Meeting of: Date: 17 th March 2016 Venue: Teleconference Attendees: Name Patrick Davis (PD) Neil Sawers (NS) Stuart Elmes (SE) Mitchell Cogger (MC) Imogen Jamie (IJ) Louise Evans (LE) Paul Roberts (PR) Representing Cool Sky Grant UK Viridian Solar Bosch Thermotechnology Gemserv Gemserv Gemserv Apologies: Name Claire Aizlewood Nick Davies Oriola Davies Patrick Maxwell Sean Young Representing BBA NaREC BBA BBA BBA Agenda: 1. Welcome to the meeting 2. Previous meeting minutes and actions 3. SG and SMG feedback 03/04/2017 Page 1 of 8
4. TSPEC Combined Compliance Certificate 5. TSPEC Update on migration to online form 6. Domestic RHI DECCs consultation on RHI reform 7. AOB and date for the next meeting 1. Welcome to the Meeting The Chair of the Solar Thermal working group, PD welcomed attendees to the meeting and the agenda was approved. 2. Previous meeting minutes and actions The working group reviewed the minutes from the previous meeting and agreed the document to be an accurate reflection of the discussions. IJ updated the group on the ongoing actions from the previous meeting; ACTION 151215_01: MSC Administrator and PD to produce a paper examining the importance of attending the IEA meetings. Update: Open. PD noted the importance of the IEA process in ensuring that the MCS standards are aligned and recognised internationally, and that costs for attendance of the meeting should only relate to travel and accommodation. It was agreed that the MCS Administrator would raise this at the Management Panel meeting and if approved, to see who would be most appropriate to attend the meetings. The MCS Administrator will feedback to the WG following discussion at the Management Panel. ACTION 151215_02: Sue Bloomfield to provide information on the cause of complaints relating to the solar thermal installations to the WG. Update: Closed. Noted that the RECC complaints data had been provided to the WG within the submitted papers. The WG had no comments to make on the data. 03/04/2017 Page 2 of 8
ACTION 151215_03: MCS Administrator to notify the WG about the performance estimates meeting to see who would like to attend. Update: Closed. MCS Administrator noted that the heat pumps working group have made a start on their own performance estimate work streams. A one day meeting is planned to take place to address performance estimates. ACTION 151215_04: MCS Administrator to put forward a change request form to the SMG outlining the inclusion of the TSPEC at the pre-contractual stage in the standard. Update: Open. MCS Administrator noted that the change request form, as reviewed by the Chair and WG, will be presented for consideration at the 29 th March SMG meeting. ACTION 151215_05, 06 & 07: MCS Administrator noted that all TSPEC actions would be discussed under item 4 of the agenda. ACTION 151215_08: PD to liaise with SE to identify what the next steps should be with regards to ErP. Update: PD provided information on the EU sponsored label pack project, with regards to the eco labelling of solar thermal systems. A link to this information was included in the actions paper for this meeting circulated by the MCS Administrator. Post-meeting update: JF has confirmed that if the installer is only installing solar thermal systems (collectors and cylinder), and linking an existing heat generator, they would not need an ErP label at this time. JF further noted that this will probably change in the future. ACTION STWG_160317-01: MCS Administrator to feedback to the WG following discussion at the Management Panel regarding attending the IEA meetings. ACTION STWG_160317-02: MCS Administrator to raise attending IEA meetings with the MCS Management Panel and provide an update to the WG on the feedback. 03/04/2017 Page 3 of 8
3. SG and SMG feedback Steering Group IJ informed the group that the charitable status of MCS has now been approved and due diligence work is ongoing. It is expected that the novation process will be completed by early May. The WG also heard that the first phase of the marketing research project is expected to commence in the coming weeks. SMG IJ noted that MCS 012 was going to SMG, to finalise when the mandatory date for implementation would be imposed. It was further identified that while the standard is only mandatory for solar PV, MCS 012 can be used for solar thermal as a way of meeting building regulations. The intention is to return with a finalised Impact Assessment to support the revisions. SE identified that establishing the sunset period for the existing standard would need to be agreed at the 22 nd March Roofing WG meeting, prior to the submission of the SMG papers. PD requested that the agreed timelines for MCS 012 be shared with the Solar Thermal WG, in order to provide guidance. ACTION STWG_160317-03: MCS Administrator to circulate the amendments to MCS 012 to the Solar Thermal WG following the SMG meeting on 29 th March. 03/04/2017 Page 4 of 8
