Electricians applaud conviction of a notorious solar panel fraudster

- Coming up on this week's news, electricians welcome the conviction of a notorious solar panel fraudster, Sainsbury's becomes the first supermarket to launch its own charger network, and what exactly are the rules on notching joists to run cables? Welcome to "Electrical News Weekly" in association with the Electric Heating Company. Whether you're listening in the van, on site, or down at the wholesale counter, I'm Joe Robinson, and I've been through the best of the electrical industry news to save you the trouble. And as always, if you think you've spotted the two words I've been challenged to slip into this week's show, comment with them below for the chance to win a prize. A notorious fraudster who ran a 17 million Pound solar panel scam is back in court this week. David Black led the Glasgow Gang, which mis-sold PV installations to no fewer than 1,500 homeowners across the UK. It's operated through a Manchester-based company, Solar Energy Savings Limited. The men targeted, elderly, retired, and vulnerable people who were manipulated into buying a panel instal for over 10,000 Pounds. The customers were given the false promise that installation costs would be invested, and they would get their money back. Instead, Black and his henchmen spent the cash on powerful cars and luxury holidays. One of the conditions for his release after three years and three months in prison in 2021 was that he was prohibited from changing his name. However, investigators from the Serious Fraud Office discovered that he was using the name David Hardy. His third alias in five years. At Westminster Magistrate's Court, Black was prosecuted for the second time. He will be sentenced later at Southwark Crown Court. In other news, Sainsbury's has become the first UK supermarket to launch its own EV charging network. Smart Charge, as it's called, will roll out nationwide by the end of 2024. Some stores already have plugin points, but these are run by different suppliers such as BP Pulse. Sainsbury's network will concentrate on ultra rapid charges offering power ratings of at least 150 kilowatts. This should be able to fully charge many electric vehicles in around 30 minutes. That's just short of the average duration of a visit to a supermarket. Might suggest a quick trip to the cafe for the last few minutes, especially if the kids are screeching. Sainsbury's charging technology and equipment will be supplied by Chem Power. The initial phase will offer some 750 ultra rapid charging bays across more than 100 stores. BT, meanwhile, has its own scheme to bring charges to the masses. It's planning to convert as many as 60,000 street cabinets into plugin points. Most of them have enough power capacity to charge a car overnight. Previously, these containers were used for cable TV, broadband, and phone equipment, but with the rollout of fibre, many of them have become redundant. The first cabinets are currently being converted in East Lothian, Scotland. Still on EV, one of the UK's top charger suppliers has bought an electrical contractor specialising in plug-in point instals. Envevo has bought the installation specialist SRG Electrical for an undisclosed sum. Even though it was only launched in 2019, Envevo has become a leading specialist in charging stations, and has worked for BP, Shell, and Gridserve. SRG Electrical was founded in 2007 and has installed charges to big name clients, including IKEA and the London Olympics. Envevo says the deal gives it more capability for expansion. While all the new EV charges coming down the track is fantastic news, one Scottish couple seems to have fared pretty well without them. Husband and wife Chris and Julie Ramsey from Aberdeen have just made history by driving from the Arctic to Antarctica in an electric car. They set off in their Nissan Aria last March on their journey of 18,000 miles using solar and wind energy. It's believed to be the first time any car has completed such a journey. They drove through Canada, the US, and then South America over 10 challenging months. They used charging points on the route, but in the polar regions, had to use a wind turbine and a solar panel to power the car. In eFIXX News now, we'd like to remind you about the 30 Under 30 Awards as supported by the good people at the Luceco Group. This prestigious annual event is now in its third year, and we're currently taking entries, but time is running out as we close for submissions on the 29th of February, which is much closer than you think. So don't delay. If you know someone under the age of 30 who's showing an exceptional attitude to the electrical industry, then get the name entered. We've simplified and streamlined the entry process to make nominating as easy as possible, and also we saw the return of our ever popular question of the week, which asked, for a socket outlet supplying a caravan pitch, which of the following statements is true? The options were that RCD protection should disconnect the line conductor only, all live conductors, the neutral conductor only, or all live and earth conductors. The correct answer was it should disconnect all live conductors, which of course includes the neutral. And on YouTube, 85% of you got it right, while in a rare turn of events, more LinkedIn members got it right at 87%. Excellent work to all, and to find out more about industrial socket outlets, check out our free training package to help you with the CPD that we made in association with Lewden Palazzoli. Now fully updated to reflect the changes and amendment to of the 18th edition. In product news, Hellerman Tyton has unveiled a range of connectors specifically designed for solar panel instals. These can join solar panels in series or parallel to