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 site series. Each installation will feature market leaders and subjects related to speeding up a fair and simply transition to a sustainable energy economy. In recognition of National Black Business Month, our August blog site is the very first in a series highlighting how Black-owned member business are growing in the renewable 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 management, WeSolar is growing rapidly, providing customers throughout Maryland and the District of Columbia access to inexpensive solar energy, regardless of house type, and assisting hard-working households reduce regular monthly expenses.
What inspired you to begin your business?
The stark truth that most of families who were getting renewable resource rewards were greater earnings. I keep in mind learning this and believing there needed to be a method to address this space. I saw there was a problem. I had my own ideas on how to solve it, and I wanted to have firm over my own decisions. I was at a community meeting with 50 Black females organizers who were not bought the neighborhood solar motion. Once I began to describe how important and urgent it was for us to be a part of the solar movement, it seemed like a lightbulb had actually turned on for me. I began revealing how higher-income neighborhoods and individuals in the residential areas were making the most of sustainable tax incentives and had actually received a lots of assistance. The truth is, energy use impacts Black home budget plans significantly. 36% of Black families experience a high energy problem, meaning they spend over 6% of their income on home energy costs. Thats an enormous portion. To be able to offer a product that will save our neighborhood as much as 60% on their energy expenses is transformative.
Inform us about your company?
WeSolars mission is to bring under-resourced communities economical access to local neighborhood solar and to assist commercial residential or commercial properties with energy effectiveness. In Maryland, legislators passed legislation that states 50 percent of its electricity should come from eco-friendly energy sources by 2030.
What difficulties do you face? Why?
To a community that is already dealing with a lot of pressing challenges, persuading them that there is another one just as crucial is extremely tough. I remember attempting to explain neighborhood solar to my friends and the conversation rapidly rotating to housing. The fact of the matter is, institutional racism and oppression are bigger than we understand, and it drowns our neighborhood. Where Black individuals are not being purchased, we are being asked to prioritize constantly for our survival.
Please show us a recent business success story.
An extremely 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 mother was an organizer– neighborhood was sewn into my really being. When I first relocated to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was launched, and I wished to make sure city residents were getting the same amount of investment as the county. It was the church that took me in, and the church that then supported my vision– bringing whatever cycle. Renewable resource has actually historically been a middle-class issue due to the fact that Black neighborhoods have needed to reside in survival mode, but Reverend Mason and Reverend Dewitt brought me into the circle and connected me with the individuals I required to link with in order to make this partnership successful.
To read more about WeSolar, visit wesolar.energy
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I was at a neighborhood conference with 50 Black women organizers who were not invested in the community solar movement. To be able to use a product that will conserve our community up to 60% on their energy costs is transformative.
WeSolars objective is to bring under-resourced communities inexpensive access to regional neighborhood solar and to assist business residential or commercial properties with energy efficiency. When I first moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was launched, and I wanted to ensure city citizens were getting the very same amount of investment as the county. Renewable energy has traditionally been a middle-class problem because 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 individuals I required to connect with in order to make this collaboration effective.