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 delighted to share the first installation in our “Accelerating Renewables” blog site series. Each installation will include market leaders and subjects associated with speeding up a fair and simply transition to a renewable energy economy. In recognition of National Black Business Month, our August blog 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 woman CEO in the community solar industry. Under her management, WeSolar is growing quickly, supplying consumers throughout Maryland and the District of Columbia access to affordable solar energy, regardless of house type, and assisting hard-working families minimize month-to-month expenses.
What inspired you to start your company?
I was at a neighborhood conference with 50 Black ladies organizers who were not invested in the community solar motion. 36% of Black households experience a high energy concern, suggesting they spend over 6% of their income on house energy costs. To be able to offer an item that will conserve our neighborhood up to 60% on their energy bills is transformative.
Inform us about your business?
WeSolars mission is to bring under-resourced neighborhoods economical access to regional community solar and to help business residential or commercial properties with energy effectiveness. In Maryland, lawmakers passed legislation that specifies 50 percent of its electricity need to come from eco-friendly energy sources by 2030.
What challenges do you face? Why?
To a neighborhood that is currently facing a lot of pushing difficulties, persuading them that there is another one just as crucial is very challenging. I remember attempting to describe community solar to my good friends and the discussion quickly rotating to real estate. The reality of the matter is, institutional bigotry and injustice are bigger than we understand, and it drowns our neighborhood. Where Black individuals are not being invested in, we are being asked to focus on continuously for our survival.
Please show us a recent business success story.
A very personal success story for me is cultivating a partnership 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 really being. When I initially moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was introduced, and I desired to make sure city citizens were getting the 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 issue because Black neighborhoods have had to live in survival mode, however Reverend Mason and Reverend Dewitt brought me into the circle and connected me with individuals I needed to link with in order to make this partnership effective.
To read more about WeSolar, visit wesolar.energy
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I was at a neighborhood meeting with 50 Black ladies organizers who were not invested in the community solar motion. To be able to offer an item that will conserve our community up to 60% on their energy costs is transformative.
WeSolars objective is to bring under-resourced neighborhoods cost effective access to regional community solar and to help commercial residential or commercial properties with energy efficiency. When I first moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was launched, and I desired to make sure city citizens were receiving the exact same quantity of financial investment as the county. Renewable energy has traditionally been a middle-class problem due to the fact that Black communities have actually had to live in survival mode, but Reverend Mason and Reverend Dewitt brought me into the circle and connected me with the individuals I needed to connect with in order to make this collaboration effective.