any communication with the manufacturer about a replacement timeline.
• Your loan or lease statement, showing continued payments during the period the battery was non-functional.

Our documentation checklist covers the rest.

If you’re shopping for a battery now

Chemistry matters for fire safety. Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) is the chemistry most manufacturers have standardized on for home storage, specifically because it carries a wider thermal-safety margin than some older lithium-ion chemistries. If fire safety matters to you, ask directly which chemistry a specific product uses rather than assuming, and check a manufacturer’s recall and complaint history, not just its marketing, before you sign.

Questions about solar battery recalls

Does a battery recall cancel my solar loan or lease?

No, not on its own. The recall is a manufacturer safety action on the equipment. Your financing agreement is a separate contract, and the recall itself doesn’t end it. It’s still worth documenting the outage and raising it with your lender or lessor.

Do I still have to pay while my battery is discharged for the recall?

Generally yes, unless your lender, lessor, or the manufacturer agrees otherwise in writing. Document the dates and ask about compensation or credits directly rather than assuming none is available.

How do I know if my specific battery is under recall?

Check your battery brand and model number against current notices at cpsc.gov/Recalls, or check the manufacturer’s own app or service line, since both Tesla and LG provide direct ways to verify.

Dealing with a recalled battery, an extended outage, or a backup-power promise that didn’t hold up?

Send us your contract and your loan or lease statement and we’ll tell you where you stand, usually in one 15-minute call.

Call (213) 579-5156 or visit californiasolarexit.com.

By Daniel Merritt, Senior Solar Contract Analyst

Daniel Merritt is a Senior Solar Contract Analyst at California Solar Exit. This article is general information, not legal advice, and results depend on the facts of each contract.