Alarming Statistics: Solar Panel Risks Exposed

- Coming up on this week's news a major pay breakthrough this week as the electricians union and the company bosses agree the highest wage increase in years. A shock report reveals major safety concerns at nearly all solar installations and MK unveils a revolutionary all-knowing and all-seeing double socket. Welcome to "Electrical News Weekly".

Whether you're listening in the van onsite 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 touble. 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. Unions and buses have agreed the biggest pay rise

for electricians in years. Sparks pay will rise by 7% from January and by a further 5% the following January to help keep up with the cost of living. And nope, we're not gaslighting you. The ECA and Unite shook hands on the two-year deal under the JIB collective agreement. There will also be 20 pound a week rise in sick pay, meaning an approved electrician gets 200 pounds a week while ill. Death in service rises by 10,000 pounds to 40,000 pounds.

Lodging allowance will also go up and both parties have agreed to review the pay of electrical installation apprentices.

In other news, a shock report from top technical consultants has found that nearly all solar installations have major safety concerns. Engineers from US organization Clean Energy Associates surveyed more than 600 PV sites across the world, including the UK. They say there are safety issues at a whopping 97% of the projects. The biggest problem is unsatisfactory grounding, which they found at half of all locations. A close second is damaged modules and next is cross-mated connectors.

There were what they called poor terminations at 4 in 10 installs. Clean Energy Associates say that many of the safety hazards were down to undertrained or inattentive installation technicians using the wrong techniques. Extreme weather conditions also play a part. The solution, as always, ensure installers are properly qualified and trained. Still on safety,

the mother of a seven-year-old boy who died after being electrocuted in a pub beer garden is urging the hospitality sector to make sure their outdoor electrical equipment is safe. Danielle Jones' son, Harvey Tyrrell, was electrocuted when he touched unsafe lighting in the garden of a pub in Harold Wood Essex in 2018. Jones is calling on pubs, restaurants, and other venues to make sure electrical installations and equipment used in outdoor spaces are safe this summer.

The health and safety executive says venues should arrange for an electrician to carry out installation work to the required safety standards only using lights and heaters, specifically designed for outdoors, and to check equipment regularly for damage or water ingress. The pub owner where Harvey passed away pleaded guilty to his manslaughter and to stealing electricity from an unmetered supply and was jailed for nine years in 2021.

Now, how would you like to help draw up one of those safety standards? Well, now's your chance. The British Standards Institution is currently drawing up one for batteries in homes. We're talking the big energy storage batteries that are fed from a renewable source such as solar panels. Where do we install them in the home? How do we transport them safely to site? How do we protect them from fire? These are the questions to which the BSI wants answers.

If you'd like to give your opinion, I've put a link to the consultation in the show notes. You have until Monday the 24th of July to comment.

In product news, MK has unveiled what's being billed as the world's smartest double socket. Dubbed Connected Power, it has the potential to revolutionize energy use in commercial and institutional buildings. That's because it tackles the Achilles' heel of high energy use in portable appliances. The units allow facility managers to see exactly where energy is being used and they can schedule and control them easily. Imagine a gym, for instance.

With these sockets, you can make sure all the equipment is turned off at night. In student accommodation, you can see which occupant is using the most power and you can investigate. and they're super easy to install, because you put them in like a normal socket, and then they wirelessly connect to each other. Gordon's taken one apart to see how it works. Check out his verdict in a special video that he's made. I've popped the link in the notes.

Now, have you ever tried to install an electric vehicle ChargePoint on a rainy day? It's not fun, is it? And it's not particularly safe either. Often, the job gets postponed if there's bad weather, but now, especially designed electrician's tent could change all of that. A Yorkshire company has developed the Drycab, a work tent that inflates in one minute and allows you to work snug and dry. It is made by Vango, the tent people.

When you finish the job and your coffee and donut, it packs down in a minute and you're onto the next job. We tried out the Drycab on a rainy day in Yorkshire. You don't have to wait too long for one of those. And you can see our short video via the link in the notes.

Another cool product we've had to play with is a handy wall-mounted toothbrush charger for bathrooms. It fits in the same space as a double socket, so you can either replace the shaver socket or install it in a new location as we did in our short video. Anyway, we think it's a great upsell, which will have customers flushing you a bright white smile. You know where the link is.

Now, it's time for a historic first. Yes, it is. Drum roll, please. Today, we introduce a new occasional slot called Ask the Expert. This is where we take some of your commonly asked questions about an electrical subject and we, you know, ask an expert. First, we had to catch an actual expert in the wild and I'm delighted to report we bagged an absolute guru of electrical testing. I'm talking about Mr. Meter himself, the one and only Mr. Peter Wade of Megger. And his starter for 10 is,

why is it so hard to get reliable results for loop impedance tests? Peter replies that the issue is that on circuits protected by RCDs, the testers can only use very small currents, because otherwise, the RCD will trip. This means the tester has to measure small voltage changes to work out the loop impedance. And if there's a lot of electrical noise on the circuit, it isn't easy to do this accurately.

Megger's MFT-X1 installation tester solves the problem, because it has a core bit of tech called TrueLoop measurement. This incorporates a confidence meter that tells you when the measurement is accurate and stable. Next up, why does automatic RCD testing take so long?

Peter says this is because many installation testers have a fixed automatic test sequence for RCDs, but often, there are tests in the sequence that you don't need. If you want a meter that lets you program your own test sequence to include only the test you actually need, you can use something like the MFT-X1. Last question,

can I test EV charge points with a multifunction tester? Peter says that if the tester is a recent model, the answer is probably yes, but you'll need to check the data sheet. Even if you tester is suitable for testing EV charge points, you'll still need an adaptor. You need this to simulate the connection of a vehicle to the ChargePoint, which is necessary for carrying out the full range of tests. Thanks for the expert insights,

Peter. Much appreciated. And if you're interested in EV ChargePoint installation, then please check out our free training packages that we've made to help you with your CPD. They're all free and you'll find them on the know how page at efixx.co.uk. So, I'll leave a link to that in the show notes as well. And just before we get to your favorite 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. Up next, for all your circuit protection needs, they're like having an Italian star striker in your premiership team, it's Lewden Palazzoli.

Next, the creators of the priority, non-priority consumer unit that protects your incoming supply from heavy loads like showers and EVs, it's the ingenious and gifted GARO. And the best thing to come out of Yorkshire since stainless steel, it's Doncaster Cables, the home of EV-Ultra and other groundbreaking and quality cables. 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 and we'll dig out a goodie bag prize to the first to get the right answers. Last week's words were cockroach and cappuccino, which sounds a lot like a bush (indistinct) to me. But the first person to get both right was actually the first person to comment on the video. So, well done to you, KnExMaGiC. You are spot on and very quick off the mark.

Make sure you click the link in the show notes to claim your prize. Thanks for listening to this episode of "Electrical News Weekly". 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.