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 installation in our “Accelerating Renewables” blog site series. Each installment will include market leaders and topics related to speeding up an equitable and simply transition to a sustainable energy economy. In acknowledgment of National Black Business Month, our August blog site is the first in a series highlighting how Black-owned member business are growing in the eco-friendly energy sector.
Kristal Hansley is the Founder & & CEO of WeSolar, Inc and is the countrys first Black woman CEO in the community solar industry. Under her leadership, WeSolar is growing rapidly, supplying consumers throughout Maryland and the District of Columbia access to cost effective solar power, despite home type, and helping hard-working households minimize month-to-month expenses.
What inspired you to start your business?
I was at a neighborhood conference with 50 Black ladies organizers who were not invested in the neighborhood solar movement. 36% of Black households experience a high energy concern, indicating they invest over 6% of their income on house energy bills. To be able to offer a product that will conserve our community up to 60% on their energy bills is transformative.
Tell us about your business?
WeSolars objective is to bring under-resourced neighborhoods inexpensive access to regional community solar and to help commercial residential or commercial properties with energy effectiveness. In Maryland, lawmakers passed legislation that states 50 percent of its electrical power need to come from eco-friendly energy sources by 2030.
What difficulties do you face? Why?
To a neighborhood that is currently facing many pushing challenges, encouraging them that there is another one just as crucial is extremely tough. I keep in mind attempting to discuss community solar to my friends and the discussion rapidly rotating to real estate. The reality of the matter is, institutional racism and injustice are larger than we understand, and it drowns our neighborhood. Where Black people are not being invested in, we are being asked to prioritize constantly for our survival.
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 grew up in a Baptist church in Brooklyn where my cousin was the pastor, and my mommy was an organizer– neighborhood was stitched into my very being. When I first moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was introduced, and I wished to ensure city homeowners were receiving the exact 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. Sustainable energy has actually historically been a middle-class concern due to the fact that Black communities have actually had to live in survival mode, however Reverend Mason and Reverend Dewitt brought me into the circle and connected me with individuals I needed to connect with in order to make this partnership successful.
For more information about WeSolar, go to wesolar.energy
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I was at a neighborhood meeting with 50 Black women organizers who were not invested in the community solar motion. To be able to use an item that will save our neighborhood up to 60% on their energy bills is transformative.
WeSolars mission is to bring under-resourced communities affordable access to local community solar and to help industrial residential or commercial properties with energy performance. When I first moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was released, and I wanted to guarantee city citizens were getting the same quantity of investment as the county. Eco-friendly energy has historically 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 linked me with the people I needed to link with in order to make this collaboration successful.