Both Hartman and Kernahan understand the importance of acting locally to create global change. This means prioritizing community engagement and inclusivity. Hartman says that, “Up to this point, in the entire California solar initiative, the lowest income households are being left entirely out of the conversation.”
The current solar deployment model is geared solely towards households with incomes in the top 20%, excluding the rest because it’s assumed that they’re renters, can’t afford it, or don’t have the tax cut incentives. Not to mention lower income communities usually have smaller rooftops that are oriented differently with obstructive pipes, vents, or trees.
These issues are all but eliminated with Kernahan’s new solar panels, making mass deployment of renewable energy possible. Their nonprofit solar panel production factory will capitalize on this potential and extend it even further. “We’re actually going to be hiring and working with intellectually disabled workshops, we’re going to be working with at risk youth,” says Hartman of the nearly 200 new jobs that will be created.