If you’ve ever felt like the solar industry is full of smoke and mirrors, you’re not alone. Maybe you’ve seen too many slick ads from companies you’ve never heard of. Maybe you’ve heard horror stories about rushed installs, false promises, or dodgy tradies cutting corners. And maybe you’re wondering if anyone in the energy industry cares?
That frustration is exactly what fuelled the story you’re about to read.
I’m Jake Warner, the founder of PSC Energy. Before that, I was the guy sleeping in his office, wiring up switchboards by day and writing compliance paperwork by night.
I built Penrith Solar Centre from the ground up in Western Sydney. No shortcuts. Just a genuine obsession with quality, doing right by people, and helping Australians take control of their energy future.
In this article, you’ll learn how our solar company, built on grit, ethics, and good old-fashioned hard work, evolved into PSC Energy.
From Penrith Local to Licensed Sparkie: How It All Began
My name’s Jake Warner, and I’m the founder of PSC Energy. I want to take you on a bit of a journey: how I built PSC Energy into the company you see today.
First and foremost, I’m Penrith born and bred. I was born at Nepean Hospital in 1992 and completed my education up to Year 10 at McCarthy College in Emu Plains. My very first job, at 14, was at the Emu Plains McDonald’s. It taught me some of the greatest lessons I’ve carried throughout my career as an electrician.
After finishing school, I began my career as an apprentice electrician with Endeavour Energy. Back then, it was still called Integral Energy. I was one of the youngest team members they’d ever taken on, starting at just 16. I feel incredibly lucky to have done my apprenticeship with an organisation like that. I learned the distribution network like the back of my hand, and I got to see and do things that most sparkies won’t encounter in their entire careers.
Looking back, I had such a head start. At the time, I didn’t realise how critical that knowledge would become, especially now as we move toward decarbonising Australia’s electrical grid.
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Starting Priority Power Services: Laying the Foundations of Penrith Solar Centre
By 20, I’d completed my apprenticeship and obtained my electrical licence. At 21, I started my own electrical company, Priority Power Services. I’ll never forget how proud I was of that name. Of course, I was a sole trader, and my logo meant everything to me. I was that guy, wearing work gear seven days a week, telling everyone I’d just gone out on my own. It was a lot of fun.
I was lucky to land some work with local real estate agencies. Most notably, LJ Hooker in Richmond gave me all their electrical jobs. That was the big break that kickstarted my career in the industry.
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The Day We Installed Our First Solar System, and Everything Changed
In 2016, I hired my very first apprentice, Jory, who is now our Head of Installations at PSC Energy. He’s still with us to this day. I often think back to the day I hired him. I was 22, bringing on a mature-age apprentice who was older and probably wiser than me. Sometimes, I genuinely wondered how he stuck around in those early years.
That same year, we were asked to install a solar system for a good mate of mine, Jim Hill, who now owns Nepean Solar Solutions. Jim reckoned it would be pretty straightforward. All we had to do was give it a crack. So we Googled how to install a solar system, summed up all our courage, and went for it.
At the end of the day, Jory and I looked at each other with that shared feeling of pride and satisfaction. We didn’t quite realise it then, but something big had just started.
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Penrith Solar Centre Is Born: A Local Business with Big Ambitions
Then came July 1, 2017. That’s the day Penrith Solar Centre was officially born. We opened our brand-new showroom on Abel Street, a 230-square-metre factory that I was incredibly nervous to lease. Today, it would fit inside our current factory about 14 times over.
Our very first clients were John and Carol Sparks from Bligh Park. We installed a 6kW system for them with an SMA string inverter and Jinko 250-watt panels. We still monitor that system. We still keep in touch with them. That system has already paid for itself nearly three times over.
