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

.
Kristal Hansley is the Founder & & CEO of WeSolar, Inc. and is the countrys very first Black Woman CEO in the neighborhood solar market. Under her management, WeSolar is growing rapidly, providing consumers across Maryland access to budget-friendly solar energy, no matter home type and assisting hard-working families decrease monthly expenditures
.
What inspired you to begin your company?
I was at a community conference with 50 Black ladies organizers who were not invested in the neighborhood solar motion. I began showing how higher earnings communities and people in the suburban areas were taking advantage of this and got a lot of assistance. To be able to offer an item that will conserve our neighborhood up to 60% on their energy expenses is transformative
.
Tell us about your company? (mission, partners, areas you operate in, primary customers, and so on).
WeSolars mission is to bring under-resourced neighborhoods budget-friendly access to regional neighborhood solar and to help business residential or commercial properties with energy efficiency. In Maryland, lawmakers passed legislation that specifies 50 percent of its electrical energy should come from eco-friendly energy sources by 2030
.
What challenges do you deal with? Why?
To a community that is already dealing with so numerous pushing difficulties, persuading them that there is another one just as important is extremely difficult. I keep in mind trying to describe community solar to my good friends and the discussion quickly rotating to real estate. The reality of the matter is, institutional racism and injustice is 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
.

I was at a neighborhood conference with 50 Black women organizers who were not invested in the neighborhood solar movement. To be able to offer an item that will conserve our neighborhood up to 60% on their energy bills is transformative
.
WeSolars mission is to bring under-resourced communities affordable access to regional community solar and to help commercial homes with energy efficiency. When I first moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was released and I desired to ensure city homeowners were receiving the exact same quantity of financial investment as the county. Eco-friendly energy has traditionally been a middle class problem due to the fact that 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
.

By Constance ThompsonAugust 27, 2021
.
The American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) is delighted to share the very first installment in our “Ask an Accelerate Member” blog series. Each installment will include one of ACOREs Accelerate member companies. August is National Black Business Month, so this month we are focused on Black-owned renewable energy companies

Please show us a recent business success story.
A really personal success story for me is cultivating a collaboration 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– neighborhood was sewn into my very being. When I first moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was launched and I wanted to ensure city homeowners were receiving the exact 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 whatever full circle. Renewable resource has traditionally been a middle class concern because Black communities have needed to reside 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 effective
.
###.