597: Community Solar’s meteoric rise, with Arcadia’s Kiran Bhatraju live from MWSE’23

If you’ve been following what we refer to here on the pod as “the 4th vertical of solar”, namely, Community Solar, then you know it’s been quite a year for this category. So, for this Tactical Tuesday episode, I got a chance to speak Live from the Midwest Solar Expo stage in Chicago with passionate proponent of clean energy proliferation, Kiran Bhatraju, about best practices for engaging lawmakers, utilities, and customers. Kiran founded Arcadia almost ten years ago to offer consumers greater access to the clean energy needed to combat our nation’s climate crisis. Originally from Eastern Kentucky coal country, his mission is to build the nation’s first digital utility and bring renewable and efficient energy to residents and businesses in all 50 states.In our discussion, Kiran and I cover business and communication strategies we can all use to activate the people who can make change in our industry. Kiran describes the need for businesses to devote a healthy portion of their time and funding to pushing policies that support expedited and equitable clean energy growth. He details key conversations we can have with truculent utilities, local legislators, and existing and prospective solar customers. Additionally, Kiran stresses the role of technology in getting our messages out in a simple, engaging manner.Kiran Bhatraju wants us as business leaders and energy consumers to get past any obstacle in order to grow solar. Check out the podcast to hear how.If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to his contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://mysuncast.com/suncast-episodes/.Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!SunCast is proudly supported by Trina Solar.You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.mysuncast.com/sponsors.Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 730 other founder stories and startup advice at www.mysuncast.com.Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeoLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus