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

I was at a community meeting with 50 Black ladies organizers who were not invested in the community solar movement. To be able to use a product that will save our neighborhood up to 60% on their energy costs is transformative.
WeSolars objective is to bring under-resourced communities economical access to local community solar and to assist industrial properties with energy performance. When I initially moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was released, and I wanted to guarantee city residents were receiving the very same quantity of financial investment as the county. Sustainable energy has historically been a middle-class issue because Black communities have had 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 connect with in order to make this collaboration effective.

By Constance ThompsonAugust 27, 2021
The American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) is happy to share the very first installation in our “Accelerating Renewables” blog series. Each installment will include market leaders and topics connected to speeding up an equitable and just transition to a renewable resource economy. In recognition of National Black Business Month, our August blog site is the 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 nations first Black female CEO in the neighborhood solar market. Under her leadership, WeSolar is growing quickly, supplying consumers throughout Maryland and the District of Columbia access to cost effective solar energy, regardless of home type, and assisting hard-working households lower monthly expenses.
What inspired you to start your business?
I was at a community meeting with 50 Black ladies organizers who were not invested in the community solar movement. 36% of Black families experience a high energy concern, indicating they invest over 6% of their income on house energy expenses. To be able to offer a product that will save our community up to 60% on their energy bills is transformative.
Tell us about your company?
WeSolars mission is to bring under-resourced communities inexpensive access to regional community solar and to assist commercial residential or commercial properties with energy efficiency. In Maryland, legislators passed legislation that mentions 50 percent of its electrical power must come from renewable energy sources by 2030.
What difficulties do you face? Why?
To a neighborhood that is currently facing so numerous pressing obstacles, persuading them that there is another one simply as essential is really tough. I keep in mind trying to describe neighborhood solar to my good friends and the discussion quickly rotating to real estate.
Please show us a current company success story.
A very 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 mommy was an organizer– community was sewn into my very being. When I initially moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was released, and I wished to guarantee city citizens were receiving the very same amount of financial investment as the county. It was the church that took me in, and the church that then supported my vision– bringing everything cycle. Renewable resource has traditionally been a middle-class concern because Black neighborhoods have actually had to reside in survival mode, however Reverend Mason and Reverend Dewitt brought me into the circle and linked me with individuals I required to get in touch with in order to make this collaboration successful.
To discover more about WeSolar, see wesolar.energy
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