Irish Women in Solar 2025: Three Words. Many Paths. Shared Purpose.

Three Words. Many Paths. Shared Purpose.

At the end of each Irish Women in Solar feature this year, we asked a simple question: If you could describe your career journey in three words, what would they be?

The answers came from women working across policy, law, communications, digital, engineering, advocacy and delivery, in Ireland and at European level. They span different career stages, disciplines and lived experiences.

What they reveal, when viewed together, is not a single story, but a clear direction of travel.

The Words That Defined the Year

Across the responses, certain themes appear consistently, even where the language differs.

There is movement, not stasis:
dynamic, evolving, unpredictable, tumultuous

There is energy and momentum:
exciting, inspiring, rewarding

There is depth and meaning:
fulfilling, continuing, opportunity

And running through many of the responses is something harder to quantify, but impossible to miss: resilience.

That word appears explicitly in Morgan Pierce’s reflection - “Resilience Pays Dividends” - but it is present implicitly across many others. Whether navigating male-dominated rooms, building teams from scratch, shaping policy at European level, or driving delivery at pace on the ground, resilience is a shared thread.

What is notably absent is any suggestion of a smooth or linear journey. These careers are shaped by pivots, leaps, learning curves and moments of uncertainty. Yet almost without exception, the tone is forward-looking.

Not One Route Into Solar

Taken together, these three-word reflections dismantle one of the most persistent myths about the sector: that there is a single pathway into solar.

Among the women featured this year are founders, CEOs, lawyers, policy advisers, communications leaders, planners and advocates. Some entered solar deliberately. Others arrived through adjacent fields such as law, public affairs, technology or sustainability, and chose to stay because the work aligned with their values.

That diversity of entry points matters. It reflects a sector that is still forming, still expanding, and still open to new skillsets. It also reinforces a recurring message across the interviews: solar is not just for engineers, and the energy transition will only succeed if it draws on a wide range of expertise.

Role Models Who Make Space for Others

Another clear pattern emerges when looking beyond the three words to the role models cited.

Many of the women featured point not to distant public figures, but to people who made space for them: mentors who shared knowledge, leaders who trusted them early, parents who modelled resilience, and colleagues who championed collaboration over competition.

There is a strong emphasis on women supporting women, but also on inclusive leadership more broadly. The message is not about replacing one hierarchy with another, but about changing how leadership looks and feels in a growing industry.

That emphasis on mentorship and visibility connects directly to the purpose of Irish Women in Solar itself: making careers in solar visible, relatable and attainable.

Ireland, Europe and the Bigger Picture

While many of the roles highlighted this year operate at European level, the Irish influence is unmistakable.

From shaping EU-wide narratives on solar and electrification, to delivering projects on Irish rooftops and farms, the work described consistently loops back to Ireland’s energy transition. Agri-PV, rooftop deployment, community energy, skills development and workforce growth all feature prominently.

This is where the connection between communications, policy and delivery becomes clear. The stories being told in Brussels matter because they influence frameworks that determine what can be built at home. Equally, Irish projects on the ground give those narratives credibility.

Looking Ahead

If the three-word reflections tell us anything about the future of solar, it is this: the sector will continue to move fast, evolve quickly and demand adaptability.

But it will also continue to attract people who want their work to mean something.

Across every response, there is a shared belief that solar is not just an energy technology, but a way to deliver fairness, opportunity and long-term value. That belief is what binds these very different journeys together.

The women featured in Irish Women in Solar 2025 are not following a script. They are writing one.

And in doing so, they are helping shape not just Ireland’s solar sector, but the culture that will sustain it for decades to come.

With Thanks

We’d like to sincerely thank Maeve, Morgan, Bridget, Olivia, Grace, Fei, Dawn, Fionnuala, Lisa, Bethany, Lily and Thérèse for sharing their time, insight and experiences as part of Irish Women in Solar.

Each contribution has helped build a richer, more honest picture of what it means to work in solar today across different roles, career stages and perspectives. Together, these stories show the depth of talent shaping Ireland’s solar sector, and the importance of visibility, inclusion and collaboration in driving the energy transition forward.

We look forward to continuing this series in the year ahead, featuring more women, more journeys and more voices helping shape Ireland’s solar future.