Williams Solar

2 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 9, ISSUE 10 General Company Overview W illiams Solar is in Bridgetown, Saint Thomas, Barbados. It is a subsidiary of Williams Industries, a conglomerate with interests in engineering, real estate, metal fabrication, drilling, electrical services, and renewables. Williams Industries recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, a celebration shared by Williams Solar, one of its newer companies. As a major economic player on the island and one of the oldest, Williams Industries’ reputation has helped pivot its renewable energy subsidiary to significant success within just a few years. “Williams Evergreen Limited, doing business as Williams Energy, was registered in 2008,” says Gleason Roach, General Manager at Williams Energy. “At that time, Williams Industries was looking to enter the energy management and energy efficiency sector. Our first project involved installing a 30-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system, which we used to test, learn, and understand the business better.” “In 2008, Barbados had no solar installation, certainly not that size of a project. Over the next three to four years, our energy management business continued but lessened due to the rapid uptake of photovoltaic installation services.” Williams Solar capitalized on this demand and, by 2012, had installed solar energy systems amounting to approximately 1.5 megawatts. Since 2012, Williams Solar has continued to grow in the region and has an installed capacity of twenty megawatts. Service Description Williams Solar serves both residential and commercial customers in Barbados. Roach notes that although the company initially Williams Solar