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From Sleeping in the Office to Scaling Up: The Early PSC Grind
Between 2017 and 2019, building Penrith Solar Centre was an uphill battle. I had a bed in the office at Abel Street. I’d sleep there two or three nights a week and pass out at the computer while doing compliance paperwork. I’d be woken up each morning by the boys opening the roller door, ready for another day of installs. I’d set them up, clean myself up, and then keep going, whether that meant manning the showroom or getting back to the paperwork. And yes, I was still on the tools.
Being so young, with barely any responsibilities at the time, meant I could work insane hours. And I did. In those two years of sleeping in the office, I probably got five years’ worth of work done.
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How COVID Accelerated Growth at Penrith Solar Centre
Toward the end of 2019, we moved to our second facility, Johnson Place in Cranebrook. I had promised myself this new place wouldn’t have a bedroom.
We got the keys and moved in over the New Year break into 2020. But life had other plans. COVID was just around the corner. And come March, we hit a brick wall like everyone else.
Within three months, people working from home realised their electricity bills were about to skyrocket. That brought on the next huge growth spurt for Penrith Solar Centre.
Over the next two years, we grew the team to around 40 people and hit six installations daily out of our Cranebrook office.
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Moving to Batt Street: A New Era for Penrith Solar Centre
By 2022, we were bursting at the seams. Then I spotted a stunning new building in Penrith that was sitting empty. I remember thinking, “That’s such a big building. Only a Good Guys or JB Hi-Fi could take that up.”
It was the nicest factory I had ever seen.
After plenty of back and forth, I secured it three months later. 130A Batt Street, Jamisontown. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
This factory gave us what we had never had before. Serious street frontage and a truly prioritised showroom. It took five months to fit out, and we moved in over the New Year break of 2022.
Now, in 2025, it’s the longest we’ve ever been in one place. We’ve grown into it fully. I always said this factory would let us do 14 to 15 installs a day, and today, we’re hitting 14 a day consistently.
All those years of sacrifice, sleeping in the office, grinding day in and day out, led us here. But we’re ready for what’s next.
This July, we’re rebranding. Penrith Solar Centre will become PSC Energy.
The name still honours our roots. “PSC” pays tribute to Penrith Solar Centre. But it also reflects our mission more clearly.
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Why We Rebranded: From Penrith Solar Centre to PSC Energy
Internally, PSC has stood for Produce, Store, and Consume for a long time.
Produce is solar. We help our clients produce their own energy.
Store is batteries. We help them store that energy.
Consume is everything from smart technology and VPPs to hot water systems and EV charging.
We’ve always led with an education-first mindset. And now, as PSC Energy, we’ll double down. We’ll produce more content and resources to help Aussie families and businesses take control of their energy.
We’ve laid solid foundations over the past decade. And just as the government prepares to launch a new battery rebate this July, we’re ready. Right place, right time.
If you’d like to learn a bit more about our aftercare, you might want to check out the following article titled, Penrith Solar Centre’s Service Department Safeguards the Future of Your System.
The Future of Solar in Australia Starts with PSC Energy
Everything we’ve done has been with one goal in mind: getting Australia to net zero by 2050.
We’re laser-focused on that. Walk into our showroom, and you’ll see a mural telling the story of how we’ll get there and why it matters to all of us who call this country home.
We’re excited for what’s ahead. We’re ready to help more people than ever across Western Sydney, the Mid-North Coast, out west in Bathurst, Orange and Mudgee, and down south to Wollongong.
And we’ll do it the right way. Leading with innovation and proving new concepts like VPPs and vehicle-to-grid and living it ourselves. We’ve got 100kW of solar on our roof. Most of our team members have solar panels and batteries at home.
But above all, it’s about our people. Our installation quality. Our reputation.
Penrith Solar Centre raised the bar. PSC Energy will raise it even higher.
We’ll never forget where we came from. But we know that getting to net zero will take even more. And we’re ready to step up without compromising quality, values or our best-or-nothing approach.
Because that’s what it takes to lead Australia’s energy future.
If you’re interested in learning a bit more about the process of choosing components for your solar system, you might want to check out the following article titled, How to Shop for a Solar System.
