The Solar Certification Fund (SCF)

The Solar Certification Fund (SCF) Working Rules This document was elaborated at the first meeting of the SCF-SG (25/10 2010), and the last details were finalised by internal correspondence within the SCF-SG until1/12 2010. Editor: Jan Erik Nielsen, Solar Keymark Network Secretary. 1/12 2010. A few amendments are added in Annex B according to minutes of SKN meeting 10 (Item 8), (20/9 2011) Two members of the steering group exchanged 2012-11-04. One member deleted from steering group 2014-10-03 New member added to steering group 2014-10-29 Content Content... 1 1. Background... 2 2. Legal issues... 3 3. Management... 3 3.1 Overall structure... 3 3.2 Solar Certification Fund Steering Group (SG)... 3 3.3 Indicative timing of call... 4 3.4 Payments... 4 4. Eligible subjects/projects... 5 5. How to apply for funding... 5 6. References... 5 Annex A. Indicative time schedule for Solar Certification Fund call and projects.... 6 Annex B. Procedure for the evaluation of Proposals within the Framework of the Solar Certification Fund (SCF)... 7 B1. Appointment of the s... 7 B2. Check the proposal to be eligible... 7 B3. Rating procedure... 7 B4. Ranking Procedure... 9 SCF N0001R9 Solar Certification Fund - Internal Regulations Page 1 of 9

1. Background The type and subtype definitions for solar collectors and systems have changed from the beginning of 2010 (see the Solar Keymark scheme rules). This means a reduction in CEN Keymark fees. The Solar Keymark Network decided in 2009 to dedicate the money saved in CEN fees to be used for activities related to developing and promoting the Solar Keymark certification scheme and the standards behind. It is estimated that in 2010 approx. 90-100 000 will be available, and 2011 approx. 130-150 000 will be added. At the 8 th Solar Keymark Network meeting in March 2010 a working group was formed in order to elaborate a first proposal for the implementation of a Solar Certification Fund managing these funds. The working group consisted of: Jan Erik Nielsen (lead), Harald Drück, Korbinian Kramer, Stephan Fischer, Costas Travasaros, Joakim Byström, Xavier Noyon, Sebastian Laipple, Gerard van Amerongen or Teun Bokhoven, Christian Stadler, João Santos and Sören Scholz. At the 9 th Solar Keymark Network meeting October 2010 a draft from this group was accepted for further elaboration within the Solar Certification Fund Steering Group (SG), and members of this group was nominated. The list of members has since then been updated when change in members: Manufacturers: Ralf Köbbemann-Rengers, BDH/Bosch, Germany Christian Stadler, Arcon Solar, Germany Oscar Mogro, BDR Thermea (Baxi Calefaccion), Spain Test labs: Alberto Garcia de Jalon, CENER, Spain Andreas Bohren, SPF, Switzerland Certification bodies: João Santos, CERTIF, Portugal Sören Scholz, DIN CERTCO, Germany CCB: Hoang Liauw, CEN/CENELEC, Belgium ESTIF Pedro Dias, ESTIF Secretariat, Belgium Solar Keymark Network Harald Drück, Chairman, Germany Jan Erik Nielsen, Secretary, Denamrk SCF N0001R9 Solar Certification Fund - Internal Regulations Page 2 of 9

2. Legal issues A legal entity is necessary to handle the funds. Instead of creating a new legal entity it was decided to use ESTIF. This means that the money goes to a special ESTIF account (all payments and commitments have to be confirmed by SKN Chairman). 3. Management 3.1 Overall structure The ESTIF Secretariat invoices each year in March the certification bodies for the sum of the Solar Keymark Network fees they have to pay. The Solar Keymark Network sets the Solar Keymark Network fee [1]. The fees are used for: Solar Keymark Network Secretariat: SKN Secretary and general administrative support Solar Keymark Network Chairman Solar Certification Fund projects and activities At a Solar Keymark Network meeting it is decided how much money to allocate for each of the three purposes for the coming period. 3.2 Solar Certification Fund Steering Group (SG) A Solar Certification Fund Steering Group (SG) is established, it shall have representatives from: Certification bodies (2) Test labs (2) Manufacturers (3) CCB representative (0) ESTIF representatives (2) Solar Keymark Network Secretariat (0) Solar Keymark Network Chairman (0) Voting rights in (); (0) means observer status. SCF N0001R9 Solar Certification Fund - Internal Regulations Page 3 of 9

