The QualiCert project, of which EPIA is partner, kicked-off in spring 2009 and will run for 30 months until the end of 2011. QualiCert stands for “Common quality certification and accreditation for installers of small-scale renewable energy systems”.

A manual for decision-makers on how to design certification schemes for installers of small-scale renewable energy systems

On 22 March 2011, the EU co-funded project QualiCert, of which the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) is the coordinator, has delivered a practical manual for decision-makers. The manual intends to serve as a guide to the development of a European set of common “key success criteria” for certification (or equivalent qualification) schemes for installers of small-scale renewable energy systems across Europe. The technologies covered are small-scale biomass boilers and stoves, solar photovoltaic and solar thermal systems, shallow geothermal systems and heat-pumps.

The title of the QualiCert project stands for: “Common approach for certification and accreditation of installers of small-scale renewable energy systems” and responds to a demand set out by the Renewable Energy Sources (RES) Directive (2009/28/EC). The Directive stipulates that Member States are to ensure that certification (or equivalent qualification) schemes “become or are available by 31 December 2012”. Moreover, these schemes need to be mutually recognisable by all EU Member States. The aim of the project is to deliver recommendations of how such certification (or equivalent qualification) schemes should be designed. 

The manual presents first of all the state-of-the-art of existing certification (or equivalent qualification) schemes both at European and national levels. Moreover, it includes a number of identified “key success criteria” concerning the general framework, the obtaining and renewal of the certification or equivalent qualification, training and audits. Finally, the manual points out some sector specificities as well as a number of best practice examples.

QualiCert relies on an interdisciplinary, multi-stakeholder approach involving builders and installers through their EU associations, existing training providers and accrediting bodies with grassroots experience, the RES industry through its European associations, and a number of national energy agencies.

Please download the manual here.

Please find more information about the project, including other project deliverables available for download, on teh project website: www.qualicert-project.eu.

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Anticipating the obligation for all Member States (article 14 of the RES Directive) to develop certification schemes for installers of small-scale renewable energy installations, QualiCert proposes a concerted action among different Member States on the certification and accreditation of these installers. The project precisely addresses the RES Directive’s requirement of certification schemes in each Member State that obey to a set of similar criteria and recognise each other certification.

To guarantee the broadest possible support for the future accreditation and  certification schemes, QualiCert is relying on an interdisciplinary multi-stakeholder approach involving builders and installers through their EU associations, existing training providers and accrediting bodies with grassroots experience, the RES industry through its European associations, and a number of national energy agencies. This EU-wide concerted approach will allow moving beyond national discussions, which are sometimes highly politically-tainted and blocked, to have a more pragmatic, result-oriented outcome based on the best identified methodology valid for EU-27.

Beyond the proactive approach anticipating the EU obligation, QualiCert is also addressing the genuine market need for a comprehensive system to certify installers in order to guarantee quality installations and satisfied customers, which in turn will spur further market deployment.

Duration: Spring 2009- end 2011

Partners: French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME), European Renewable Energy Council (EREC), European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA), European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF), European Biomass Association (AEBIOM), European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC), European Heat Pump Association (EHPA), Association française pour la qualité d'installation des systèmes à énergie renouvelable (Qualit’EnR), Austrian Centre of Research and Testing /Österreichisches Forschungs- und Prüfzentrum Arsenal Ges.m.b.H (Arsenal), European Technical Contractors Committee for the Construction Industry (CEETB), European Builders Confederation (E.B.C.), Centre for Renewable Energy Sources (CRES), Krajowa Agencja Poszanowania Energii S.A. (Polish National Energy Conservation agency) (KAPE), Ente per le Nuove tecnologie, l’Energia e l’Ambiente (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and the Environment) (ENEA).

If you want to know more about the project, please contact:
Marie Latour, EPIA
Phone : +32 2 400 10 13
Email: m.latour(at)epia.org