REVEALED: £1.3 Million Solar Fraud

coming up on this week's news three solar panel  frauders are sentenced for their part in a 1.3   million pound scam electricians get to grips with  the new Amendment three of the wiring regulations   and a power firm is fined almost a quarter of a  million pounds after a high voltage electrical   linesman is paralysed 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 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 trouble and if you think you  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 three people  

have been sentenced for their part in running an  electrical Renewables installation scam the trio   ran two companies which offered solar panels heat  pumps and water heating systems the firms ripped   off hundreds of customers to the tune of 1.3  million sun power Renewables was set up in 2014   and used cold calling and bullying tactics to get  people to buy solar panels and other products that   were often unsafe unsuitable and in some cases  never installed loans were fraudulently taken  

out in customers names with the money arriving  under the guise of government grants and then   taken away by sun power leaving their victims  to pick up the repayments a second firm Pro   Shield was set up to sell home security systems  to a database of homeowners sentencing recorder   Penelope Stanis Street Keen said that the people  who bought alarms could have died waiting for help   that wasn't coming Robin McDonald 44 of Park Road  Brett be Burton on Trent was described as having  

a leading role in the operation of both firms he  was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment for four   counts of fraudulent trading and conspiracy to  trade fraudulently and disqualified from being   director of a company for 10 years Roy Hampshire  58 of light ash Lane koven wolverhampton who was   involved in the day-to-day operation of pro  Shield was sentenced to one year and 8 months   in jail suspended for 18 months 12 days community  service and disqualified from being a director of  

a company for 6 years Nicola Mather 44 of Robert  Adam Road Derby had allowed hundreds of thousands   of pounds to wash through her accounts for the  firm she was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment   suspended for 12 months and 200 hours of community  service all three will be subject to a proceeds of  

crime act at a later date still in the courts a  power firm has been fined £240,000 after a high   voltage electrical linesman was paralysed in a  fall Gavin Pugh from Bangor in North Wales had   been demolishing and replacing electricity pylons  in East Staffordshire when he fell more than 30 ft   in April 2022 Birmingham magistrates Court was  told how Pugh and his colleagues began working   on a pylon in preparation for its demolition  they were unaware there had been previous work  

to loosen the bolts on the tower undertaken by a  separate team of linesmen this work had not been   risk assessed and there were no systems in place  to effectively record and communicate what they   had actually done Pugh unknowingly attached his  full protection lanyard to a diagonal steel that   was only securely bolted in place at its uppermost  fixing as he moved around the tower the steel he   was attached to dropped into a vertical position 

causing his lanyard to fall loose resulting in   him falling to the ground he spent six months  in hospital and has been left unable to work   as a result of his extensive injuries a probe  by the health and safety executive found that   his employer wood transmission and distribution  limited failed to ensure that the work at height   was properly planned appropriately supervised and  carried out in a manner that was safe the company   had not considered the work at height hierarchy 

as part of its planning and had not assessed all   the risks furthermore it had failed to put in  place a process for transferring work between   teams and ensuring safety critical information  was recorded and communicated effectively wood   transmission and distribution limited of Booth  Park chelford Road in knutsford pleaded guilty   at Birmingham magistrates Court to breaching the  work at height regulation of 2005 this month the   company was fined £240,000 an ordered to pay 

costs of £14,000 hse Inspector Robert Gidman   said that the incident could have been prevented  had Wood transmission and distribution limited   put in place adequate arrangements to protect its  workers from harm and if you are affected by the   story and would like to know a little bit more  about the working at Heights regulations and the   working at Heights hierarchy then please check  out the free training package that we've made   for you along with the Luceco group there's 

lots of information there concerning working   at height and other health and safety factors in  other news electricians are starting starting to  

get to grips with the new Amendment Three to the  wiring regulations which was released last week   the revision to bs7671 Aims to clear up confusion  over the use of unidirectional and bidirectional   rcds for power sources such as solar panels and  home batteries the amendment was fast tracked by   the IET and the British standards Institute after  the alarm was raised earlier this year that rcds   and mcbs were being incorrectly connected to  micro generator installations if you haven't  

got it yet you'll need to download it for free  from the iet's website it's a requirement that   all NICEIC certified businesses download a copy  of the amendment the PDF is considered a Bolt-on   to the brown book much like Amendment one was back  in 2020 the IET says that the brown book and the   Amendments will be valid until at least 2026 why  2026 I hear you cry because that will be when the  