The representatives for certification bodies, test labs and manufacturers are nominated by the respective groups. The tasks of the SG are: Define priority fields and specific terms of references in the annual calls Select projects for funding (including budgets) Give notice to the Solar Keymark Network about the approved proposals at least one month before the Solar Keymark Network meeting (Note: Final mandate has to be given by the Solar Keymark Network) Approve project deliverables and balance payments (according to approved deliverables) The SKN can give specific proposal to subjects which shall be dealt with by the SCF-SG. If a member of the SCF-SG is financially involved in a proposal - he/she has no voting right on the decision related to this specific proposal. A chairman is elected every second year - he/she can be re-elected. The administrative functions are done by the ESTIF secretariat. The technical secretariat functions should be done by the Solar Keymark Network Secretary. Documents shall be numbered like this: SCF_N0000. The SCF Steering Group can decide to compensate the effort of its members (e.g. time, travel costs) 1. 3.3 Indicative timing of call Indicative Gantt diagram for the timing of the Solar Certification Fund Call procedures and projects is given in annex A. The timing is condensed as much as possible and organised in a way that the first priorities can be given at a Solar Keymark meeting and half-way and final reports can be given at the coming Solar Keymark meetings. 3.4 Payments Pre-financing is in general 30 % and final payment will be the approved balance payment (see 3.2). 1 At the 1 st SFC SG meeting 25/10, 2010 it was decided not to give any compensation for the years 2010-2011. SCF N0001R9 Solar Certification Fund - Internal Regulations Page 4 of 9

4. Eligible subjects/projects Subjects eligible for funding through the Solar Certification Fund are topics related to quality assurance of solar thermal products in general - and specifically developing and promoting harmonised international certification schemes and the international standards behind these schemes and directives within the field of solar thermal and related areas. This could be: improving existing certifications schemes and standards establish certifications schemes and standards for new products in the field of solar thermal or related areas promoting the use of harmonised certification schemes and standards In general only 1-year projects or phases of project are eligible. Priority should be given to projects within or close to the areas of priority defined in the call. 5. How to apply for funding The application template specified in the call document shall be used. Note: The length of the application should not exceed 3 pages (excl. CVs and references) The evaluation shall be done based on the criteria given in Annex B. Only applications received by the Solar Keymark Network Secretariat before the deadline announced will be considered as eligible for the subsequent call. 6. References 1. SOLAR KEYMARK SCHEME RULES - ANNEX C. FEES FOR THE SOLAR KEYMARK NETWORK - latest version available from: http://www.estif.org/solarkeymark/schemerules.php SCF N0001R9 Solar Certification Fund - Internal Regulations Page 5 of 9

Annex A. Indicative time schedule for Solar Certification Fund call and projects. Solar Certification Fund - Month indicative call & project time schedule Dates & deadlines Step Activity Who 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 2 0 for Call to be announced December 2010 1 Define some priorities in the call SKN x 06-10-2010 2 Define rest of priorities in the call SCF-SG x 25-10-2010 3 Describe call SKN-Secr. x 12-11-2010 4 Discussion / comments to above SCF-SG x 19-11-2010 5 Final draft version SKN-Secr. x 26-11-2010 6 Confirm description SCF-SG x 29-11-2010 7 Announce call SKN + ESTIF Secr. x 01-12-2010 8 Deadline for proposals Proposer(s) x 15-01-2011 9 Evaluate proposals SCF-SG x 15-02-2011 10 SCF-SG decision SCF-SG x 23-02-2011 11 Send decision to SKN SKN-Secr. x 01-03-2011 12 Final decisions SKN x 22-03-2011 13 Announcement of decisions SKN + ESTIF Secr. x 30-03-2011 14 Projects start Proposer(s) x 01-04-2011 15 First payments ESTIF Secr. x 30-04-2011 16 Project Proposer(s) x x x x x x x x x x x x 01-04-2011 to 15-03-2012 17 Halfway report Proposer(s) x 05-10-2011 18 Final project report Proposer(s) x 15-03-2012 19 Selected projects presented to SKN Proposer(s) x 15-03-2012 20 Project formally approved SCF-SG x 15-04-2012 21 Final payment ESTIF Secr. x 15-05-2012 SKN meeting SKN meeting SKN meeting SKN meeting Explanations Solar Certification Fund Steering Group Solar Keymark Network Secretariat (technical part) Solar Keymark Network Solar Keymark Network Secretariat (administrative part) Code SCF-SG SKN-Secr. SKN ESTIF Secr. SCF N0001R4 Solar Certification Fund - Internal Regulations Page 6 of 9

