Solar product manufacturer Jinko Solar has announced that its mono- and multicrystalline solar modules achieved high-yield performance results in Photon Laboratory’s outdoor field tests in January 2012. [ + ]

Researchers have discovered a breakthrough in solar panel technology using dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSCs) that improves the panels’ efficiency by at least 30%. [ + ]

The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) Victorian Branch has urged Fair Work Australia to reverse the standdown of electrical workers by Watters Electrical, part of the Hastie Group that recently entered into voluntary administration. [ + ]

The Clean Energy Council has called on the Australian Parliament to establish the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) “as soon as possible”. The peak body for Australia’s renewable energy industry urged the government to pass laws establishing the $10 billion CEFC so new clean energy technologies can access support. [ + ]

Sydney Water has selected NYSE-listed Elster as one of its suppliers to deliver V100 volumetric water meters and Helix water meters over the next three years, commencing 1 July 2012. These meters will help Sydney Water to manage its water resources more efficiently, by providing accurate measurement of water usage and control over water leakage and wastage. [ + ]

Metronode, a subsidiary of Leighton Contractors, has signed a $182m contract with the New South Wales Government under the Data Centre Reform project for the provision of two managed data centres in NSW.  The company will build two new large-scale, energy-efficient data centres in NSW - one located in Sydney’s inner west at Silverwater and the other in the Illawarra region at Wollongong’s southern suburb of Unanderra - as a part of the contract. When fully developed, each data centre will be capable of supporting up to 9 MW of IT load. [ + ]

Rittal launched its Data Centre Container (DCC) yesterday at CeBIT, with Senator Kate Lundy cutting the ribbon to officially open the DCC. [ + ]

Schneider Electric has announced a partnership with Krohne that the companies say will provide customers with a complete automation and instrumentation solution, which will include Schneider’s PlantStruxure process automation architecture and Krohne’s instrumentation offer. [ + ]

Finepoint’s 19th Annual Circuit Breaker Test & Maintenance Training Conference will be held over 1-5 October in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. [ + ]

The federal government has pledged over $20 million in grants to help small and medium businesses and community groups improve energy efficiency. [ + ]

The winners of the CEDIA Electronic Lifestyles Awards were  announced in Brisbane on Wednesday 9 May in front of 300 industry professionals. This year's awards had 77 project entries from 28 companies and from five countries: Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and Taiwan. The winners of the CEDIA Electronic Lifestyles Awards were  announced in Brisbane on Wednesday 9 May in front of 300 industry professionals. This year's awards had 77 project entries from 28 companies and from five countries: Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and Taiwan. [ + ]

In a speech at a Mainstream Maintenance and Reliability Networking Conference in Perth, Senator Chris Evans said that, rather than a skills shortage, Australia is facing a "skills opportunity". [ + ]

Schneider Electric IT has announced the regional appointments of Olaf Moon as State Manager, ACT and Federal Government and Graeme Ridler as State Manager, WA. [ + ]

The Tasmanian government’s decision to reform its electricity market has been welcomed by the Energy Retailers Association of Australia (ERAA) following an expert panel review of the market. The decision will see the government introduce changes such as selling Aurora Energy’s customer base and introducing full retail competition (FRC) for the state by February next year. [ + ]

Malaysia is “comfortably outpacing” other countries in the Asia Pacific region with its High Speed Broadband (HSBB) network being built by Telekom Malaysia, according to recent figures released by Informa Telecoms & Media. [ + ]