Happy Solar Family: Clare and David in Penshurst

13 April 2025

Retired school teachers Clare Dwyer and David Roffe had an old rooftop solar system they knew they wanted to upgrade but they were struggling to work out who they could trust for advice and a quote. 

They came to our Solar Information Night last year at Gasoline Pony in Marrickville, had their questions answered, and today they’re living under a huge, 30-panel, 13.2 kilowatt rooftop solar system and are well on their way to being all-electric. 

David and Clare at their home in Penshurst.

David will speak about his experience going solar through Inner West Community at our next solar and battery info night, on May 1, back at Gasoline Pony. 

“We feel strongly about looking after the planet and our carbon emissions,” Clare says.

“We’re in the lucky position that we could afford to do that. So we just thought we’d put our money where our mouth is, basically, and just do it. The whole Saul Griffith thing. He just says: ‘Rewire Australia. Just go all electric’. There’s so much in that. I think it’s very important.” 

Even though they live in Penshurst, our event popped up on Facebook and they came along.

“Everybody was being treated the same, everybody was being answered, no matter what their questions were,” David says. “I felt in that place there were a lot of like-minded people who just thought the way we did. That was huge. It just gave us a level of trust.”

Two months after Clare sent us all the initial information we needed, her solar system was complete. 

“We love being able to look at our solar app and being able to say ‘Great!’,” Clare says. “We’re doing nothing. The sun’s doing it for us. We’re both pretty well retired and we have the luxury of being able to run a lot of things during the day, so we put the dishwasher on, do the washing, all that stuff.

“It feels like a bit of no-brainer. I love it.”

Our information night is at Gasoline Pony on Thursday, May 1, starting at 7pm. See our events page for more details.