Warren & Brown has released a catalogue featuring the latest in optical fibre and copper structured cabling products. Highlighted in the catalogue are CAT6A products and solutions as well as the complete range of optical fibre management products including optical distribution frames, subracks, ducting raceway, cable assemblies and the MPO/MTP plug-and-play solution. [ + ]

Low Carbon Australia is financing an $11 million pilot energy-generation project at Traralgon in Victoria that demonstrates the potential for power security across Australia’s eastern seaboard. [ + ]

The National Electrical and Communications Association (NECA) has announced that it is supporting the McGrath Foundation to ensure every Australian woman experiencing breast cancer, and her family, has access to the support of a breast care nurse, as well as educating all young Australian women to be breast aware, in conjunction with the NECA Conference 2013 in Malaysia next April. [ + ]

According to Kroll Ontrack, the rise of mobile devices in the workplace and widespread adoption of virtualisation drove an increase in data recovery requests globally in 2012. The race to reduce the cost of solid state drives (SSDs) will further fuel adoption and even higher volumes of data recovery requests in 2013. [ + ]

According to a recent report from the CSIRO, in a first for Australia, over 35 industry partners will work together to explore a future vision for Australia’s electricity system. This vision will help guide the expected $240 billion investment required by the sector over the next 20 years. [ + ]

“2013 looks like it’s shaping up as another tough slog for Australian businesses, with no indication the international economy will improve dramatically or that we will see any pressure taken off the high Australian dollar,” said NSW Business Chamber CEO Stephen Cartwright. [ + ]

Scientists at RMIT University are attempting to boost the efficiency of solar energy conversion technology with an improved type of solar cell. [ + ]

A new joint Australian-US research institute led by the University of New South Wales(UNSW) will foster rapid development of ‘over the horizon’ photovoltaic technology and establish Australia as the solar cell research and education hub of the Asia-Pacific region. [ + ]

Electrical contractors are set to benefit from a new partnership formed between Master Electricians Australia and national wholesaler Lawrence & Hanson. [ + ]

Indigenous Business Australia has announced investment in Message Stick Communications, a successful majority Aboriginal-owned business that provides unified communications services to a range of corporate and government clients. [ + ]

Scientists at Wake Forest University have made a new kind of light from mouldable plastic which can glow in any colour and won’t shatter. [ + ]

Master Electricians Australia has rejected the call for the compulsory rollout of smart meters in Australian homes, saying it was just more wasteful spending that would drive the cost of domestic electricity even higher. [ + ]

Global energy management specialist Schneider Electric has restructured by uniting its Clipsal and Power businesses to create a new Clipsal and Schneider Electric Partner Business unit. The union will see the two brands work together to leverage the other’s strengths. [ + ]

ABB has won orders worth around $225 million to supply two turnkey photovoltaic (PV) power plants that will be built in the northern province of Limpopo in South Africa. The orders were awarded by two special-purpose entities, Core Energy and Erika Energy, whose primary stakeholders include SunEdison, a leading global solar energy services provider. [ + ]

The Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the United States has developed a concept for roadway illumination called Ecoluminance, which incorporates roadside vegetation with low-level pedestrian and landscape lighting, retroreflective markers, and light-emitting diode (LED) road and walkway illumination. [ + ]