Pacific’s First All-Female Crew Commissions 18 kW Solar Microgrid

An all-female installation crew has commissioned an 18-kilowatt solar-plus-storage microgrid at Ratu Naivalu Memorial School on Waya Island in Fiji’s remote Yasawa Group, replacing a diesel-only power supply that served 121 students, seven teachers, and 17 buildings. The project — the 70th initiative by Australian nonprofit Its Time Foundation (ITF) — was completed in seven days in early 2026 and announced to international audiences on 8 June 2026.

The system comprises 18 kW of rooftop and ground-mounted solar panels (Trina modules on Clenergy racking), six Briggs & Stratton SimpliPHI 6.6 lithium batteries totalling approximately 40 kWh of storage, and SMA inverters conforming to Australian/New Zealand standards. Four school buildings, three student hostels, and ten teachers’ homes now receive 24-hour power. Starlink satellite internet, laptops, and smart televisions were installed alongside the electrical system, extending the project’s impact into digital connectivity.

The crew was assembled by the Association of Women in Solar Energy (AWISE): ten third- and fourth-year engineering students from the University of the South Pacific joined nine female solar technicians drawn from Fijian solar businesses including Clay Energy Fiji. Australian installer and AWISE co-founder Lily Pejkic led the technical installation alongside Lauren Hamilton, AWISE Director, and project partners REnew Pacific, ClenergyESS, SMA Australia, and DPA Energy. Ongoing operations and maintenance have been handed to The Solar Fund (Fiji), a locally established entity created specifically for preventive monitoring of ITF systems.

Why It Matters

Waya Island sits roughly 60 kilometres northwest of Nadi in the Yasawa chain, which has no connection to Fiji’s main grid. Schools and villages across the group have historically relied on expensive, intermittent diesel generation. The ITF model — targeting primary and secondary schools as anchor loads — is notable for combining energy access with workforce development: each installation trains a cohort of local women in solar design, installation, and safety, creating a pipeline of qualified Pacific islander technicians. ITF has now completed 32 systems in Fiji and has committed to 40 more by end-2026, with an ultimate target of 200-plus island schools. Funding underpinning the foundation’s operations comes from Australia, New Zealand, the UN, and the Asian Development Bank.

“24-hour power, lights, computers, smart TVs — it is a complete game changer for the students,” said Timoci Cuva, school director. Rob Edwards, ITF founder, called the Waya installation “one of the coolest things that we’ve done in our 15 years.”

Critical Perspective

The 18 kW/40 kWh system is sized for a rural school load, not a full community microgrid, and does not include a diesel backup — meaning extended periods of overcast weather or higher-than-expected demand could stress storage reserves. ITF’s model also depends on a recurring stream of external aid funding and on the capacity of The Solar Fund (Fiji) to sustain maintenance across a dispersed island archipelago; the history of Pacific island renewable energy programs shows that upfront commissioning captures headlines while long-term operations and spare-parts logistics remain the harder challenge. Whether the AWISE workforce-development pipeline produces enough qualified local technicians to scale the 40-system 2026 target — and whether those technicians find sustainable employment after initial training — is a key test of the model’s durability.

Sources

• GlobeNewswire — Female Power Meets Green Power in Fiji
• pv magazine Australia — All-female team installs microgrid for remote Fijian island school
• Canberra Times — All-women crew helping solar energy push in Pacific

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