Scoring 66 out of 100 in the IHS Emerging PV Markets Attractiveness Index for Q4 2013, South Africa came in a full 17 points ahead of second-ranked Thailand. [ + ]

Recent heatwaves have seen Australian consumers relying heavily on their air conditioners, but recent research from LG shows that few people actually know how much their air conditioner use bumps up their electricity bill. [ + ]

The Cooperative Research Centre is working to develop new devices and systems to protect workers and drivers from fatigue, including dynamic lighting systems and sweat and saliva testing for fatigue. [ + ]

Lighting Council Australia is offering an LED seminar series presented by Professor Georges Zissis on the topic of LED street lighting. [ + ]

The Wollongong Lord Mayor has presented the University of Wollongong (UOW) Solar Decathlon team with the Lord Mayor's Special Award as part of the city's Australia Day Awards. [ + ]

Peter Meijer, BICSI South Pacific's representative on the CT-001 standards committee, has announced his intention to step down from the role. BICSI is seeking a suitable member to take on the role once Meijer steps down in mid-February. [ + ]

The Australian Building and Construction Commission is the "tough cop" the construction industry needs to fight organised crime, Master Electricians Australia says. MEA has urged the Senate not to obstruct attempts to reinstate the ABCC. [ + ]

Axing the Renewable Energy Target (RET) could result in the loss of 2000 jobs, plus thousands more not created, according to analysis commissioned by the REC Agents Association. [ + ]

LG Electronics has appointed Milton Kaloudis to the role of General Manager, Air Conditioning & Energy Solutions. [ + ]

DVTEL Inc, a global provider of video surveillance solutions, has signed a distribution agreement with Australian distributor Q Security Systems. [ + ]

The Clean Energy Council is calling for papers for Clean Energy Week, its annual conference. Clean Energy Week 2014 will be held in Sydney from 22 to 25 July. [ + ]

BICSI South Pacific will be delivering the DC125 Data Centre Design course in 2014, just before its annual conference in Brisbane. [ + ]

Alcatel-Lucent has been engaged to upgrade the 10,000 km-long EASSy submarine fibre-optic cable system along the eastern and southern coasts of Africa with the latest 100 Gbps technology. [ + ]

Schneider Electric has appointed Philippe Rambach as the new vice president (VP) of industry business. Rambach brings with him over 15 years' experience in senior management positions and has professional experience in manufacturing, research and development, program management and business management across a range of industries. [ + ]

Smart grid early-fault-detection technology that can help reduce the risk of bushfires has recently been commercialised by an RMIT University researcher. [ + ]