Renewable Power Perspectives Q&A with Kristal Hansley, Founder & CEO of WeSolar, Inc.
Renogy 10 Amp 12V/24V PWM Negative Ground Solar Charge Controller Compact Design w/LCD Display for AGM, Gel, Flooded and Lithium Battery, Wanderer 10A
24% Off
NETVUE Solar Panel for Bird Feeder Camera only, Type-C Charger, IP65 Waterproof for Outdoors, Continuously Power Supply, 360° Swivel Bracket
25% Off.
Kristal Hansley is the Founder & & CEO of WeSolar, Inc. and is the countrys very first Black Woman CEO in the community solar industry. Under her leadership, WeSolar is growing rapidly, offering customers throughout Maryland access to budget friendly solar energy, regardless of house type and helping hard-working families reduce month-to-month expenditures
.
What inspired you to begin your business?
The plain truth that most of families who were getting sustainable energy rewards were greater earnings. I remember learning this and believing there needed to be a way to address this gap. I noticed there was an issue, I had my own ideas to solve it and I wished to have agency over my own decisions. I was at a community conference with 50 Black women organizers who were not bought the community solar motion. It felt like a lightbulb had turned on for me once I started to describe how crucial and urgent it was for us to be a part of the solar motion. I began revealing how higher income neighborhoods and people in the suburbs were benefiting from this and got a lot of assistance. The fact is, energy use effects Black household budgets significantly. 36% of Black homes experience a high energy problem, meaning they invest over 6% of their earnings on house energy bills. Thats a massive portion. To be able to use a product that will conserve our neighborhood up to 60% on their energy bills is transformative
.
Tell us about your company? (objective, partners, areas you operate in, primary consumers, etc.).
WeSolars mission is to bring under-resourced communities affordable access to regional neighborhood solar and to help commercial residential or commercial properties with energy performance. WeSolar introduced in Baltimore and will broaden to other cities in the future. Through WeSolar, electrical energy consumers can acquire shared solar from a local job without needing to install any devices in their homes. In turn, homeowners conserve hundreds on their electrical energy costs. In Maryland, legislators passed legislation that specifies 50 percent of its electrical power should originate from renewable resource sources by 2030
.
What obstacles do you deal with? Why?
To a community that is already facing so many pressing difficulties, convincing them that there is another one just as important is very hard. I remember attempting to explain neighborhood solar to my pals and the conversation quickly pivoting to real estate. The fact of the matter is, institutional bigotry and oppression is bigger than we understand and it drowns our community. Where Black people are not being purchased, we are being asked to focus on continuously for our survival
.
Please share with us a current business success story.
A very individual success story for me is cultivating a partnership 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– neighborhood was sewn into my extremely being. When I initially relocated to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was released and I wished to make sure city residents were receiving the 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 cycle. Sustainable energy has traditionally been a middle class concern because Black neighborhoods have actually had to live in survival mode, however Reverend Mason and Reverend Dewitt brought me into the circle and linked me with the people 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 thrilled to share the very first installation in our “Ask an Accelerate Member” blog series. Each installation will feature one of ACOREs Accelerate member companies. August is National Black Business Month, so this month we are concentrated on Black-owned renewable resource companies
I was at a community conference with 50 Black ladies organizers who were not invested in the community solar motion. To be able to provide an item that will save our neighborhood up to 60% on their energy expenses is transformative
.
WeSolars objective is to bring under-resourced neighborhoods inexpensive access to regional neighborhood solar and to assist industrial residential or commercial properties with energy performance. When I initially moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was launched and I desired to make sure city homeowners were getting the exact same quantity of investment as the county. Renewable energy has actually traditionally been a middle class concern since Black communities have actually had to live in survival mode, but Reverend Mason and Reverend Dewitt brought me into the circle and connected me with the individuals I required to connect with in order to make this partnership successful
.