UK Solar Fire Rate Outpaces Installation Growth, Insurers Warn

The number of fires involving photovoltaic systems in the United Kingdom is growing more than twice as fast as the solar market itself, according to data from industrial insurer QBE. Between 2022 and 2025, fire service call-outs linked to PV installations rose 133%, while the installed base expanded by just 52% over the same period.

In absolute terms, the figures remain modest relative to the sector’s scale. UK firefighters attended 212 solar-related fires in 2025, up from 91 in 2022, against roughly 1.93 million PV installations operating that year — fewer than 0.07 incidents per 1,000 systems. By June 2026, the installed base had exceeded 2 million.

QBE risk manager Tobias Mel called the trend “an important signal for the entire European market.” Practical experience points most often to faulty direct-current cable connections, substandard connectors, and errors during the installation of other electrical components — not the panels themselves — as primary causes. Equipment ageing at first-wave installations adds a further layer of risk.

Residential properties accounted for the largest share of 2025 incidents with 102 fires, followed by commercial premises at 48, and both industrial sites and large solar farms at 14 each.

The economic consequences are of growing concern. Rising incident frequency is expected to push insurance premiums higher, increasing the levelised cost of electricity for small distributed generators and slowing deployment among households and small businesses.

Insurers flag the spread of lithium-ion battery storage alongside solar arrays as a separate hazard, given the exceptional difficulties such fires present for emergency services. UK firefighters tackled 1,760 lithium-ion battery fires overall in 2025 — a total spanning 520 e-bike incidents, 279 involving electric vehicles, and 182 linked to e-scooters — making battery technology a significant factor in the broader fire statistics.

Source: PV Magazine