freshly announced Amendment four is expected to  be published there's never to my knowledge been   four amendments to an addition of bs7671 before  which reflects the rapidly changing nature of   our industry at the moment but you won't have to  wait 2 years to find out more the draft for public   consultation goes live this Wednesday the 7th of  August so you can not only get a good idea of what   the thrust of the major changes will be but also 

have your say on what should and shouldn't make it   in there's also a live webinar you can join at  noon on the day of the launch where Mark Cole,   the head of technical regulations at The IET  and his team will announce the expected key   changes and their impact on you there's even a  live Q&A session afterwards so you can get your   key questions answered as always there's a link in  the show notes and hopefully we'll see you there  

speaking of all things regulations last week's  question of the week was taken from our free   training package on underfloor wiring systems from  Marshall Tufflex we asked according to regulation 433.3.1 if overload protection is omitted  from a conductor, what type of protection   should be provided? The correct answer  of course according to that regulation,  

is of course fault protection. Which a reasonably  acceptable 72% percent of people got right on   YouTube but only 64% hit on LinkedIn to find  out why it's sometimes okay not to provide over   load protection to a circuit check out that free  training package by clicking the link in the show   notes you'll also find there a link to our latest  CPD which was also made with Marshall Tufflex this   time on making sure your containment is compliant  not just with the regs but also manufacturers  

instructions on weight loading environmental  factors and premature collapse of wiring systems  

now in product news that's hotter than horseradish  the concept of EV charging cables running across   the pavement has been given a major boost this  week West berkshire Council has become the first   local Authority in the UK to give the thumbs up  to a ducting system from kerbo charge the council   has just completed a trial of the product which is  designed to help householders without driveways to   charge their car easily as it's recessed there's 

no trip Hazard for pedestrians West berkshire will   now offer the option to all its residents under  the plan its highways contractor Volka highways   will carry out the installations kerbo charge says  home charging is 5 to 10 times cheaper than public   charges when a resident wants to charge their  car they insert the cable into the channel and   the lid closes behind it like a zip eliminating  any trip Hazard the approval has been welcomed by   kerbo investor and TV star Deborah Meenan who 

backed The Firm on an episode of Dragon's Den   now have you ever struggled to fit a dimmer into  a cramped space well Struggle No More electrical  

device maker Theben has just unveiled the world's  smallest dimmer the Dimax 540 has been designed   for electricians working in ultra-tight spaces  it's the size of a 2 piece but has the power   of a full-size dimmer it can provide flicker free  dimming for up to 150W of LED power even better no   neutral wire is required you can also control the  lighting from multiple locations using just one   Dimax module combined with push to make switches  surely something as radical as this deserves a  

dedicated video I hear you cry at your computers  and phones and it totally does so we did one well   Gary did and you can sit back and watch how he got  on with the world's smallest dimmer in his latest   vid fresh from the edit Suite I've put the link to  that in the show notes you can also see the Dimax   540 In the Flesh at the theben stand at any of  the forthcoming elex shows lewden tells us that  

its full EV charging range is now available in the  UK the series includes 14 distribution cabinets   for multiple EV charging 13 rcbo consumer units  with surge protection and five retrofit consumer   units for the addition of EV charges there are  also accessories such as few switches isolators   and distribution terminal blocks that's a lot of  choice so they've handily brought all their EV   charging infrastructure together in one brochure  I've popped the download link to that in the show  

notes and finally your annual reminder that  many traditional Lighting Technologies are set   to be phased out over the coming years that's  because the mercury in many of the light bulbs   is considered more hazardous than ya nan's  10-year-old fruit cake there will be a bull   ban on all high-intensity discharge sources from  2027 this includes High Press sodium and metal   including quartz and ceramic Arc tubes as these  systems are expensive to replace the lighting  

industry is recommending the installations move to  all LED ahead of the ban thanks to the anonymous   person who sent us that story via our press  release submission page please make sure you   include your name next time so that we can give  you full credit and lastly 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 in August we're  focusing on residential lighting Smart Homes and   heating 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 I revealed  

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 for all your circuit protection  needs they're like having an Italian Star Striker   in your Premiership team it's Lewden Pallazoli  next they're the brand that Pride themselves in  

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and quality products it's 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 Today'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  the words were synthesiser and Curfew and the   person who we plucked out of our digital hat was  yes 9466 very well done to you make sure 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 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 talk calibrated arm