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 pleased to share the very first installation in our “Accelerating Renewables” blog series. Each installment will include market leaders and subjects associated with accelerating a fair and simply shift to a renewable resource economy. In acknowledgment of National Black Business Month, our August blog is the very first in a series highlighting how Black-owned member business are growing in the sustainable energy sector.
Kristal Hansley is the Founder & & CEO of WeSolar, Inc and is the nations first Black woman CEO in the neighborhood solar market. Under her leadership, WeSolar is growing rapidly, supplying consumers across Maryland and the District of Columbia access to inexpensive solar power, no matter home type, and assisting hard-working families decrease month-to-month expenditures.
What inspired you to start your company?
I was at a community conference with 50 Black ladies organizers who were not invested in the neighborhood solar motion. 36% of Black homes experience a high energy problem, implying they spend over 6% of their earnings on house energy costs. To be able to provide an item that will save our neighborhood up to 60% on their energy bills is transformative.
Inform us about your business?
WeSolars objective is to bring under-resourced communities affordable access to local community solar and to assist commercial homes with energy effectiveness. WeSolar released in Baltimore and will broaden to other cities in the future. Through WeSolar, electrical energy customers can buy shared solar from a regional project without having to set up any equipment in their homes. In turn, citizens conserve hundreds on their electricity costs. In Maryland, legislators passed legislation that specifies 50 percent of its electrical power need to come from renewable resource sources by 2030.
What challenges do you deal with? Why?
To a community that is currently facing numerous pressing obstacles, convincing them that there is another one simply as important is extremely difficult. I keep in mind attempting to discuss neighborhood solar to my buddies and the conversation quickly pivoting to real estate. The truth of the matter is, institutional racism and injustice are larger than we understand, and it drowns our community. Where Black individuals are not being purchased, we are being asked to prioritize constantly for our survival.
Please share with us a recent company success story.
When I initially moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was launched, and I wanted to make sure city citizens were receiving the very same amount of investment as the county. Renewable energy has 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 linked me with the people 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 ladies organizers who were not invested in the neighborhood 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 communities budget-friendly access to local neighborhood 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 ensure city homeowners were receiving the same quantity of financial investment as the county. Renewable energy has actually historically been a middle-class issue because 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 individuals I needed to connect with in order to make this partnership effective.