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 very first installment in our “Accelerating Renewables” blog series. Each installment will include industry leaders and topics related to speeding up a fair 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 flourishing in the eco-friendly energy sector.
Kristal Hansley is the Founder & & CEO of WeSolar, Inc and is the nations very first Black female CEO in the neighborhood solar market. Under her leadership, WeSolar is growing rapidly, offering consumers throughout Maryland and the District of Columbia access to inexpensive solar energy, regardless of house type, and helping hard-working households lower monthly expenses.
What inspired you to start your business?
I was at a community meeting with 50 Black ladies organizers who were not invested in the neighborhood solar motion. 36% of Black families experience a high energy problem, indicating they invest over 6% of their income on house energy bills. To be able to provide 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 neighborhoods inexpensive access to regional neighborhood solar and to help business properties with energy efficiency. In Maryland, legislators passed legislation that specifies 50 percent of its electrical power need to come from sustainable energy sources by 2030.
What obstacles do you face? Why?
To a neighborhood that is currently dealing with a lot of pushing difficulties, convincing them that there is another one just as crucial is extremely difficult. I remember attempting to describe neighborhood solar to my friends and the conversation rapidly rotating to real estate. The truth of the matter is, institutional racism and oppression are bigger than we know, and it drowns our neighborhood. Where Black individuals are not being invested in, we are being asked to prioritize constantly for our survival.
Please share with us a recent company success story.
An extremely personal 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 mama was an organizer– community was sewn into my really being. When I initially moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was released, and I wished to make sure city citizens were receiving the very 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 everything full circle. Renewable resource has historically been a middle-class issue because Black communities have actually needed to live in survival mode, however Reverend Mason and Reverend Dewitt brought me into the circle and connected me with individuals I required to get in touch with in order to make this collaboration successful.
To find out more about WeSolar, go to wesolar.energy
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I was at a neighborhood conference with 50 Black ladies organizers who were not invested in the community solar motion. To be able to use a product that will conserve our community up to 60% on their energy expenses is transformative.
WeSolars objective is to bring under-resourced communities cost effective access to local neighborhood solar and to help business residential or commercial properties with energy effectiveness. When I first moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was released, and I wanted to guarantee city residents were receiving the same amount of investment as the county. Eco-friendly energy has actually traditionally 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 link with in order to make this partnership effective.