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 delighted to share the first installation in our “Accelerating Renewables” blog series. Each installment will include industry leaders and subjects related to accelerating an equitable and just shift to an eco-friendly energy economy. In recognition of National Black Business Month, our August blog is the very first in a series highlighting how Black-owned member companies are growing in the eco-friendly energy sector.
Kristal Hansley is the Founder & & CEO of WeSolar, Inc and is the nations first Black lady CEO in the neighborhood solar industry. Under her leadership, WeSolar is growing quickly, offering consumers throughout Maryland and the District of Columbia access to economical solar energy, no matter home type, and helping hard-working families lower month-to-month expenses.
What inspired you to begin your company?
I was at a neighborhood conference with 50 Black females organizers who were not invested in the neighborhood solar motion. 36% of Black families experience a high energy concern, meaning they spend over 6% of their income on house energy expenses. To be able to offer a product that will conserve our neighborhood up to 60% on their energy expenses is transformative.
Inform us about your company?
WeSolars mission is to bring under-resourced communities inexpensive access to regional community solar and to assist business residential or commercial properties with energy performance. WeSolar introduced in Baltimore and will expand to other cities in the future. Through WeSolar, electrical energy customers can buy shared solar from a regional project without needing to install any devices in their homes. In turn, locals conserve hundreds on their electrical energy bills. In Maryland, legislators passed legislation that states 50 percent of its electrical power need to come from renewable energy sources by 2030.
What challenges do you deal with? Why?
To a neighborhood that is already dealing with so many pushing difficulties, encouraging them that there is another one simply as essential is very difficult. I remember trying to explain neighborhood solar to my pals and the conversation rapidly pivoting to housing.
Please show us a recent business success story.
A very individual success story for me is cultivating a collaboration with Maryland United Baptist Missionary Convention, Inc. I matured in a Baptist church in Brooklyn where my cousin was the pastor, and my mommy was an organizer– neighborhood was sewn into my very being. When I initially moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was released, and I desired to guarantee city citizens were receiving the same quantity of 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 concern since Black neighborhoods have needed 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 collaboration effective.
To find out more about WeSolar, visit wesolar.energy
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I was at a neighborhood conference with 50 Black females organizers who were not invested in the neighborhood solar motion. To be able to use an item that will save our neighborhood 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 assist industrial residential or commercial properties with energy efficiency. When I first moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was launched, and I desired to make sure city residents were getting the exact same quantity of financial investment as the county. Renewable energy has actually traditionally been a middle-class issue due to the fact that Black neighborhoods 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.