Aboriginal Housing Office Dubbo Solar Project

Earlier this year, the Aboriginal Housing Office (AHO) released a tender for the design, installation and commissioning of solar power systems to be installed on 151 Aboriginal Housing homes in the Central West city of Dubbo. This was a forward thinking and experimental pilot solar installation championed by the Aboriginal Housing Office, the scale of which was the first of its kind in Australia.

After a thorough tender process, our Indigenous solar company, Kenjarhy Solar was proudly selected as the contractor for the works. Kenjarhy Solar worked closely with the Aboriginal Housing Office and Murdi Paaki Regional Enterprise Corporation (MPREC) during the design stage, and pro-actively managed the planning and organisation of the installation. Kenjarhy Solar then efficiently executed the installation and commissioning, in compliance with the requirements of the tender, whilst working closely with the staff at Aboriginal Housing to ensure that there was minimal disruption to the residents.The installation saw 151 homes (450KW's of solar power) retrofitted with rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and in-home energy management systems designed to help assist Aboriginal people to reduce their energy use, by making it as simple to manage as it is to use.

In conjunction with the solar system installations, MPREC conducted an energy saving workshop for AHO tenants following installation.

Early indications of the Dubbo solar project show that it has had an immediate impact on the electricity demands of the residents. 

During the process of this installation, Kenjarhy Solar worked closely with the Commonwealth funded Job Active providers to identify local Indigenous workers who were then employed by Kenjarhy Solar for the duration of the project.

Committed to producing qualified and independent solar PV professionals through fully sponsored certification and on-the-job experience, Kenjarhy Solar provided a detailed and formulated mentoring program to assist their staff through the training and to transition to meaningful employment within a heavily regulated industry.

At the conclusion of these projects all Indigenous staff were employed in ongoing roles. The skills and licences they achieved whilst completing the project were instrumental in them securing this employment. 

It is the mission of Kenjarhy Solar to assist more Indigenous people to move into full time employment as we continue to grow as a company. Government, commercial businesses and procurement divisions can be reassured that Kenjarhy Solar has the policies and procedures in place to support the installation process on the ground. 

Kenjarhy Solar is enormously proud to have partnered with the Aboriginal Housing Office and Murdi Paaki Regional Enterprise Corporation to deliver this ground breaking solar installation and to help improve the quality of life for Aboriginal Housing residents.

Local news outlets, The Daily Liberal and Prime 7 News Central West covered the solar project.