Old Trafford seminar for microgeneration installers

Specialist consultancy Envirolink Northwest will be holding a seminar on the microgeneration certification scheme next month.

In partnership with Energy Saving Trust, the Envirolink Northwest seminar is being held at Old Trafford stadium, home of Premier League runners-up Manchester United FC, as part of the Envirenergy North West 2010 event on 24 June.

Envirolink Northwest said the seminar will inform installers and manufacturers of microgeneration technologies in the North West about the MCS certification scheme.

Envirolink Northwest added that one of the objectives of MCS is to overcome one of the major barriers to the uptake of microgeneration technologies, this being the customer's lack of trust in the technologies.

Envirolink Northwest said aims to develop and grow the market for microgeneration ultimately will create and safeguard jobs, develop skills and increase gross value added.

Under the Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform's Low Carbon Buildings Programme and the Feed-in-Tariff scheme, householders are required to use MCS certified installers and certified products when installing microgeneration technologies to be eligible to receive a grant or receive cash back respectively.

As part of the work to develop the microgeneration supply chain in the region, Envirolink is helping companies understand the scheme and become certified so that installers in the region are best positioned to satisfy the growing demand for technologies such as photovoltaics, heat pumps or wind turbines. From working with the industry, Envirolink said it became clear that there wasn't enough awareness of the MCS standard.

Envirolink added that the recent seminars held in Warrington and Lancaster, on 19 and 20 April respectively, attracted a number of representatives from both manufacturers and installers, who were looking to find out how to become certified and what opportunities are available within the region.

The seminars provided attendees with an opportunity to speak to some of the certification bodies, share experience with already certified companies and find out more about training and opportunities within the region.

Saray Cruz, from Envirolink Northwest, said: "The great attendance showed that installers and manufacturers in the region are interested in providing a service of quality and want to find out how best to do this. The session was very interactive and the MCS scheme was both challenged in its complexity and praised in its role to provide assurance to the end user. I am pleased to see that a good number of attendees are now starting the process to become certified with Envirolink Northwest's support. We hope to see many more at the seminar scheduled to take place at Envirenergy North West 2010 on 24 June."