<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/first-women-only-rooftop-solar-project-powers-up-in-victoria-sets-higher-bar-for-industry/>
"It’s common to see a group of blokes working away on a rooftop solar
installation, but all-women? Not likely.
That’s thanks to a combination of a hyper competitive industry with the dearth
of support for women to learn relevant trades, says Australian Women in Solar
Energy (AWISE) cofounder Lily Pekjic.
And it’s a reason why the installation of a 96kW solar system at an Officeworks
in north-eastern Melbourne suburb of Bundoora is ground breaking: It’s been
led, designed, installed and even funded solely by women.
“Someone has recognised the opportunity for women to be involved and recognised
that it’s not common,” Pekjic told
Renew Economy.
“[We’ve been] proactive but there’s women in all sorts of roles here, we’ve got
engineers, project managers, designers, store managers who are women. It’s not
just one, it’s a whole complexity of roles.”
The idea came from equipment provider Smart Commercial Solar, which wanted to
see if such a team could be put together, despite women only making up 23 per
cent of the solar workforce and 3.5 per cent in electrical trades.
But contrary to the idea that it’s impossible to find a tradie, let alone a
female tradie, in these traditionally male-only sectors, it only took AWISE a
week to source all of the talent needed to make the project happen.
“We mean everyone. At the client, at Smart, at our installation partner (Sydney
Solar and Battery). The core group is eight women, three from Smart Commercial
Solar, two from AWISE including Lily, and three from Officeworks,” says Smart
Commercial Solar marketing head Lauren Hamilton.
The 96kW array is funded under a Power Purchase Agreement which itself is
linked to a woman investor, found by ethical investment organisation Clear Sky
Solar Investments.
The vibe of working with an all-women team was different too, Pekjic says.
“There’s just a lot of excitement that we’re coming together to work together,”
she says.
“There’s a bigger purpose behind this so it’s not just a commercial exchange,
there’s a sense of community and building women, supporting women. More than a
job or a project.”
The project was started in December last year and installation happened in
February."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
