Renewable Power Perspectives Q&A with Kristal Hansley, Founder & CEO of WeSolar, Inc.
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I was at a neighborhood conference with 50 Black ladies organizers who were not invested in the community solar movement. To be able to offer a product that will conserve our community up to 60% on their energy expenses is transformative.
WeSolars objective is to bring under-resourced neighborhoods inexpensive access to local community solar and to help business residential or commercial properties with energy efficiency. When I initially moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was released, and I wanted to ensure city residents were receiving the same quantity of investment as the county. Eco-friendly energy has historically been a middle-class concern due to the fact that Black neighborhoods have had to live in survival mode, but Reverend Mason and Reverend Dewitt brought me into the circle and linked me with the people I required to connect with in order to make this partnership effective.
By Constance ThompsonAugust 27, 2021
The American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) is happy to share the first installment in our “Accelerating Renewables” blog series. Each installation will feature industry leaders and topics connected to speeding up a fair and just shift to an eco-friendly energy economy. In acknowledgment of National Black Business Month, our August blog is the first in a series highlighting how Black-owned member companies are flourishing in the sustainable energy sector.
Kristal Hansley is the Founder & & CEO of WeSolar, Inc and is the nations very first Black woman CEO in the neighborhood solar industry. Under her management, WeSolar is growing quickly, supplying consumers across Maryland and the District of Columbia access to cost effective solar power, no matter home type, and assisting hard-working households reduce regular monthly expenditures.
What inspired you to start your company?
The stark truth that the bulk of homes who were getting renewable resource incentives were greater earnings. I remember learning this and believing there had to be a way to address this space. I saw there was an issue. I had my own ideas on how to solve it, and I wished to have agency over my own choices. I was at a neighborhood meeting with 50 Black women organizers who were not invested in the neighborhood solar movement. It felt like a lightbulb had turned on for me when I began to explain how important and urgent it was for us to be a part of the solar motion. I started demonstrating how higher-income neighborhoods and people in the suburban areas were making the most of sustainable tax incentives and had received a lots of assistance. The fact is, energy use impacts Black household budget plans significantly. 36% of Black families experience a high energy concern, meaning they spend over 6% of their income on house energy expenses. Thats an enormous portion. To be able to offer a product that will save our community as much as 60% on their energy bills is transformative.
Inform us about your company?
WeSolars mission is to bring under-resourced neighborhoods inexpensive access to local neighborhood solar and to assist industrial homes with energy performance. In Maryland, lawmakers passed legislation that specifies 50 percent of its electricity must come from renewable energy sources by 2030.
What challenges do you deal with? Why?
To a community that is already facing so many pushing challenges, convincing them that there is another one just as important is very difficult. I remember attempting to explain community solar to my friends and the discussion rapidly pivoting to housing.
Please show us a recent business success story.
A really personal 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 sewn into my very being. When I first relocated to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was introduced, and I desired to ensure city locals were receiving 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 everything cycle. Renewable resource has actually traditionally been a middle-class problem since Black neighborhoods have had to reside in survival mode, however Reverend Mason and Reverend Dewitt brought me into the circle and connected me with individuals I required to link with in order to make this partnership successful.
To get more information about WeSolar, see wesolar.energy
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