coming up coming up coming up coming up coming up coming up on this week's news the family of  a man who lost an arm when he was electrocuted has called for changes in the law to stop it  from happening again why heat batteries could be the future of Home Heating and  the government announces big spending on schools and hospitals welcome to electrical news weekly  in association with solar trade sales your easy One-Stop shop for all things solar make sure you  click the link in the show notes to access their online store whether you're listening in the van,  onsite or down at the wholesale counter I'm Joy Robinson and I've been through the best of the  electrical industry news to save you the trouble and this week's challenge word competition is  supported by the good people at Brady if you need a label they've got a printer and so much more 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 and while you're there click the link to check  out the Brady range of printers the family of a window cleaner who lost his left forearm after  surviving a 33,000 volt electric shock has called for changes in the law Jason Knight from Westbury  in Wiltshire thought he was going to die when the current arced from an overhead cable to his  cleaning pole he was in a customer's Back Garden at the time and the force of the shock sent him  flying 2 metres across the lawn leaving scorched bootprints in the grass the intense shock narrowly  missed his heart and he was flown to Southmead hospital where doctors performed no fewer than  17 operations to save his life a preliminary report said that the power cables met the required  safety standards and are recorded as having been inspected in 2023 Jason's Father John said the  first and second sections of a window cleaning pole are crucial for survival he says the reason  his son survived was because the section he was holding to operate the pole was insulated the  problem he says is that every other section is non-insulated the Knight family want the  handle and first section to be made to a British standard introduced in 2011 for any tool that  may come into contact with overhead power lines still on protection this week has seen the launch  of a host of professional social media channels aimed at promoting safety among electricians the  charity Electrical Safety First which launched the channel says it's responding to a surge in  demand for information it says downloads of its best practice guides have doubled year on-ear  to nearly 37,000 the channels are called elect safety Pro and they'll appear on all the major  platforms including Facebook YouTube TikTok and Instagram they'll deliver safety updates expert  insights and the latest safe working practices don't forget to check out our own accredited CPDs  on safe isolation and health and safety you'll find links in the show notes in other news the  government has announced that it's going to spend big on schools and hospitals in the coming years  in the first Labor budget for 14 years Rachel Reeves said she'd invest an additional £100  billion in capital expenditure over the next 5 years there's money for new homes as well as £6.7  billion for schools up 19% and an extra £3 billion for Hospital buildings she's also given a 3.4  billion pound boost to the warm homes plan which is designed to help low-income households get  clean energy also Contracting firms will have to pay more for employ employers National Insurance  and the minimum wage for apprentices will rise to £7.55 an hour speaking of clean energy a major  marketing campaign is set to alert the trade to a new opportunity in electric heating some experts  are touting heat batteries as the next big thing they say they could be a possible replacement for  the traditional arrangement of a gas boiler and radiators that's used in no fewer than 23  million homes in the UK so what's a heat battery well simply put it's a night storage heater which  builds up thermal energy during off peak hours and then releases it gradually during peak hours  the following day haven't we had them for years I hear you ask well yes we have but unlike storage  heaters heat batteries are specifically designed to integrate into existing wet heating systems  this way households can get rid of their gas boilers without replacing their radiators the  gas units are replaced with what's termed a zero emissions boiler that's where the heat is stored  not in the radiators inside is a core of magnetite a mineral which has very high energy density  during low peak times this can be heated to over 800 Celsius an internal heat exchanger connects  this to the existing radiator Network the beauty for householders is that it's a simple switch  with less disruption than other Technologies the downside is that zero emission boilers are much  more expensive than gas ones the leading brand Tepeo costs £6,000 they're also larger and need  more maintenance and servicing Tepeo says that installers can learn to fit a heat battery in less  than a day it's a suitable job for electricians as you don't need gas safe or refrigerant training  that would be required for gas boilers or heat pumps respectively so you could soon be running  a mock through Plumbing territory I've put a link to more info in the show notes still on  clean energy Tesco has announced that it's buying enough solar energy to power 144 of its large  stores Britain's largest supermarket chain said it's committing to purchasing 65% of the power  generated by Cleve Hill solar Park in Faversham Kent