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

By Constance ThompsonAugust 27, 2021
The American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) is happy to share the very first installment in our “Accelerating Renewables” blog series. Each installation will feature industry leaders and subjects associated with accelerating a fair and just transition to a renewable resource economy. In acknowledgment of National Black Business Month, our August blog is the first in a series highlighting how Black-owned member business are prospering in the renewable resource sector.
Kristal Hansley is the Founder & & CEO of WeSolar, Inc and is the countrys very first Black lady CEO in the neighborhood solar market. Under her management, WeSolar is growing rapidly, providing customers throughout Maryland and the District of Columbia access to budget friendly solar energy, no matter house type, and helping hard-working families minimize monthly expenses.
What inspired you to begin your company?
I was at a community conference with 50 Black females organizers who were not invested in the community solar movement. 36% of Black homes experience a high energy concern, suggesting they invest over 6% of their income on house energy bills. To be able to use an item that will save our community up to 60% on their energy bills is transformative.
Tell us about your company?
WeSolars objective is to bring under-resourced communities budget-friendly access to regional community solar and to help business properties with energy performance. WeSolar introduced in Baltimore and will expand to other cities in the future. Through WeSolar, electrical energy consumers can buy shared solar from a local job without having to set up any equipment in their houses. In turn, residents conserve hundreds on their electrical power costs. In Maryland, lawmakers passed legislation that states 50 percent of its electricity should originate from renewable resource sources by 2030.
What challenges do you face? Why?
To a neighborhood that is already dealing with a lot of pushing challenges, convincing them that there is another one just as important is very challenging. I keep in mind attempting to explain community solar to my pals and the conversation quickly pivoting to real estate. The reality of the matter is, institutional bigotry and injustice are bigger than we understand, and it drowns our community. Where Black individuals are not being bought, we are being asked to focus on constantly for our survival.
Please show us a recent business success story.
An extremely individual success story for me is cultivating a collaboration with Maryland United Baptist Missionary Convention, Inc. I grew up in a Baptist church in Brooklyn where my cousin was the pastor, and my mom was an organizer– community was stitched into my extremely being. When I initially relocated to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was introduced, and I wished to make sure city residents were getting the very same amount of financial investment as the county. It was the church that took me in, and the church that then supported my vision– bringing everything complete circle. Renewable resource has actually traditionally been a middle-class issue because Black neighborhoods have actually 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 get in touch with in order to make this collaboration successful.
To find out more about WeSolar, see wesolar.energy
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I was at a community conference with 50 Black females organizers who were not invested in the community solar motion. To be able to provide an item that will save our community up to 60% on their energy bills is transformative.
WeSolars objective is to bring under-resourced communities inexpensive access to regional community solar and to help commercial homes with energy performance. When I initially moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was launched, and I wanted to make sure city homeowners were getting the very same quantity of financial investment as the county. Sustainable energy has actually traditionally been a middle-class concern because Black communities have had to live in survival mode, however Reverend Mason and Reverend Dewitt brought me into the circle and linked me with the individuals I required to connect with in order to make this collaboration successful.