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 first installment in our “Accelerating Renewables” blog series. Each installment will include industry leaders and topics related to accelerating an equitable and simply transition 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 companies are thriving in the sustainable energy sector.
Kristal Hansley is the Founder & & CEO of WeSolar, Inc and is the nations very first Black female CEO in the neighborhood solar industry. Under her management, WeSolar is growing quickly, providing customers across Maryland and the District of Columbia access to inexpensive solar power, regardless of house type, and helping hard-working households lower regular monthly expenses.
What inspired you to begin your business?
I was at a community meeting with 50 Black women organizers who were not invested in the community solar motion. 36% of Black households experience a high energy concern, meaning they invest over 6% of their earnings on house energy bills. To be able to offer an item that will conserve our community up to 60% on their energy costs is transformative.
Tell us about your company?
WeSolars objective is to bring under-resourced communities budget-friendly access to regional neighborhood solar and to assist industrial homes with energy effectiveness. WeSolar released in Baltimore and will broaden to other cities in the future. Through WeSolar, electricity customers can acquire shared solar from a local project without needing to install any equipment in their homes. In turn, homeowners conserve hundreds on their electrical power costs. In Maryland, lawmakers passed legislation that specifies 50 percent of its electrical power need to come from sustainable energy sources by 2030.
What difficulties do you deal with? Why?
To a community that is currently dealing with so many pressing challenges, convincing them that there is another one simply as important is really difficult. I remember trying to explain neighborhood solar to my pals and the discussion rapidly rotating to housing.
Please share with us a current company success story.
A very individual success story for me is cultivating a collaboration with Maryland United Baptist Missionary Convention, Inc. I grew up in a Baptist church in Brooklyn where my cousin was the pastor, and my mama was an organizer– neighborhood was stitched into my really being. When I initially moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was launched, and I wished to ensure city citizens were getting 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 full circle. Renewable resource has actually traditionally been a middle-class problem due to the fact that Black neighborhoods have actually needed to reside in survival mode, however Reverend Mason and Reverend Dewitt brought me into the circle and connected me with the people I required to link with in order to make this partnership effective.
To find out more about WeSolar, visit 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 use a product that will conserve our neighborhood up to 60% on their energy costs is transformative.
WeSolars objective is to bring under-resourced communities affordable access to regional neighborhood solar and to help commercial residential or commercial properties with energy efficiency. When I initially 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 financial investment as the county. Eco-friendly energy has actually historically been a middle-class concern 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 collaboration successful.