Coming up on this week's news, the government alerts the trade over big brand 16 amp plugs and sockets. Your cable clips could be putting lives at risk, says a manufacturers' body. And a builder is caught using Twin and Earth as an extension lead. Welcome to Electrical News Weekly in association with Shelly. Helping electricians offer smarter buildings and better energy management. Shelly's range of smart relays, sensors, and control devices makes it easy to add automation without the cost and disruption of rewiring. 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 this exclusive cap branded with friends of the show, Quickwire and Chumptools. And while you're there, click the links in the show notes to check out what our sponsors offer. And stay tuned to the end of the show to catch up on our regular features, including the weather from Fox ESS and the lighter side of the news from Quickwire.

The government is warning this week about a big brand 16-amp plug and connector set that it says can lead to electric shock and fire. That's because the live and neutral connection markings are reversed on both the male and female site connectors by Diall. And now the kit is being recalled by its owner, Screwfix and B&Q parent Kingfisher.

The product could be wired incorrectly, presenting a risk of electric shock, overheating, and fire. Trading standards inspectors say the set does not meet the requirements of the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations. The affected connectors were on sale for 17 months from March of last year to August. Any electrician who's installed the connectors with the batch numbers that I've put in the show notes is warned to disconnect the product fully from the electricity supply. Switching off at the wall is not sufficient, says the Office for Product Safety and Standards. The plug must be removed from the socket. If the product is permanently wired, you need to isolate the circuit at the consumer unit. Once disconnected, return the item to your nearest B&Q store where you'll get a refund.

In other news, new wiring regs guidance says your cable supports could be a fire risk. The manufacturers’ association BEAMA says if a wiring containment platform such as cable tray is not properly supported, it can become a serious hazard in a fire. It's not unheard of for such systems to collapse, blocking exits and obstructing firefighters.

For instance, in the Shirley Towers blaze in Southampton in 2010, two firefighters, Alan Bannon and James Shears, lost their lives after becoming entangled in fallen electrical cables. There, the heat had melted the plastic trunking. The coroner said wiring systems should be redesigned to prevent what he termed premature collapse. But the term premature collapse was never defined and rather than offer clarity to installers, BEAMA says this may have added confusion. Additionally, there are no fire rating tests for the performance of cable management systems in the harmonised product standards. This means that installers have a problem when their clients specify fire safety performance levels for installations. BEAMA's guide is intended to bring clarity for electricians so they can be compliant. It specifically relates to BS 7671 and covers things like containment, fixing methods, support, risk zones, and inspection. The advisory is free to download, and I've put the link in the show notes. So, make like a male goose and have a gander.

The Health and Safety Executive has sanctioned a building firm for using Twin and Earth as an extension lead. The organization served two immediate prohibition notices against Cameley Construction (South West) Limited, a contractor based in Radstock, Somerset. The first was for the twin and earth which was trailing along a walkway and connected to a socket which was not wall-mounted. The second was for exposed electrical conductors coming from consumer units. Inspectors say the company could not demonstrate that these conductors had been isolated from electrical power. HSE says the company was therefore failing to ensure its electrical systems were constructed to prevent danger as far as reasonably practicable. The enforcement action involved Regulations 3 and 4 of the Electricity at Work Regulations. So, two immediate prohibition notices and a good reminder that temporary wiring doesn't mean temporary standards.

Now, if you'd rather use kit that won't get you in trouble with the authorities, then check out the range from DeWalt. With tools created specifically for the electrical industry, they're tested on site and in the hardest possible ways. Dropped, covered in dust, abused, and driven to the absolute limits so they'll keep working exactly when you need them to.

National Grid says it's about to start managing voltage on the local network by telling people when to use more electricity and when to use less. It's trialling the scheme in 100 low-voltage areas where the growing popularity of EVs and solar panels is causing problems. In areas packed with EV chargers, National Grid wants to turn demand down between 5 and 7 p.m. That's when everyone gets home, plugs in the car, and starts cooking a lovely beef stroganoff. But in areas with lots of solar PV, it wants to do the exact opposite. Between midday and 2 p.m. from May to August, it will pay people to use more electricity. It hopes they will soak up all that peak daytime solar generation and stop the local voltage from getting too high. And it could be anything from an EV charger to a battery, heat pump or storage heater. There's no minimum size for a participating load. The scheme is part of a much bigger flexibility tender covering 826 zones with National Grid looking for 2.82 terawatt hours of flexibility. Contracts are expected to start next April. So, the future of grid management could involve strange new instructions like your voltage is too high, quick, someone turn the tumble dryer on.