Annex B. Procedure for the evaluation of Proposals within the Framework of the Solar Certification Fund (SCF) This procedure to evaluate the proposals is made to create an objective framework for ranking the proposals on the call for proposals of the SCF. This procedure will take the following steps: - Check if the proposal is eligible. - Rating of the proposals on the basis of a set of criteria - Ranking the proposals on the basis of the weighting by the evaluators - Discussion of the ranking results in order to find a consensus (ranking meeting) Note: The ranking meeting can be a face to face meeting or a virtual meeting (e.g. by telephone conference) - Prepare advice to the SKN for granting proposals As we can expect that the proposals, responding to the call, all have been prepared with effort and great care, it is essential that the evaluation process will also be carried out with the greatest care and objectivity. Therefore this procedure describes in rather detail the steps to come to a careful consideration and advice to the SKN. B1. Appointment of the s The s are appointed in the working rules of the SCF, and will be composed of representatives from the following categories: Certification bodies (2) Test labs (2) Manufacturers (3) ESTIF representatives (2) Note: Participants of the SKN can volunteer for participating in the evaluation. In this case please send an email to Jan Erik Nielsen (jen@planenergi.dk ) and Harald Drück (drueck@itw.uni-stuttgart.de) - (SKN meeting 10, item 8) Note: if any evaluator has a direct or indirect link to the proposer of any proposal, that evaluator will not be entitled to evaluate or treat the proposal involved. B2. Check the proposal to be eligible The SCF will send out a SCF Call for Project Proposals. In the call there is a deadline for submission. The SKN secretariat will receive the proposals and give them a number, indicating the call number, year and subsequent number of entry. Any proposal which is received after the deadline will not be taken into consideration. The secretariat will send a digital version of the proposals to all the evaluators. The evaluators will indicate on the evaluation form if they consider the proposal eligible or not. In case of a disqualification the evaluator will clearly state the reasons and argumentation for the disqualification. A reason for rejection could be that the proposal is not addressing the subject of the call for proposals. B3. Rating procedure In order to structure the selection process of the submitted proposals, the evaluators will rate each of the proposals according to a set of pre-given criteria. These criteria are set when SCF N0001R4 Solar Certification Fund - Internal Regulations Page 7 of 9

the call is defined. The rating leads to an average score of the proposals, which is the input for the initial ranking which will be discussed during the ranking meeting by the evaluators. The rating will be on a scale of 1-10 per criterion. The following criteria will apply: Effectiveness: In how far does the proposal provide a solution / result on the requested topic in the call. Quality: How does the evaluator rate the quality of the proposal. Contribution: does the proposal either clearly addresses the topics mentioned in the call and/or contribute towards the professionalization of the solar thermal sector, like providing input for lobby work, showing new opportunities for the ST sector, create/promote a level playing field, reducing trade barriers. Price- performance: Are the proposed cost in the proposal in balance with the expected output of the project. In case the proposer offers to finance some of the project cost by other means, this should have a positive effect on the rating. Competence and experience of the proposer: Based on the CV, the company/ proposer s profile and other sources such as e.g. previous experiences and projects carried out by the proposer the potential and capability of the proposer to carry out activities described in his proposal are assessed. The 5 topics are rated as in the evaluation form below (to be submitted by each evaluator for each proposal). Call subject: (filled in by the secretariat) Proposal: (filled in by the secretariat) Proposer: (filled in by the secretariat) Amount requested: (filled in by the secretariat) : (filled in by the secretariat) Other contribution: (filled in by the secretariat) The proposal qualifies: If no - please give reason: Criteria Weight (A) (B) Rating- scale 1-10 Effectiveness 20 % Quality 20 % Contribution 20 % Price-Performance 25 % Competence and experience TOTAL SCORE: (C) 15 % Yes/no (to be indicated by (to be indicated by Weighted Rating (D) Σ (D) Remarks The total of all the scores will be collected and presented in a sheet for each proposal as basis for the discussion on the ranking meeting (see below). In order to be eligible for funding an average total score (all evaluators) of minimum 6 has to be reached. (SKN meeting 10, item 8). SCF N0001R9 Solar Certification Fund - Internal Regulations Page 8 of 9

B4. Ranking Procedure The Ranking of all the proposals will be done at a Ranking meeting with the evaluators. The evaluators have to submit their evaluation forms prior to the ranking meeting to the secretariat which compile an overview per proposal on the basis of the input of the evaluators. This overview (see below) will be used as basis for the discussion of the evaluators. The evaluators may change their rating on that specific proposal, as a result of new insight obtained during the discussion. Proposal Name: Number: Proposer: Effectiveness Quality Contribution Price-Performance Competence and experience Weighted score Remarks: average Σ score After discussing the proposal, the rating is final. This rating will be recorded in an overview so that all proposals and their rating will be presented. The evaluators will subsequently decide on their advice to the SKN for the selection of the appropriate proposals for the various topics in the call. The final advice will be communicated to the SKN by the SKN secretariat. SCF N0001R9 Solar Certification Fund - Internal Regulations Page 9 of 9