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 first installment in our “Accelerating Renewables” blog series. Each installment will include industry leaders and topics connected to accelerating an equitable and simply shift to a renewable resource economy. In acknowledgment of National Black Business Month, our August blog site is the very 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 female CEO in the neighborhood solar industry. Under her management, WeSolar is growing rapidly, providing consumers throughout Maryland and the District of Columbia access to affordable solar energy, despite home type, and helping hard-working families decrease regular monthly expenses.
What inspired you to begin your business?
I was at a community conference with 50 Black ladies organizers who were not invested in the community solar motion. 36% of Black families experience a high energy problem, indicating they invest over 6% of their earnings on house energy bills. To be able to use an item that will save our community up to 60% on their energy expenses is transformative.
Tell us about your business?
WeSolars objective is to bring under-resourced communities economical access to regional community solar and to assist commercial properties with energy effectiveness. In Maryland, lawmakers passed legislation that specifies 50 percent of its electricity should come from eco-friendly energy sources by 2030.
What challenges do you face? Why?
To a community that is currently facing so many pushing challenges, convincing them that there is another one simply as crucial is very difficult. I keep in mind attempting to explain neighborhood solar to my good friends and the conversation quickly rotating to housing.
Please share with 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 mama was an organizer– community was sewn into my extremely being. When I first moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was launched, and I wished to make sure city citizens were getting 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 whatever full circle. Renewable resource has actually historically been a middle-class concern because Black communities 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.
To get more information about WeSolar, check out wesolar.energy
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I was at a neighborhood meeting with 50 Black females organizers who were not invested in the neighborhood solar motion. To be able to provide a product that will save our community up to 60% on their energy costs is transformative.
WeSolars objective is to bring under-resourced neighborhoods affordable access to local neighborhood solar and to assist commercial residential or commercial properties with energy performance. When I first moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was introduced, and I wanted to make sure city locals were getting the very same quantity of investment as the county. Sustainable energy has actually 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 connected me with the people I required to connect with in order to make this partnership successful.