coming up on this week's news a coroner has written to hot point after a grandmother and  her disabled son perished in a house fire caused by an electrical fault a roofer is electrocuted  while working on a house in Northern Ireland and a new law says Builders must reveal how  they handle retention cash welcome to electrical news weekly in association with solar trade sales  your easy One-Stop shop for all things solar 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 just to let you know this is the last ever episode  of electrical news weekly that I'll present from the current Studio we're just moving premises so  keep your eyes peeled for the new look Studio next week take that Gary Lineker and as always  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 a coroner has written to hot point after  a grandmother and her disabled son perished in a house fire caused by an electrical fault in one  of the brands Whirlpool tumble dryers Eighty-six year old Champagauri and 66-year-old Dipak Bhatt  died from inhalation injuries after the fire at their home in Edgware, west London in March  in 2023. in his newly released report coroner Peter Straker says there was a 10% chance that  the EMI filter in the dryer caused the fire and a 90% chance that the condensate pump was the  culprit the condenser pump discharges the water extracted from the clothes during the drawing  process he lists as one of his key concerns that water getting into the pump may result in tracking  faults causing resistive Heating and fire he's now written to hot point with his conclusions  and requested that the company respond with its proposals and the timeline for Action Straker  also raised issues over occupants sleeping while a product takes advantage of lower electricity rates  he recommends that manufacturers be required to use the office for product safety and standards  risk assessment method dubbed prism to take into account householders and their likely actions hot  point had yet to respond as eFIXX went to air in other news a roofer has been electrocuted while  working on a house in county Armagh in Northern Ireland. Gareth Richardson, known as Paddy,  may have touched a live cable while at the property in the town of Keady. the father of four  was taken by air ambulance to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast where he was placed in an  induced coma he died 12 days later as a result of his injuries his employer David Jameson Roofing  Services said that Paddy was a popular character in the area who took great pride in his work an  investigation is expected to take place into the circumstances of the fatality and will keep you  posted about developments the eFIXX team extends its sympathies to the family and friends of Mr  Richardson the abuse of retention money has long been a source of contention in the trade typically  Builders and other main contractors hold on to 5% of an electrical contracts value for a year this  is supposed to ensure that defects get rectified but when the liability period is up electricians  hear a series of wearing familiar reasons why the money can't be released we're waiting to get paid  ourselves mate we're expecting a practical completion certificate any day now we're  just getting final account approval we need the warranties the as built drawings the Ops manuals  the insurance stocks and while you're at it your diversity equality and inclusion policy and then  you'll get paid it's enough to make you feel like you should be voting for a faithful or a traitor  but now a new law is set to put pressure on Builders an amendment to the reporting on payment  practice regulations has just been approved by the government starting next month Builders must  disclose the ratio of retention cash that they owed compared to what they owe in turn to their  subbies they must also reveal the percentage of retention money withheld from suppliers as  a proportion of the total payments made to its suppliers the electrical contracts Association  hailed a new law which it said followed its consistent lobbying it said the regulation  was a long awaited win for the trade the ECA's Rob Driscoll claimed the rolling would expose the size  and nature of the problem of retentions abuse in the UK the organisation says it worked with  its equivalent organisations in Australia and New Zealand in shaping its demand for reform the trade  isn't alone in its Financial challenges makers of Green Tech are getting squeezed too myenergi the  Grimsby based maker of home chargers and battery packs has just reported a pre-tax loss of £25  Million last year it made a profit of almost £9 million The Firm blamed the downturn on weak  demand and intense competition among suppliers of plug-in points rival chargers are increasingly  being bundled with car sales and finance deals it's also been revealed that company co-founder  Jordan Brompton is stepping away from the business Brompton said she wanted to spend more time with  her family we at eFIXX wish her all the very best in her future ventures meanwhile another New Wave  green firm energy supplier Octopus is rolling out its zero bills contract to Scotland Yes  you heard that right the firm is giving Scottish customers a 10-year contract with no energy bills  what's the catch well to be eligible you need to be kitted out with solar panels and a battery at  a minimum you must also have no gas supply the idea is that you generate more power than you  use octopus says it aims to deliver 100,000 zero bills homes by 2030 and has already rolled out  the initiative in England Germany and New Zealand the company has also announced that installs which  use Enphase solar and Battery Systems can benefit from its smart tariffs specifically customers with  the kit can