Renewable Power Perspectives Q&A with Kristal Hansley, Founder & CEO of WeSolar, Inc.

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Kristal Hansley is the Founder & & CEO of WeSolar, Inc. and is the countrys first Black Woman CEO in the neighborhood solar industry. Under her management, WeSolar is growing quickly, offering consumers across Maryland access to inexpensive solar energy, regardless of home type and helping hard-working families reduce regular monthly expenses
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What inspired you to start your company?
I was at a community meeting with 50 Black females organizers who were not invested in the community solar movement. I started showing how greater income communities and people in the suburbs were taking benefit of this and received a lot of assistance. To be able to provide a product that will conserve our community up to 60% on their energy expenses is transformative
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Inform us about your business? (mission, partners, regions you operate in, main clients, and so on).
WeSolars mission is to bring under-resourced neighborhoods inexpensive access to regional community solar and to assist industrial properties with energy effectiveness. WeSolar released in Baltimore and will expand to other cities in the future. Through WeSolar, electrical energy consumers can buy shared solar from a local job without having to install any devices in their houses. In turn, citizens save hundreds on their electrical energy bills. In Maryland, lawmakers passed legislation that specifies 50 percent of its electrical energy need to originate from sustainable energy sources by 2030
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What challenges do you deal with? Why?
To a community that is already dealing with a lot of pushing obstacles, convincing them that there is another one simply as crucial is very challenging. I keep in mind trying to explain community solar to my good friends and the conversation quickly pivoting to real estate. The truth of the matter is, institutional bigotry and injustice is bigger than we know and it drowns our neighborhood. Where Black people are not being purchased, we are being asked to prioritize continuously for our survival
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Please show us a recent business success story.
A really individual success story for me is cultivating a partnership 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– community was sewn into my extremely being. When I initially relocated to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was released and I wanted to ensure city residents were receiving the same quantity of investment as the county. It was the church that took me in, and the church that then supported my vision– bringing whatever cycle. Sustainable energy has actually historically been a middle class issue because Black communities have needed to reside 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 partnership effective
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I was at a neighborhood meeting with 50 Black women organizers who were not invested in the neighborhood solar movement. To be able to provide an item that will save our community up to 60% on their energy bills is transformative
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WeSolars mission is to bring under-resourced neighborhoods budget friendly access to regional community solar and to assist commercial residential or commercial properties with energy effectiveness. When I initially moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was launched and I desired to ensure city locals were receiving the same amount of investment as the county. Sustainable energy has traditionally been a middle class issue since Black neighborhoods have actually had to live in survival mode, however 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 partnership successful
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By Constance ThompsonAugust 27, 2021
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The American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) is delighted to share the first installment in our “Ask an Accelerate Member” blog series. Each installment will feature one of ACOREs Accelerate member business. August is National Black Business Month, so this month we are focused on Black-owned renewable resource companies