coming up on this week's news the IET urgently clarifies the rules on the rated current of  consumer units following reports of poor practice in the trade a Contracting firm is fined £120,000  after a solar panel installer falls from a roof in Salisbury and the government unveils plans to  make public charger installations easier welcome back after the winter break to electrical news  weekly in association with solar trade sales your easy One-Stop shop for all things solo remember  to click the link in the show notes to check out their online shop 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 if you think you've spotted the two words that  I've been challenged to slip into this week's show comment with them below for the chance to win a  prize the authors of the wiring regulations have moved to clarify the rated current requirements of  consumer units as more and more householders install micro-generation the institution of  engineering and Technology published its guidance this week in a bid to reduce the instances where  ratings could be exceeded the organisation gives the example of a micro generator such as a solar  panel installation with a maximum current of 16 amps connected to a 100 amp unit this fails  regulation 551.7.2 as the assembly current could hit 116 amps one solution is for electricians to  request that the DNO cutout fuse is downgraded to 80 amps this works but it limits the capacity of  the board an alternative is to swap the board for one rated at 125 amps while expensive and  disruptive it complies with the regs another option is a board from a manufacturer which  can handle both supplies but requires them at different ends of the busbar remember a busbar  can have a different rating to the whole assembly in this case the manufacturer must ensure the  consume unit can distribute the 116 amps without overheating such an arrangement is likely to be  subject to the application of a rated diversity Factor this is to account for the mutual heating  of circuits and devices where this is the case the IET cautions that electricians must obtain a  declaration from the manufacturer and attach it to the electrical certificate a final allowable  option is to install an overcurrent protective device immediately Upstream of the dis board you  then connect the solar panels inverter to the AC Supply immediately Upstream of this device  using a 100 amp connector block the guidance also explores overload coordination with an overcurrent  protection device more advanced Solutions such as a customer limitation scheme using Load shedding  relays are included in Amendment four of the regulations which has now concluded its period  of public consultation I've put the link to the detailed guidance document in the show notes as  well as a link to the free training package that we made on this very subject supported by the good  Folks at Lewden Palazzoli it's worth a watch and will count towards your annual CPD requirement  so check it out in other news the government has announced plans to make it easier to install EV  chargers in public locations the department for transport is scrapping the need for installers of  plug-in points to get a section 50 license to do the work instead charge Point operators should use  a permit which officials say would be much quicker and cheaper typically applications for Ev charger  jobs that last for three days or fewer need to be sent within 3 days of when the work needs to start  and the highway Authority must respond within two days the maximum permit fee that can be charged  is either £45 or £60 depending on the type of Road charge Point operators will also be able  to access the online Street manager platform across England to notify the local Highway  Authority the government says it will also allow off- Street EV chargers to be installed in homes  using permitted development rights the loosening of the planning rules comes following reports that  the UK is on the cusp of a charge Point Revolution that's because the number of plug-in stations is  set to increase dramatically in the next two years more than 120 planning applications for  plug points worth more than £500 million have been granted in the last 18 months by local authorities  that equates to hundreds of thousands of new points projects given the green light include  a £100 million job for a charging network across Wales and a £68 million project for West Sussex  Council schemes costing £692 million have been approved recently in a sign that local officials  are heeding advice from central government that charging infrastructure should get priority it's  also been a record year for sales of electric vehicles in 2024 almost one in five cars sold  was purely electric the growth was dominated by businesses not private individuals the sales are  partly driven by discounting from Auto Brands who are trying to avoid government penalties meanwhile  one such brand Nissan has become the latest to announce it will include bidirectional charging in  some of its cars from next year cars equipped with its vehicle to grid technology will be able to use  their batteries to power the home or sell energy back to the grid the company has become the first  in the UK to gain what's called g99 certification a g99 Cert is needed to supply electricity to the  UK Network Nissan says that going bidirectional can cut the annual cost of powering an EV by 50%  now an exciting update from the Luceco group as part of their ongoing commitment to support  electricians they've relaunched their online Training Academy with courses on all manner  of subjects from Electrical design to fire alarms to EV charger installs and don't worry you don't  need to be bilingual in Tech speak as many of the courses are presented by a familiar face  click the link in the show notes to see all the courses available to help you with your  CPD in the courts this week a Contracting firm has been fined £120,000 after a solar panel installer  plunged from a roof in Salisbury in Wilshire the man who was 23 at the time broke his leg in the  fall while working for EE Renewables Limited in December 2022 he had been adjusting a solar panel  