4. TSPEC Combined Compliance Certificate IJ noted that the Compliance Certificate and its combination with the TSPEC was raised at the January SMG meeting. IJ identified an ongoing issue with the contractors producing the online version of the TSPEC (Demigraphic). The MCS Administrator expressed concern that using the same contractor to deliver additional work would not be prudent, given their current reticence in completing the contracted works. IJ identified the possibility using the existing excel version of the TSPEC and including a declaration of conformance in place of the compliance certificate in order to circumvent the current situation. ACTION STWG_160317-04: MCS Administrator to circulate the MIS 3001 Change Request to the SMG for discussion at the 29 th March SMG meeting. ACTION STWG_160317-05: If approved by the SMG; MCS Administrator to add a declaration of conformity into the Excel version of the TSPEC. 5. TSPEC Update on migration to online form This item was discussed as part of agenda item 4. 6. Domestic RHI DECC s consultation on RHI reform PD introduced the agenda item addressing the recent publication of DECC s proposed RHI reform. The reform identified changes to the incentive mechanism, notably removing all support for domestic and non-domestic solar thermal installations from 2017. The WG noted that such 03/04/2017 Page 5 of 8
support had already been suspended by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in February 2016. It was noted that given the potential impact that the RHI could have that the WG attendance was poor. It was further noted that the WG has steadily shrunk over the past two years, with the role of MCS questioned in the event that RHI support is withdrawn. The WG questioned the relevance of MCS within the solar thermal industry under such circumstances, and whether continued engagement by solar thermal installers and manufacturers with the Scheme would be prudent. IJ clarified the role of the MCS in providing customers with a trusted quality assurance scheme for solar thermal installations. In response to the proposed RHI reforms, SE proposed that the WG members may be interested in attending the emergency RHI meeting that the Solar Trade Association scheduled for 21 st March 2016. IJ agreed that MCS would send representatives to the meeting and that MCS Administrator would investigate whether a mail shot could be circulated to the 959 MCS certified solar thermal installers. Working group members noted that the reasons for losing solar thermal support from DECC seemed questionable and biased. An example is that the assessment mentions that approximately 50% of customers who have a solar thermal installation would have installed the system regardless of RHI support, however the figures for Biomass and Heat Pumps were also reasonably high but were not featured in the impact assessment. MC noted that those households that want solar thermal systems already have it installed, identifying the bureaucracy of the MCS Scheme and that it is more profitable for businesses to invest in other technologies. 03/04/2017 Page 6 of 8
PD encouraged the working group to respond to the consultation and the group heard that MCS will also be drafting a response. ACTION STWG_160317-06: MCS Administrator to attend the 21 st March 2016 STA meeting. ACTION STWG_160317-07: MCS Administrator to investigate what routes are available to raise installers awareness of both the STA meeting and the RHI consultation. 7. AOB and dates of next meetings The MCS Administrator invited nominations to represent the solar thermal working group at the 29 th March SMG meeting as NS is unable to attend. As no other members were able to attend, NS agreed to dial in to the meeting for the solar thermal agenda item. Post meeting note: NS agreed to attend the 29 th SMG meeting in person. To aid discussion at the SMG meeting, PD agreed to draft a note summarising the views of the solar thermal working group. ACTION STWG_160317-08: PD to prepare a summary of the solar thermal working group s concerns to be considered at the 29 th March SMG meeting. There was no further business and the Chair closed the meeting. The next meeting dates are as follows: 03/04/2017 Page 7 of 8
Thursday, 16 th June 2016, 10:30-13:00 Thursday, 15 th September 2016, 10:30-13:00 03/04/2017 Page 8 of 8