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PRO INSTALLER AUGUST 2014
PRO NEWS
@proinstaller1
Exterior Foils – Beware Unsuitable Imitations, Says Renolit
Inferior imitations of RENOLITs world-leading exterior foils are appearing in the UK market,
RENOLIT has warned. Primarily laminated on cladding and roofline products, these foils will fail
when exposed to weather and sunlight, causing problems for installers and home owners alike.
UK installation believed to be less
than 24 months old.
After 2232 hours exposure
In recent months, a growing number of RENOLIT customers have
made the company aware that these
products were being installed in the
UK and marketed as suitable for
exterior application. Having weather
tested samples of these components
in their in house laboratory to DIN
EN513 (as specified in RAL 716), the
results prove that these films are
completely unsuitable for exterior
use.
In their tests the products failed to achieve
even 1300 hours of artificial weathering before displaying unacceptable signs of colour
variation, which is considered to equate
to less than two years’ exposure in a UK
climate, with the samples then becoming
almost completely destroyed in the equivalent of less than three years (see photo 1).
Solar industry launches legal
challenge over RO removal
Four solar companies
have launched a Judicial Review against
government proposals
to remove renewable
obligation (RO) support for large-scale
solar.
Lark Energy, Orta Solar
Farms, Solarcentury and
TGC Renewables claim
that the move by the
Department of Energy and
Climate Change (DECC) to
withdraw RO support for
solar farms over 5MW from
April 2015 is unlawful.
The Judicial Review
represents the third legal
challenge in as many years
for the solar industry.
The companies have
appointed Prospect Law to
represent them in court. A
spokesman from the legal
firm which was responsible for the previous two
legal challenges said:
“The government put the
RO in place to offer solar
businesses the certainty
they need through legislation, but now it is trying
to remove this certainty
through the back door.
“This behaviour was
found to be unlawful in the
case of feed-in tariffs, and
it remains unlawful now. It
is surprising that DECC has
not learnt its lesson.”
The claimants have also
challenged the need for
the proposed ‘sudden and
unilateral’ removal of RO
support. The companies
reject DECC’s claim that
the consulted changes
were necessary to preserve
the budget; rather the
companies believe that the
changes are ‘designed to
protect the offshore wind
budget’.
Nearly 60% of the government’s total renewables
budget has already been
consumed by contracts
awarded for biomass and
offshore wind. The Judicial
Review claimants note that
both technologies generate
more expensive electricity
than solar and point to the
National Audit Office’s recent review of Contract for
Difference (CfD) funding
which said that it was “not
convinced” that consumers’
interests had been ade-
quately protected during
the award of £16.6 billion
worth of contracts.
Ben Cosh, MD of TGC
Renewables explained why
he felt a legal challenge
was necessary. He said:
“Solar is tantalisingly close
to becoming subsidy-free,
meaning cheaper bills for
consumers, and we want to
achieve this goal as quickly
as possible. All we need
from Ed Davey is stable
and lawful policy, but
instead he has yet again
pulled the rug from under
the industry’s feet.”
Leonie Greene, head of
external affairs at the Solar
Trade Association, commented: “Sadly, we’re not
surprised to see this legal
action, which reflects the
despair felt by large-scale
solar developers across
Britain at another sudden
policy change from the
government. This damaging interference comes
despite record levels of
public popularity and the
record cost reductions
achieved by the UK solar
power industry.”
Furthermore, customers of RENOLIT have
provided photos of UK installations using
this type of foil that have experienced full
product failure, reportedly within two years
of installation (see photo 2).
RENOLIT, therefore, recommends that
fabricators and installers check the source
of their foiled products before installing at
a customer, to prevent costly repairs in the
near future and damage to both their own
and the industry’s reputation.
The increasing popularity of foiled building components has been well publicised,
as home owners become increasingly
aware of the opportunities to improve their
property with realistic woodgrain designs
or fashionable solid colours rather than
just plain white PVC-u. As the inventor
and world’s largest manufacturer of these
exterior laminates, RENOLIT has been at the
forefront of this growth and all indications
are that this trend will continue to grow
over the coming years.
Exterior laminates are continually exposed
to the environment and require specific
components within their formulation to be
able to withstand weathering and degradation over time. At RENOLIT they extensively
test all exterior laminates, both internally
and externally to ensure real performance
targets are achieved. All RENOLIT EXOFOL
effects are manufactured and tested in accordance with the accepted industry standard - RAL 716, which requires a minimum
performance of 10,000 hours of artificial
weathering (equating to over 10 years in a
UK climate) without excessive colour fade
or visual defects.
www.renolit.com
GGF DEFENDS
DOUBLE GLAZING
COMPANIES ON
BBC RADIO
Nigel Rees, GGF Group Chief Executive
defended the double glazing industry live
on BBC Radio Leeds on 26th June.
The programme featured a case
where the homeowner was dissatisfied with the finish around PVC-U
doors recently installed. Presenter
Wes Butters expressed surprise on
the programme that in all the time
he has being doing his consumer
complaint shows, this was the first
complaint on double glazing.
The presenter contacted the GGF to pose
questions to Nigel Rees, who explained that
although the industry had a poor image
many years ago, a lot has been done to improve it – but out of the millions of installations each year, the good ones go unnoticed
and the bad ones tarnish the industry.
Nigel pointe