Goulburn woman Gabrielle Witenden finds meaningful career in renewable energy sector

"The customer gets something out of it, the company does and then the environment does as well," she said.

Gabrielle has worked for Goulburn Solar for four and a half years and is the only woman working outside of the office.

She said her hands aren't as nice as they once were but it's a worthy trade-off for a career in something that "gives her life purpose".

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Gabrielle said the solar industry was extremely taxing on the body but over the years she had become accustomed to it.

"One challenge I faced, in the beginning, was thinking, 'can I do it, am I going to be strong enough to lift the panels and do the roof work?', it's really labour intensive," she said.

However, after a few months on the job, Gabrielle realised there was nothing she couldn't do.

"I really enjoy working outside even though working on roofs can be fairly uncomfortable, especially in the summertime," she said.

"I always joke that my skin has aged like 10 years in the last couple of years, just from being outside all the time and on the roof.

"I get a pretty mean tradie tan in the summer."

Sweet-smelling 'Hawaiian Tropic' sunscreen and shimmering zinc were Gabrielle's preferences for combatting the sun.

"It's silly but you try to bring little things in just to keep your femininity where you can," she said.

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Straight after high school, Gabrielle moved from Goulburn to Newcastle to study occupational therapy.

However, she didn't finish the course and instead moved to Canada to try something different.

"I wasn't really ready to settle and I always thought OT was one of those occupations that to be really successful and good at it, you had to kind of live it," she said.

"I think because I was so young, I just wasn't ready to do that."

In Canada, Gabrielle ran a restaurant for six years before returning to Australia to be closer to her family.

"I learnt a lot in a short amount of time for sure," she said.

When she returned, she began working for the Department of Human Services but felt like she needed a job that would give her life more meaning and purpose.

Renewables, unexpectedly for Gabrielle, were the answer.

Gabrielle moved back to Goulburn and through family connections ended up helping out at Goulburn Solar in the office. Soon after she was offered an apprenticeship.

She said it felt like a late life decision to start an apprenticeship at 29 years of age.

"I always kind of joke that if I had known I was gonna do this when I was in high school, I could be so far ahead," she said.

"It was definitely not what I thought I was going to do, but I actually really like it."

After four and a half years with the company, Gabrielle said it was her interest in the renewable energy sector that had kept her passion alive.

"If I was a regular sparky or electrician, I don't think I would have lasted this long," she said.

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Gabrielle's passion and hard work haven't gone unnoticed.

She was recently awarded the Brighte 'Women in Solar Scholarship' which pays for a qualification in battery storage systems and grid connect photo voltaic systems.

"Batteries are becoming so common, so to have that under your belt, to have that extra knowledge and qualification, makes a big difference," she said.

She has also been nominated for the Outstanding Graduating Apprentice of the Year Award through the Construction Industry Training Council.

Gabrielle said working in a smaller company made a big difference when it came to being the only woman on the team.

"It's a good time to be a female in the industry because it's encouraged and it's not as much of a novelty as it was a couple of years ago," she said.

"It would have been so challenging because no one had seen it before and you're like an alien."

Occasionally Gabrielle said she answered the phone to customers on the way to a job who asked her whether "the electrician was coming" but overall her experience had been "really positive".

Gabrielle is now looking at joining the Clean Energy Council's Women in Renewables initiative.

"The industry is so taxing on the body that there's only a certain amount of time you can do it for," she said.

Gabrielle hopes to later bring her skills and understanding from being on the ground to a role in education or promotion in the renewable sector.

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