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 installment in our “Accelerating Renewables” blog site series. Each installation will feature market leaders and subjects connected to accelerating an equitable and just shift to an eco-friendly energy 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 flourishing in the renewable resource sector.
Kristal Hansley is the Founder & & CEO of WeSolar, Inc and is the countrys very first Black lady CEO in the community solar market. Under her management, WeSolar is growing quickly, supplying customers across Maryland and the District of Columbia access to budget friendly solar energy, regardless of house type, and assisting hard-working households lower month-to-month costs.
What inspired you to start your business?
I was at a community conference with 50 Black females organizers who were not invested in the community solar movement. 36% of Black families experience a high energy concern, meaning they invest over 6% of their income on house energy expenses. To be able to provide an item that will save our community up to 60% on their energy bills is transformative.
Inform us about your business?
WeSolars objective is to bring under-resourced neighborhoods inexpensive access to local neighborhood solar and to assist industrial residential or commercial properties with energy performance. WeSolar launched in Baltimore and will broaden to other cities in the future. Through WeSolar, electrical power consumers can acquire shared solar from a local job without having to install any devices in their homes. In turn, homeowners save hundreds on their electricity bills. In Maryland, lawmakers passed legislation that states 50 percent of its electricity must originate from sustainable energy sources by 2030.
What challenges do you face? Why?
To a community that is already dealing with numerous pushing obstacles, persuading them that there is another one simply as essential is extremely hard. I remember attempting to discuss neighborhood solar to my pals and the discussion rapidly pivoting to housing. The truth of the matter is, institutional bigotry and injustice are bigger than we know, and it drowns our community. Where Black people are not being bought, we are being asked to focus on continuously for our survival.
Please show us a current company 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– community was sewn into my very being. When I initially transferred to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was released, and I wished to guarantee city citizens were getting the 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 complete circle. Sustainable energy has traditionally been a middle-class problem due to the fact that Black communities have needed to live in survival mode, however Reverend Mason and Reverend Dewitt brought me into the circle and linked me with the people I required to get in touch with in order to make this partnership effective.
To get more information about WeSolar, go to wesolar.energy
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I was at a neighborhood conference with 50 Black females organizers who were not invested in the community solar movement. To be able to provide an item that will conserve our community up to 60% on their energy expenses is transformative.
WeSolars mission is to bring under-resourced neighborhoods economical access to regional neighborhood solar and to help business residential or commercial properties with energy efficiency. When I first moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was released, and I wanted to ensure city locals were receiving the same amount of investment as the county. Sustainable energy has actually traditionally been a middle-class concern due to the fact that Black neighborhoods have had to live in survival mode, but Reverend Mason and Reverend Dewitt brought me into the circle and linked me with the individuals I required to link with in order to make this partnership effective.