Necessary energy upgrades could make homes vulnerable

On the afternoon of 8 July 2026, a fire tore through the roof of Malton Community Hospital in North Yorkshire. After evacuating patients and putting out the blaze, fire crews traced the cause back to a series of solar panels on the building’s roof. Eight days later, Spanish firefighters were called to a health centre in the city of Jaén in southern Spain, where a fire had broken out in an electric car charging in the garage.

According to an European Union directive “the electrification of buildings, such as through the deployment of heat pumps, solar installations, batteries and recharging infrastructure, changes the risks with regard to the fire safety of buildings”.

These devices put firefighters at greater risk of electrocution, while faulty devices can increase the risk of a fire breaking out. A study released by insurer QBE in August found that the number of fires caused by faulty solar equipment rose 133% across the UK between 2022 and 2025, more than double the rate of installations.

Across the EU, new rules designed to improve the energy efficiency of buildings are about to accelerate the installation of rooftop solar panels, batteries and heat pumps. One new rule mandates that by the end of 2027, member states must have solar installations on existing public buildings larger than 2,000 square metres, and certain non-residential buildings larger than 500 square metres.

This is exactly what Europe needs in order to secure energy independence and improve the carbon footprint of the building stock, but installing electrical equipment in buildings that weren’t designed for them increases fire risk. According to the European Commission, roughly 85% of buildings across the EU were built before 2000, and many still contain the combustible materials that can accelerate the spread of fires.

The risk electric devices pose to older buildings isn’t sufficiently reflected in the regulation, says Dan Wilkins, technical risk manager at AXA Insurance. “The existing European fire-safety standard for roofs, which is known as BROOF t(1-4), assesses whether fire can spread across a roof,” he explains. “But if you put a PV panel on it, the test no longer applies, because you are adding something additional that could exacerbate the fire and make extinguishing operations more dangerous for firefighters.”

For insurers such as AXA, this makes risk assessments a lot more tricky, explains Wilkins. “A lot of people are putting these panels on combustible roof linings; once they’re in, there’s nothing we can do.”

The economic impact

While the primary risk of a fire is the danger to people, there are also longer-lasting issues.

In the two years since a fire tore through a block of flats in Dalston Junction, east London, insurers, builders and residents have been locked in protracted negotiations over who should pay for alternative accommodation.

For insurers, the question also has a business dimension. According to Wilkins, the calculation is increasingly not just damage to the property, but the building’s inability to continue operations.

As Europe accelerates rooftop solar on its existing building stock, this could create significant issues. In Allianz’s 2026 analysis of more than 1,000 business-interruption insurance claims, it found that fire was the most frequent cause of business insurance claims, accounting for 36% of the total $1.3bn (£965bn) value.

Imagine if the car industry had pushed for higher speeds without strengthening brakes and airbags at the same pace. Rather than slowing the transition to renewable energy, policymakers need to make sure fire safety standards are keeping pace. Building owners can take advantage of clean energy mandates to reassess the fire safety of their roofs and buildings, involving insurers and building experts in the integration of solar systems to ensure they don’t create vulnerabilities.

That assessment needs to be made before installation, as part of the insurance process, explains Wilkins. “If you insure early enough, we can help make sure this system is designed and installed to the correct, safe standards.”

As Europe prepares for a wave of building renovation, it needs to be equally ambitious about making those buildings safe. The transition to electrification should not simply mean installing more solar panels, but ensuring the roofs they sit on and the standards governing their installation are fit for purpose. If Europe gets that balance right, it can accelerate the energy transition without creating a new generation of avoidable risks.