Northumberland council to spend £3.5 million on solar panel inspections after school fire
Northumberland County Council is set to spend millions of pounds inspecting its stock of solar panels on both homes and commercial buildings after fires at two buildings, including a first school.
A fire at Northburn Sports and Community Centre in June 2024 was followed by a second at Shanklea Primary School in Cramlington the following July.
Both blazes were put down to issues with the solar panels.
After the Shanklea fire, the council said the issue was unlikely to be widespread.
However, a Freedom of Information request by the Local Democracy Reporting Service found that the issue actually affected 81 schools; 10 fire stations; six leisure facilities and 44 other buildings.
At a meeting of the council’s cabinet, plans were revealed to tackle the issue.
Cabinet member for finance, Cllr Nick Oliver, said: “This is a very important £3.5 million investment over three years in solar PV and safety. It is something we have to do – we have a responsibility for everything to be safe.”
Since the fires, a “precautionary” isolation of solar panel systems has been implemented, meaning all of the council’s commercial estate and 40% of the 1,200 domestic installations are “not generating income”.
Following investigations of both incidents, officials concluded that improvements were required to “provide assurance” that the estate is being managed in accordance with “current industry best practice”.
The council will launch an inspection of both the domestic and commercial solar panel estates from 2027, with the work expected to be completed by March 2029. A report presented to cabinet stated that “significant investment” is expected.
An inspection programme was originally launched in July 2024 after the fire at Northburn. The work covered all buildings where PV panels had been installed prior to 2019.
Initially, council and fire service staff were working through those buildings carrying out fire safety checks. However, the fire at the school forced the council to take further action, resulting in the isolation of panels across the council’s portfolio of properties.
The decision not to isolate panels after the Northburn fire drew criticism. Speaking after the Shanklea fire, Cllr Scott Dickinson said the council was “lucky” the fire happened over the weekend when the school was empty.
The lack of income from the panels is estimated to be costing the council £1 million per year.