The team behind PSW Energy and Perth Solar Warehouse has been named a finalist for Smart Employer of the Year at the 2026 Smart Energy Council Awards.
The Smart Energy Council is Australia’s peak body for the clean energy industry. The Smart Employer category recognises businesses that invest measurably in their teams: training, safety culture, retention, career development, and the standards that produce installers and engineers capable of doing the work properly.
Finalists are selected by an independent industry panel from a national field of nominees. It’s not a public vote. It’s not a paid-entry programme. The shortlist itself is the recognition.
TLDR
- The team behind PSW Energy and Perth Solar Warehouse has been named a finalist for Smart Employer of the Year at the 2026 Smart Energy Council Awards.
- The shortlist recognises clean energy businesses that invest properly in the people doing the work. Judged by an independent industry panel, not voted in publicly.
- Two facts that capture why: in February 2026, our Administration Manager became CEO after five and a half years internally. In the same month, a woman joined the team to start her electrician career in renewables.
- The team has grown from 10 people to over 50 across Bibra Lake and Neerabup, with over 15 ethnic backgrounds represented and an in-house installer ratio above 80%.
In February 2026, two things happened in the same building.
Nicole Bilman became CEO of PSW Energy (including Perth Solar Warehouse). She started with the company in 2020 as an Administration Manager.
In the same month, Phraewa Jongjet joined the team to begin her career as an electrician in renewables. A woman entering the electrical trades through a solar business.
Those two facts, bookending the same organisation, say more about who we are than any policy document. They’re also why we’ve just been nationally shortlisted for it.
Career progression at PSW
When Nicole started in 2020, she managed administration. By 2022, she was overseeing manufacturer relationships. By 2024, she led our ISO certification programme. In February 2026, she became CEO.
That progression wasn’t planned from day one. It was earned, role by role, through systems that make development unavoidable.
Tesla Premium Certified status requires every relevant team member, from sales through to aftercare, to maintain documented competence that’s reassessed every year. Sigenergy Gold Installer status requires specialised technical certification. Neither is elective. They’re conditions of doing the work, which means every person in the relevant role grows their skills as a function of staying employed.
ISO 9001 requires documented training records and competency assessments across the organisation. ISO 45001 mandates safety training with continuous improvement. Bureau Veritas audits both, every year.
The systems do the heavy lifting. Development here isn’t a quarterly slide deck. It’s the way the business runs.
Holding quality at scale
Five and a half years ago we had 10 employees. Today, over 50. In that period, our review ratings went up. Our Tesla satisfaction score held at 4.8/5 under Tesla’s own monitoring. Our installation audit pass rates held at 95%.
Growth didn’t dilute quality because we didn’t scale by subcontracting it out. We scaled by training people. The licensed electricians, accredited installers, designers, and service technicians on a PSW job are PSW employees. Trained to PSW standards. Accountable to PSW.
That’s the choice that makes Smart Employer recognition possible. You can’t be shortlisted for how you treat your people if most of the work is done by subcontractors you’ve never met.
The two-base structure is part of the same story. Bibra Lake is the original headquarters and primary operational base. Neerabup opened to cover the northern corridor properly, with the same training standards, the same safety culture, and the same handover protocols across both. Running two depots like that is a different exercise from running one. The Smart Employer shortlist reflects that work.
Where this fits
Most of PSW Energy’s existing credentials recognise the product of the work. ISO certified through Bureau Veritas (9001 quality, 45001 safety, 14001 environmental). Tesla Premium Certified five years running. Sigenergy Gold Installer (inaugural Gold tier in WA). NETCC Approved Seller through to 13 May 2027. Licensed WA Electrical Contractor. SolarQuotes Legendary three years running. EUPD Top Brand PV Installer.
Smart Employer of the Year recognises the conditions those results come from. The training. The retention. The progression. The way the team is actually built. It’s a different layer, judged by a different panel, on a different criterion. National, peer-reviewed, independent.
Next
The Smart Energy Council Awards gala runs on Wednesday 6 May 2026 at Doltone House, Jones Bay Wharf in Sydney. Winners are announced on the night.
A finalist position is the recognition that matters. The result on the night is a separate question, and we’ll publish a follow-up either way. If you’re scoping a solar or battery project and want to talk to the team the national industry just shortlisted, request a quote.