Kidde’s latest range of interconnected smoke, heat, and carbon monoxide alarms has hit the market. They've been designed to simplify upgrades, improve fault identification, and support compliance with current UK standards. The system provides distinct sound patterns on the detection of both fire and carbon monoxide. This allows occupants to identify the danger immediately. When any connected alarm detects smoke, heat, or carbon monoxide, all the hardwired interconnected alarms sound the appropriate warning throughout the property.

The range is suitable for installations designed to category LD1, LD2, or LD3 of BS 5839-6:2019 with alarms meeting grade D1 or D2 requirements depending on the application. The alarms are backwards compatible with selected older Kidde models. This allows you to extend or upgrade the network without replacing every detector in the property. A redesigned base incorporates direct wiring connections and removes the traditional flying lead arrangement. The larger base is also super useful. That's because it helps cover marks left by older alarms, so you don't need to do any redecoration. Other features include slide-on detector mounting, side cable entry points for surface wiring, and a simple release mechanism for maintenance.

The system also includes a special alarm memory function. After an alarm, the originating detector continues flashing for up to 24 hours, making it easier to identify the source of activation. You can also get a really useful centralized test and hush unit. This can silence all alarms except the initiating unit to help quickly pinpoint the source of the alarm. Our very own Joe Hammond has done a deep dive into Kidde's innovative system. I've put a link to the video in the show notes.

There's big business news from Electrical News Weekly sponsor Shelly Group. They've entered into an investment agreement with Schneider Electric around a proposed takeover. Schneider intends to offer €70 in cash for each Shelly share, valuing the company at around €1.2 billion, or roughly £1.03 billion at current exchange rates. That represents a 27% premium to the unaffected reference price from July. The deal would combine Shelly's open software-led smart home and energy management platform with Schneider Electric's global reach and expertise across residential and small building energy management. Shelly's founders Dimitar Dimitrov and Svetlin Todorov, who together control around 57% of the company are backing the deal. Schneider has also said it intends to retain Shelly's headquarters, organisational structure and workforce in Bulgaria for at least three years. The offer still needs regulatory approval and sufficient shareholder acceptance with completion currently expected in the first quarter of 2027.

Now, if you were at last week's Solar & Storage Live in Birmingham, you'll know that much of the buzz was about the new A15 all-in-one home energy system from Hinen.

The A15 combines a hybrid inverter, a 14.4 kWh battery module, battery management, and emergency power supply in a single wall-mounted unit that's just 18 cm deep. It runs at 98.3% efficiency, charges and discharges at 1C and scales to 86.4 kWh. It also has built-in heating which allows the householder to charge even when the ambient temperature is minus 20°C. The system accepts up to 200% PV oversizing with a 90-volt start-up voltage. There's a Hinen app which allows live monitoring, tariff optimisation, backup reserve, and a self-check function. Hinen styles itself as the brand that brings customers to its installers. Already 100 UK contractors have registered with the brand and are starting to sell and install its systems. They're supported by distribution through Power Warehouse, BHC, SolarHub, and HDM Solar.

Electricians who register with Hinen have an opportunity to receive homeowner enquiries in their own postcode from the company's national marketing campaign. But you better move fast. A special launch offer on the A series inverter and B15 battery remains open to the first 300 installers to sign up. If you missed the Solar & Storage Live show, you can read all about it in a special review by Gordon and the boys. I've put the link in the show notes. But just to tide you over, here's what Joe Hammond got up to.

They've let me out of my studio in Lincoln and we're at Solar & Storage Live and I've spotted something which is quite interesting. [music] We've got Dan here. Look now, Dan, something I was quite intrigued about. Where am I going to plug this in? So this is one part of our MCS unit. So megawatt charging system. So this is a satellite unit for it. Typically there would be a power module behind it. You can have up to 12 of these running off one megawatt. This will plug into HGV. At the moment it's pretty split whether it's going to go MCS or CCS. So we've got both cases covered. But typically you'd find this in a depot or HV service station. You know I mean that doesn't need to grow any more. What else have you got? Because we saw this as well. This is our 80 kW unit. It's our newest addition to the range. You can buy in a 50, 60 or 80 kW version. So this is the 80 kW version. However, you could buy it as an 80 and rate it down if you wanted to. So, this can be wall-mounted, pedestal mounted as it is here, or you can have it in a trolley. So, for a depot, if you need to take it through the vehicle, then it can be trolley mounted. If it's pedestal mounted, it comes with this brilliant cable management system. So, the cables are extra light. Then, all of our chargers come with a three-year warranty. Most of our range is IP65. The units are sealed, so they don't need to be serviced for warranty. They don't need to be serviced. Correct. Oh, excellent. Yeah, which is a massive selling point on DC chargers because operating cost is a big pain for a lot of fleet managers or CPOs. So, this doesn't need to be serviced. Thanks for chatting to us. And yeah, giant plug. Lots of fun for Joe last week. More from him later.