junction boxes and other electrical components. The series comprises cable connectors, branch connectors, and panel connectors. The latter designed for installation directly through electrical enclosures and panels with a specifically styled connection on the end. Safety features include a secure locking mechanism, which can only be released using a special design tool. Phillips has released a set of LED lamps with a record breaking efficacy of 210 lumens per watt. For comparison, an old school incandescent lamp gives out just 14 lumens for every watt of power. The Phillips Master LED SON-T lamps are designed to replace traditional high pressure sodium, which are used for security lights, floodlights, and streetlights. In the world of ventilation, Vortice has launched a fan specifically for landlords to reduce mould in their properties. The AER DMEV is a decentralised continuously running extractor for kitchens, bathrooms, and toilets designed to expel stale air directly to the outside. It increases its speed in response to a rapid rise in humidity, preventing unnecessary heat loss and energy consumption, and it allows for easy and exact commissioning. And finally, are you omniscient about the rules on cutting notches in timber joists to run cables? And yes, there are actually regulations on this. The key principle is not to downgrade the structural integrity of the house, or whatever building you're working on. Simply put, you can only put your cabling through a load bearing element if you can be assured of its integrity after you've done it. Happily, we have some guidance on what this means, specifically from the engineers at the IET, and the National House Building Council. They say you can put notches in joists as long as the joists are less than 250 millimetres in depth, and not too close to heavy loads. The notch should be no wider than naught 0.2 times the span of the joist, and no deeper than naught 0.15 times the depth of the joist. Notches and drill holes should be at least a hundred millimetres apart. We've done a deep dive into this whole subject, so check out our special EFIXX video on notches and notching. The link, as ever, is in the show notes. And last, a reminder that we're in the market for your stories, your projects, and your recommendations as we'd like to share them with the wider EFIXX community. In the month of January, we're focusing on residential circuit protection with the launch of a brand new CPD from Lewden where we bust a few myths, and give you a few frights about circuit protection, but we'd particularly like to hear from you about AFDDs and your experiences with them. Are you fitting them at all? Have they uncovered any problems on installations where they've been retrofitted? Do you have them on your own house? Then in February, we'll be moving on to residential solar and battery instals. Have you installed a plant room to rival Gary's over on our sister channel, eFIXX Energy, or are you a bit of a solar sceptic? Send us some pictures of your best instals, tell us about your experiences, or let us know if you've come across any new kit that's making your job easier, and you could be featured on the next episode of the news. And just before we get to your favourite bit of the show where I reveal last week's challenge words and winners, we want to thank our premium partners. We couldn't make the news without you. First up, they're the people who've created the Swiss Army knife of solar inverters, along with all weather batteries. Very much the Boy Scouts of the solar industry, it's Sun Synk. And testing, testing, one, two, testing. If you've got something you need to measure or a piece of test equipment to calibrate from multimeters, to power quality analyzers, then it can only be Test Instrument Solutions. Are you a bit of a control freak? Motor control that is. If so, with huge stocks and excellent service, checkout Crompton Controls as they said to me in a recent conversation,"If we don't have it, then we can build it.""And would you like to win more jobs, save your customers thousands? Would you like some help with that for free? Then check out Tap Electric, the free EV charger management platform. Up next, for all your circuit protection needs, they're like having an Italian star striker in your premiership team. It's Lewden Palazzoli. The best thing to come out of Yorkshire since stainless steel, the home of EV Ultra, and other groundbreaking and quality products, it's Doncaster Cables. With an incredible range of equipment from EV charge points, from industrial sockets and switches, to kit for explosive areas, plus they supplied gear for a Campari factory so they'll always have a place in my heart. It's Scame. Big thanks to you all. We really appreciate your ongoing support for the news. If you think you know the words I've smuggled into this week's show, pop your guess into the comments. We'll take all the correct guesses, and select one at random to be a winner of an EFIXX goodie bag prize. Answers submitted after about lunchtime on the Thursday after release will not be entered into the draw. Last week's words were disinfectant and violet. We had quite a few entries across YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook. So we popped them in a virtual hat, and the person we plucked out was Martin E63, who viewed and commented on YouTube. Well done to you, Martin. Make sure you click the get involved link in the show notes to claim your prize. Thanks for listening to this episode of "Electrical News Weekly" in association with the Electric Heating Company. Make sure you subscribe to receive the next update. Thanks for listening, and until next time, have a great week, stay safe out there, and remember, there's no such thing as a torque calibrated arm.