Renewable Power Perspectives Q&A with Kristal Hansley, Founder & CEO of WeSolar, Inc.

I was at a neighborhood conference with 50 Black women organizers who were not invested in the community solar motion. To be able to provide an item that will conserve our community up to 60% on their energy bills is transformative.
WeSolars objective is to bring under-resourced communities cost effective access to local community solar and to assist business homes with energy efficiency. When I first moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was released, and I desired to ensure city residents were getting the very same quantity of financial investment as the county. Sustainable energy has actually traditionally been a middle-class problem due to the fact that Black communities have had to live in survival mode, however Reverend Mason and Reverend Dewitt brought me into the circle and connected me with the individuals I needed to link with in order to make this collaboration successful.

By Constance ThompsonAugust 27, 2021
The American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) is pleased to share the first installation in our “Accelerating Renewables” blog series. Each installment will feature industry leaders and topics related to speeding up a fair and just shift to a renewable resource economy. In acknowledgment of National Black Business Month, our August blog is the very first in a series highlighting how Black-owned member companies are prospering in the sustainable energy sector.
Kristal Hansley is the Founder & & CEO of WeSolar, Inc and is the nations very first Black lady CEO in the neighborhood solar industry. Under her management, WeSolar is growing rapidly, supplying customers throughout Maryland and the District of Columbia access to inexpensive solar power, no matter home type, and helping hard-working families reduce month-to-month expenditures.
What inspired you to begin your business?
I was at a neighborhood meeting with 50 Black women organizers who were not invested in the neighborhood solar movement. 36% of Black households experience a high energy concern, implying they invest over 6% of their earnings on home energy expenses. To be able to use an item that will conserve our community up to 60% on their energy costs is transformative.
Inform us about your company?
WeSolars objective is to bring under-resourced communities budget-friendly access to regional neighborhood solar and to assist industrial homes with energy efficiency. In Maryland, legislators passed legislation that specifies 50 percent of its electrical energy must come from sustainable energy sources by 2030.
What obstacles do you face? Why?
To a neighborhood that is currently facing so lots of pressing difficulties, convincing them that there is another one simply as essential is very challenging. I keep in mind attempting to discuss community solar to my friends and the discussion quickly rotating to housing.
Please show us a current business success story.
A really individual success story for me is cultivating a partnership with Maryland United Baptist Missionary Convention, Inc. I matured in a Baptist church in Brooklyn where my cousin was the pastor, and my mother was an organizer– neighborhood was stitched into my really being. When I first transferred to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was released, and I wished to guarantee city locals were getting the very same quantity of financial investment as the county. It was the church that took me in, and the church that then supported my vision– bringing whatever cycle. Renewable resource has actually traditionally been a middle-class concern due to the fact that Black communities have actually needed to reside in survival mode, but Reverend Mason and Reverend Dewitt brought me into the circle and connected me with the people I needed to connect with in order to make this partnership successful.
For more information about WeSolar, see wesolar.energy
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