when he slid and fell 4m onto the ground below a health and safety executive probe found that  the company had not properly planned the work at height and it had failed to take suitable steps  to prevent a fall The Firm had been hired by the homeowner to move nine solar panels higher  up on the roof at Swindon magistrates Court e Renewables limited of Salterns Lane, Fareham,  Hampshire pleaded guilty to breaching the health and safety at work act and was fined £120,000 with  £4,700 in costs still on solar it's been revealed that mounting pv panels vertically during snowy  winter months yields up to four times more power than laying them flat the surprising  finding was discovered by researchers in Norway acting on behalf of the Over Easy Solar Company  it's partly explained by snow cover on flat panels reducing their output but the vertical  panels also benefit from light reflected from the snow panels mounted vertically all year round can  be up to 30% more efficient in a Scandinavian country with high snowfall says the firm another  benefit to Vertical panels in snow conditions the company claims is the faster melting of snow  around them that's because the panel orientation promotes the mixing of warmer air into the snowy  surface now our first question of the week for 2025 was taken from our free training package  made with Doncaster cables on the subject of cables and conductors and asked when PVC cable  is burnt it gives off which gas the correct answer is of course hydrogen chloride and hang on to your  hats because while 57% of people on YouTube got the answer right for the first time in a long  time LinkedIn participants showed a higher level of knowledge and 61% were correct over there the  battle of the platforms is back on for next week in the meantime head over to that free training  package From Doncaster cables to find out more nuggets of useful information in product news  this month there's been a Spate of recalls the office for product safety and standards is warning  the trade about a pair of electrical boots aimed at electricians the Arma A18 lightning boots are  intended to provide protection against electrical hazards but the office says that they do not meet  the requirements of the regulations when used in electrical environments it adds the risk of an  electric shock is is high the product is only certified as a basic safety boot despite the  withdrawal eFIXX found the Footwear on open sale on websites which Supply the trade I've put a link  to the official documents in the show notes so you can be fully informed before any purchase also  being recalled this week is a range of sangamo Kit being voluntarily withdrawn is a series of power  saver heating timers and fuse Spurs it includes 7-Day 24-hour and boost timers distributor  ESP explains that it has identified a potential safety hazard with the product it says a potential  Manufacturing defect may cause the units to overheat particularly if they're used with a high  load in a high ambient temperature any electrician who's installed one of the products in question is  advised to isolate and replace it immediately the company also says that as per IET guidance 13 amp  loads in high ambient temperature environment such as airing cupboards are not suitable to be  supplied by standard 13 amp fuse spur products in such cases a 20 amp double pole switch unit should  be used instead the company says it can report that no damage or injuries have been reported  at this time I've put list of the product codes in the show notes finally in a bit of a gotcha moment  the office for product safety and standards has rejected a recessed ceiling light at the border  it says the LED Luminaire presents a high risk of electric shock due to its inadequate insulation  levels the flying leads are simply connected to a terminal block leaving metal Parts insulated  from Live Parts by basic insulation only should this basic insulation fail accessible metal Parts  could become live causing the user to receive an electric shock the product also failed the  electric strength test as the insulation broke down when the 3,000 volt test voltage was applied  additionally some of the required documentation and markings are not present therefore the product  does not meet the requirements of the electrical equipment safety regulations of 2016 the product  was put up for sale on Amazon before its rejection if you're aware of any models that have made it  into the UK you're advised to contact your local trading standards office immediately again I've  listed the link to the PDF containing the model numbers and carton identifiers in the show notes  in business news the LED Group which includes Robus and fusebox has bought the ATC group  headquartered in Dublin ATC is a renowned brand in energy efficient electric heaters handryers  and automation controls it was founded in 1991 and operates across the UK and Ireland ATC will  continue as an independent brand but will benefit from the full backing of LED groups extensive  resources and support and finally 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 us pictures of  your installs or let us know if you've come across any new kit that's making your job easier 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 Sunsynk and speaking of solar with  manufacturing powered by a 250 gWh solar PV array they're literally the greenest test instrument  maker in Europe both physically and ethically it's KPS are you a bit of a control freak motor control  that is if so with huge stocks in excellent service check out Crompton Controls as they said  to me in a recent conversation if we don't have it then we can build it and 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 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 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 winners of last week's challenge word competition  last week's words were dunderhead and Sycamore that last being one of my favourite words Sycamore  Sycamore it's lovely anyway the first name to come out of our electronic hat was dark 22 King so very  well done to you click the 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