Now, how about this for a bright idea? It's the Paul Russells' lamp of the week. Check out this bad boy. Its technical name is a smoked G150 globe, and it's roughly the size of my head. The lamp has a single helix LED filament kicking out 120 lumens from an input of 4.5 watts. It's got a super warm colour temperature of 1,800 Kelvin, which is a stark contrast to the black and glass. We think it would look great in the cafe on the Death Star, as Darth Vader would say. [clears throat] [groaning] The dark side is strong with this one. Scriptwriter Ray threatened me with an impression this week. I think my cold has actually helped out with that one. You can see the full range of lamps at paulrussells.com.

And now to the lighter side of the electrical news. Yes, it's time for a tea break with Quickwire and its range of incredibly rapid electrical connectors. An American firm has come up with a new safety device for solar installers. It's a pair of shorts. In rubber. In one colour: khaki. But these aren't just any old shorts. They've got a superpower. They're ultra non-slip, so if you trip on a roof and land on your backside, you're not going anywhere. The SteepGear shorts are designed to be worn John Major style over your jeans or trousers. They cost £46 and feature reach through pocket access and an adjustable waist. What's not to like? That's the lighter side of the news in our tea break with Quickwire and their range of incredibly rapid electrical connectors. Click the link in the description to check them out for yourself.

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 partner. We couldn't make the news without you: 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 this great brand. 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 midnight on the Wednesday 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 codswallop and bamboozled. And the first person to come out of the electronic hat was frequent commenter and friend of the show, Roy Cadge, who it looks like has entered on behalf of his 8-year-old. So, well done to you, Roy's kid. Make sure you click the get involved link in the show notes to claim your prize.

And now, it's time for this week's weather from Joe 3PO and Fox ESS.

We're coming to you live from the Fox ESS stand here at the NEC Birmingham. And there's some pretty cool bits of kit here. Chargers, batteries, inverters. All of this is great, but what we really want to know is what's the weather actually doing next week. Well, before that, a quick shout out to Kenny Electrical in Birmingham, who seems to enjoy a cheeky Fox install. And for this week's solar barometer, and as we are at the NEC, is there any opportunity on the roof of this building that could be tapped into? Quite clearly, yes, there is. Come on, Kenny Electrical. Might be worth a quote.

So, what will our solar panels have to work with next week? Tuesday looks rather mixed. There'll be plenty of cloud around with a murky start in a few central areas and some showers possible across Wales, Northern Ireland, and parts of Scotland. Into Wednesday, Atlantic weather systems will keep things changeable. Rain and showers are most likely across the north and west, occasionally pushing further across the country. There should still be some useful brighter breaks, particularly towards the south and east. The solar generation will be variable rather than completely switched off. Thursday brings another mixture of cloud showers and brighter spells. Once again, the south and east look best placed for longer sunny intervals while northern and western areas remain breezier and more unsettled. By Friday, another band of cloud and rain could move through from the west. The precise timing is still uncertain, but expect generation to rise and fall as the brighter gaps move through. And looking towards the weekend, there are signs of things becoming a little drier and more settled, particularly across southern and eastern Britain. So, it may not be a full power solar week, but it does show us why storage matters. Capture the energy during those brighter windows, store it, and then use it when it gets a bit cloudier. And that's it for this week's weather from Solar & Storage Live and Fox ESS.

Thanks for that update, Joe. Thanks for listening to this episode of Electrical News Weekly in association with Shelly, helping electricians offer smarter buildings and better energy management. Shelly's range of smart relays, sensors, and control devices makes it easy to add automation without the cost and disruption of rewiring. Until next time, have a great week. Stay safe out there and remember there's no such thing as a torque calibrated arm.