use the intelligent octopus flux rate this allows Dynamic buying and selling  of electricity as well as the optimising of charging and discharging of the battery in  product news this week is what's being termed the only bracket in the market that will allow you to  install a metal back box in a closed wall the Box strap bracket is a one-sized fits all bits of Kit  it works with both single and double metal back boxes up to 35 mm in depth if you want to use  a 47 mm backbox on a single layer plaster board you adjust the bracket by bending the corners if  you come up against a stud you can simply turn the bracket vertically to avoid The Clash the  product's been fire tested with quell fire putty pads and the fire testing info is available on  the company's website all throughout this week Knightsbridge has unveiled what it claims is the  most powerful USB socket on the market the Dual USBC Outlets can charge two devices simultaneously  at 45 wats and 18 Watts or it can power a single device at 65 Watts Knightsbridge says it secret  ingredient is special gallium nitride Tech which achieves over 94% efficiency it's not the only  USB socket setting new standards in the market however BG says that its super fast range can  now be insulation tested to 500 volts this makes it compliant with the product standard BS1363 D2  it says the sockets don't need to be removed from the circuit during insulation resistance  tests saving time and simplifying testing I did a breakdown of all the different power ratings of  the BG sockets and where to use them so check that out after this video you'll find a link to that in  the show notes and speaking of testing with 500 volts DC our question of the week came from our  free training package From Doncaster cables on cables and conductors and asked the question band  One voltages are voltage bands not exceeding the correct answer was of course 50 volts AC and 120  volts DC and it was another below par showing on YouTube with only 37% of people getting it right  while over on LinkedIn for another record-breaking run of four weeks more people got it right again  with 68% hitting the mark I suspect our YouTube audience didn't quite read the question properly  so we'll give them the benefit of the doubt don't forget to take the free training package From  Doncaster Cables you'll find the link to that in the show notes back to products now and Knipex  has launched what it terms stalk beak pliers they feature a 40° bend to allow you to get into really  awkward places you can also cut with them thanks to hardened edges shaped for a pierced cut this  makes them suitable for both hard and soft cables and wires the Pliers are VDE tested so they comply  with safety standards for electrical work and our very own Joe 3PO has been at eFIXX's top  secret research and testing laboratory at Lincoln College just off monks Road opposite the sandwich  chop Joe's been testing the new cable containment solution from cable boss the CB02 and the CB03  have been billed as a quick and easy solution for supporting Cable in commercial installations and  above suspended ceilings to test this Joe has gone head-to-head with the fastest chap he could find  from the Northeast Andy Bellas it's a great race and well worth a watch as always I've left links  to the video and the cable boss in the show notes now the microgeneration certification scheme has  approved its first small turbine the G11 from Reis energy is now the only MCS certified wind product  the company says it's suitable for applications on farms factories and Community projects it reveals  that it's getting a lot of interest from customers who want to combine it with solar panels to ensure  better energy security during the winter months meanwhile solar panels are finding their way into  the most unexpected places a Dutch firm says it's integrated them into Road surfaces it's  now planning a network of cycle Lanes across the Netherlands also the Swiss railway Authority has  approved the placing of solar panels between the rails of its tracks Sun-ways a local startup is  now planning to build an 18 kilowatt system along a 100 meter section of track in the  Canton of Neuchâtel looking forward to hearing how I've pronounced that wrong in this week's  comments while over in Germany solar panels have become so cheap that householders are using them  for fencing some say they're not even going to bother connecting them up and on that bombshell  we've come to 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 send 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 we 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 massive solar PV array they're literally the greenest test  instrument maker in Europe both physically and ethically it's KPS now are you a bit of a control  freak motor control that is if so with huge stocks and 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 with a  new award-winning Lumo consumer unit and offering Complete product support from their highly trained  team it's CPN Cudis 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 click the links in  the show notes to find out more about these great Brands big thanks to you all we really appreciate  your ongoing support for the news now if you think you know the words that I've smuggled into this  week 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 lunch time  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 perplexing and horsepower and the  person to be selected from our electronic hat this week was no-one really not one single person got  both so we're going to give Jenny a week off from sending out prizes and hopefully this  week's words were more obvious we'll find out in a week's time 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