The ACCC has issued proceedings in the Federal Court against five companies, six individuals and an industry association for alleged cartel and exclusionary conduct in the supply and acquisition of electrical cable throughout Australia. [ + ]

Australian solar technology company RayGen Resources has received the Grand Prize in the prestigious 2014 Global CleanTech Cluster Association (GCCA) Later Stage Awards. [ + ]

Commercial buildings with a high NABERS rating deliver 10.5% more investment returns compared to buildings with a low NABERS rating, according to The Property Council. With benefits like that, it is important to keep abreast of changes in the fast-moving retrofitting industry. Here are some trends we can expect to see in 2015.

ABB has designed, manufactured, installed and commissioned a 1200-kilovolt (kV) circuit breaker - the highest AC voltage level in the world. [ + ]

Power management company Eaton has appointed Gordon Makryllos as managing director - Australia/New Zealand for the company's electrical business. Based in Sydney, Makryllos will be responsible for leading the business through its next phase of growth and propelling its sales and marketing presence. [ + ]

Safe Work Australia is making its Virtual Seminar Series (VSS) presentations available for general viewing. [ + ]

Trade apprenticeships have strongly increased, disproving employer claims that commencements would collapse following increased apprentice pay and better conditions won last year by unions. [ + ]

Petrol prices in Sydney should fall to almost three-year lows as the impact of falling Singapore Mogas prices flows on to the Australian market, according to the National Roads & Motorists' Association. [ + ]

The Office of Fair Trading has issued a product safety recall notice against Cairns-based solar company Blueline Solar. [ + ]

Yet another batch of faulty electrical cables has been sold and installed over the last three years, according to the Australian Cablemakers Association (ACA). This follows on from the Infinity- and Olsent-branded cable recall, reportedly the largest of its type in Australia's history. [ + ]

PV inverter manufacturer SolarMax will see its mother company Sputnik Engineering AG file for insolvency.  [ + ]

The global cumulative installed capacity of solar PV modules will more than treble from 135.66 GW in 2013 to 413.98 GW by 2020, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData. [ + ]

The ACCC advises that some Toshiba notebook computers sold in Australia and New Zealand between September 2010 and June 2012 were shipped with LS-15-branded AC power cords. The location of the 'LS-15' marking is on the portion of the cord that plugs into the AC adapter. Not all Toshiba PCs were sold with the affected AC power cord. [ + ]

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) en.lighten initiative and lites.asia are hosting a free webinar, Lighting Product Registration Systems: Design and Operation, on 4 December 2014. [ + ]

Dr Gavin Conibeer, an internationally known professor at the School of Photovoltaics and Renewable Energy Engineering at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), has joined the science advisory board of Natcore Technology Inc. [ + ]