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 pleased to share the first installment in our “Accelerating Renewables” blog series. Each installation will feature market leaders and topics related to accelerating an equitable and just shift to a renewable resource economy. In acknowledgment 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 resource sector.
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 rapidly, supplying consumers across Maryland and the District of Columbia access to cost effective solar power, regardless of house type, and assisting hard-working households decrease month-to-month costs.
What inspired you to start your business?
The stark truth that most of households who were getting renewable resource incentives were higher income. I keep in mind learning this and thinking there had to be a way to address this space. I saw there was a problem. I had my own ideas on how to resolve it, and I wished to have agency over my own decisions. I was at a community meeting with 50 Black women organizers who were not invested in the community solar motion. It felt like a lightbulb had turned on for me when I began to discuss how important and immediate it was for us to be a part of the solar movement. I began showing how higher-income neighborhoods and individuals in the residential areas were benefiting from renewable tax incentives and had gotten a lots of assistance. The fact is, energy usage impacts Black home spending plans considerably. 36% of Black families experience a high energy problem, meaning they spend over 6% of their income on home energy costs. Thats an enormous percentage. To be able to offer a product that will conserve our community up to 60% on their energy costs is transformative.
Tell us about your company?
WeSolars objective is to bring under-resourced neighborhoods inexpensive access to regional neighborhood solar and to assist business properties with energy efficiency. In Maryland, legislators passed legislation that mentions 50 percent of its electrical energy should come from sustainable energy sources by 2030.
What obstacles do you deal with? Why?
To a neighborhood that is currently dealing with numerous pressing challenges, persuading them that there is another one just as crucial is really challenging. I remember trying to explain neighborhood solar to my friends and the conversation quickly pivoting to real estate. The truth of the matter is, institutional bigotry and oppression are larger than we understand, and it drowns our community. Where Black people are not being invested in, we are being asked to prioritize continuously for our survival.
Please show us a recent company success story.
When I initially moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was launched, and I wanted to make sure city homeowners were getting the very same amount of investment as the county. Eco-friendly energy has actually traditionally been a middle-class concern 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 linked me with the individuals I needed to link with in order to make this collaboration successful.
To discover more about WeSolar, see wesolar.energy
###

I was at a neighborhood meeting with 50 Black females organizers who were not invested in the neighborhood solar motion. To be able to provide a product that will conserve our neighborhood up to 60% on their energy costs is transformative.
WeSolars objective is to bring under-resourced neighborhoods budget friendly access to regional community solar and to assist industrial homes with energy efficiency. When I initially moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was launched, and I wanted to ensure city homeowners were getting the very same quantity of investment as the county. Eco-friendly energy has actually historically been a middle-class concern due to the fact that Black communities 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 needed to link with in order to make this collaboration successful.