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 happy to share the very first installment in our “Accelerating Renewables” blog series. Each installation will include market leaders and subjects connected to speeding up a fair and just shift to a renewable resource economy. In acknowledgment of National Black Business Month, our August blog is the first in a series highlighting how Black-owned member business are thriving in the renewable resource sector.
Kristal Hansley is the Founder & & CEO of WeSolar, Inc and is the countrys first Black lady CEO in the neighborhood solar market. Under her management, WeSolar is growing rapidly, offering customers across Maryland and the District of Columbia access to budget-friendly solar energy, regardless of home type, and assisting hard-working households minimize monthly expenses.
What inspired you to start your business?
I was at a community meeting with 50 Black females organizers who were not invested in the community solar movement. 36% of Black households experience a high energy concern, suggesting they invest over 6% of their earnings on home energy expenses. To be able to offer a product that will save our community up to 60% on their energy costs is transformative.
Inform us about your company?
WeSolars objective is to bring under-resourced communities budget-friendly access to regional neighborhood solar and to assist commercial homes with energy efficiency. In Maryland, legislators passed legislation that states 50 percent of its electrical power must come from renewable energy sources by 2030.
What challenges do you deal with? Why?
To a neighborhood that is already dealing with so lots of pressing challenges, encouraging them that there is another one just as crucial is really challenging. I remember trying to describe neighborhood solar to my good friends and the discussion quickly pivoting to housing.
Please show us a recent business success story.
An extremely 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– neighborhood was sewn into my extremely being. When I first transferred to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was launched, and I desired to make sure city citizens were getting the very 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. Renewable resource has 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 connected me with the people I required to get in touch with in order to make this partnership successful.
To read more about WeSolar, check out wesolar.energy
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I was at a community meeting with 50 Black ladies organizers who were not invested in the neighborhood solar movement. To be able to use an item that will conserve our neighborhood up to 60% on their energy bills is transformative.
WeSolars mission is to bring under-resourced communities budget-friendly access to local neighborhood solar and to assist industrial homes with energy effectiveness. When I initially moved to Baltimore, the Community Solar Pilot Program was released, and I wanted to ensure city homeowners were getting the same quantity of investment as the county. Sustainable energy has traditionally been a middle-class issue since Black communities have actually had to live in survival mode, but Reverend Mason and Reverend Dewitt brought me into the circle and linked me with the individuals I required to link with in order to make this collaboration effective.