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 happy to share the first installation in our “Accelerating Renewables” blog series. Each installment will include industry leaders and subjects associated with accelerating a fair and just transition to a renewable resource 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 flourishing in the renewable resource sector.
Kristal Hansley is the Founder & & CEO of WeSolar, Inc and is the nations very first Black lady CEO in the community solar industry. Under her management, WeSolar is growing rapidly, offering consumers across Maryland and the District of Columbia access to inexpensive solar energy, despite home type, and assisting hard-working families lower regular monthly expenditures.
What inspired you to begin your business?
The plain fact that most of families who were receiving renewable resource incentives were higher income. I keep in mind learning this and believing there had to be a method to resolve this gap. I observed there was an issue. I had my own ideas on how to resolve it, and I desired to have company over my own decisions. I was at a neighborhood conference with 50 Black females organizers who were not purchased the community solar motion. It felt like a lightbulb had turned on for me as soon as I began to explain how critical and urgent it was for us to be a part of the solar motion. I began showing how higher-income neighborhoods and individuals in the residential areas were benefiting from sustainable tax incentives and had actually gotten a lots of assistance. The fact is, energy use effects Black home budgets considerably. 36% of Black families experience a high energy problem, suggesting they spend over 6% of their earnings on home energy costs. Thats a huge percentage. To be able to use a product that will conserve our neighborhood up to 60% on their energy expenses is transformative.
Tell us about your company?
WeSolars objective is to bring under-resourced neighborhoods inexpensive access to local community solar and to assist commercial homes with energy effectiveness. In Maryland, legislators passed legislation that states 50 percent of its electrical energy must come from sustainable energy sources by 2030.
What challenges do you deal with? Why?
To a neighborhood that is already facing numerous pressing obstacles, convincing them that there is another one just as crucial is really hard. I remember trying to describe community solar to my pals and the discussion rapidly rotating to housing. The fact of the matter is, institutional bigotry and injustice are larger than we understand, and it drowns our neighborhood. Where Black people are not being invested in, we are being asked to focus on constantly for our survival.
Please show us a recent business success story.
When I initially moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was launched, and I wanted to make sure city locals were receiving the very same quantity of financial investment as the county. Sustainable energy has historically been a middle-class concern since 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 needed to link with in order to make this collaboration successful.
To find out more about WeSolar, check out wesolar.energy
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I was at a community meeting with 50 Black ladies organizers who were not invested in the neighborhood solar motion. To be able to provide a product that will save our neighborhood up to 60% on their energy bills is transformative.
WeSolars objective is to bring under-resourced communities budget-friendly access to local community solar and to assist industrial residential or commercial properties with energy efficiency. When I first moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was introduced, and I wanted to ensure city homeowners were getting the same amount of financial investment as the county. Eco-friendly energy has historically been a middle-class problem since 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 needed to connect with in order to make this collaboration successful.