UK Fire Incidents Tied To Solar Panels Double Since 2020

Fire investigators believe a blaze at Malton, Norton and District Hospital in North Yorkshire "most likely" started at one of the building's rooftop solar panels, adding to a string of high-profile fires linked to the technology across England.

A fire in Suffolk led to panels being disconnected at roughly 80 schools in June. About 250 people were evacuated from an Ikea store in London after panels caught fire in October last year, and pregnant women and babies were moved from a Bristol maternity ward after a fire believed to have started in solar panels in May 2025.

Current fire incident reporting does not let the government determine how many fires were directly caused by solar panels. Even so, the number of English fire incidents mentioning "solar panel" or "photovoltaic (PV) panel" doubled from 39 in 2020 to 81 in 2024.

A full report into the Malton fire's cause is expected in the coming weeks. The NHS trust running the Springwood unit said damage to the panels made it impossible to determine further details, while insisting fire safety measures were robust and that fire safety systems operated as intended when the blaze started.

Dan Wilkins, property technical risk manager at insurer AXA UK, said the biggest problem with solar systems is that many are installed and then neglected rather than regularly serviced and maintained. He said weather and animals can affect panel performance over time.

Wilkins said residents and workers in buildings with solar panels need not worry, provided the system was designed, installed and maintained by an accredited, competent organisation. There is currently no accreditation scheme specifically for large-scale PV systems on buildings like hospitals and schools, though installers of smaller systems can join the voluntary Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS).

A government-commissioned report published in February warned that solar panels can alter roof performance during a fire, trapping heat closer to the roof surface and potentially accelerating fire spread, though that spread tends to stop shortly after moving beyond the panelled area. The report recommended leaving gaps between panel arrays and avoiding combustible roofing materials.

Wilkins said PV panels also pose an electrical risk to firefighters because their power cannot be switched off while sunlight continues to hit them. He said many fires trace back to mismatched panels and wiring systems, where incompatible cables become loose and cause arcing.

An MCS spokesperson said fires involving solar PV systems remain rare across more than 2 million MCS-certified installations in the UK, though the organisation said any such fire is one too many and that work continues with industry partners to reduce incidents further.