the site is home to the UK's largest solar  and battery storage project with a capacity of 373 MW of solar and 150 MW of energy storage it's set  to become operational in early 2025 and speaking of clean energy this week sees the winners of the  eFIXX Awards 2024 being announced we'll be letting you know who's the radest Renewables installer the  most excellent EV installer and which college is the cream of the crop this year so stay  tuned across our social channels to see who's won and make sure to record and share your reaction  videos if anyone manages to be more excited than NEO Solutions will be impressed in other news an  unlikely champion of electrical apprenticeships has emerged in the shape of Elon Musk the world's  richest man told a rally in America that a university education is often overrated  students graduate with big debts without acquiring relevant job skills he said it was simply not true  that a degree was necessary for Success instead the world needs Hands-On professions and the  mischievous Mr Musk put electricians at the top of his list however he could be doing young people a  disservice if a new survey is to be believed an analysis of 20 thousand online comments about  working life conducted by digital public relations agency bubblegum search has named the unhappiest  profession as electricians according to the study the physically demanding nature of the job and the  40 plus hour weeks weren't made up for by its decent salary other unhappy professions include  social workers and night cleaners the happiest jobs include cyber security Engineers video game  developers and dog photographers so what could be done to make a career on the tools more satisfying  let us know in the comments below our suggestion is that you enter a competition to win big with  BG circuit protection designed with electricians for electricians you could win one of a range of  prizes including a European city break tickets to the Moto GP a Porsche Driving Experience a Merlin  annual pass and many more entering couldn't be simpler just buy a product from the BG circuit  protection range excluding accessories upload your receipt or invoice at bgwin.co.uk and you'll be  entered into the prize draw to win big and you can enter as as many times as you like by purchasing  more kit and uploading the receipts the only way to guarantee you won't win is not to enter take  that dog photographers in product news this week Metrel has unveiled a multi-function tester for  solar systems the Mi3114 is designed for installs with a maximum system voltage of 1,500 volts and  a maximum short circuit current of 40 amps the tester comes with an array of accessories for  comprehensive testing including a remote unit for measuring IR radiation and cell temperature  you can test strings in parallel with a 40 amp current and there's an auto test function for  the IEC/EN 62446 category 1 tests the Metrel unit is set to compete with Fluke's 283 FC meter which  was launched last week City Electrical Factors has unveiled a smart energy management system  for domestic applications the Swarm Hub one is a central controller for home energy CEF says  it optimises the performance of renewable devices by using the weather forecast and realtime energy  tariffs to help customers maximise their savings Hub one also receives local info on Sunshine so  that solar power can be optimised CEF says it's a great way for electricians to get into energy  management it says installers can have the system up and running in just 30 minutes it's  also promising that next year the Hub will be able to connect to swarm's Virtual power plant  so that homeowners can sell Surplus energy back to the Grid at premium rates and our usual 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 during November we'll be looking at commercial  EV charging testing equipment and Innovations within the electrical industry send us pictures  of your installs or let us know if you've come across any new kit that's making your job easier  now 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 it's 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 Sunsynk up next they're  resolving ventilation problems one property at a time offering a simplistic ventilation  design service and high quality products made right here in the UK breathing fresh air into  your home it's Envirovent the best thing to come out of Yorkshire since stainless steel  the home of EV Ultra and other groundbreaking and quality products its Doncaster Cables with  an incredible range of equipment from EV charge points through 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 that 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 the winner of an  eFIXX goodie bag prize answers submitted after about lunchtime on the Thursday after release will  not be entered into the draw now let's reveal the winner of last week's challenge word competition  as sponsored by Brady remember if you need a label they've got a printer and so much more  click the link in the description to view their incredible range last week's words were Archbishop  and waylaid and they were obviously a little trickier as not as many people got them right  but the winner we plucked from our digital hat was Dave friselle 3882 excellent work Dave 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 solar trade sales your easy One-Stop shop for  all things solar remember to click the link in the show notes to check out their online  shop 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