By Achim Seifert, member Union UCC, Green Bay
Installing solar panels on one of the flat roofs of our building was identified by the Capital Campaign Committee as a possible goal nearly 3 years ago as a way to reduce energy costs and be good stewards of the earth. As generous contributions rolled in, Stewardship Ministry decided it was time to put a small team together to investigate and possibly make that goal a reality. We promptly called ourselves Team Solar. We met to discuss the project and identified a number of hurdles we wanted to investigate before we made a recommendation to Common Ministry. They were as follows:
What is the condition of the existing roof?
After making inquiries we learned that the roof was 19 years old and all warranties ran out 9 years ago. Further inspections by a reputable roofer identified a number of items that needed addressing now. Team Solar quickly recommended installing a new roof if the solar installation was going to move forward, and church leadership agreed that it would be financed via the Capital Campaign as well.
Is there an example of a solar project up and running that we can see and ask questions about?
We were aware that West Side Moravian Church had a solar array on their roof. We met with the team that executed that project 13 years ago. During that 13 year timeframe they have had no problems with the panels and they are performing as predicted. The 72 solar panel project was installed by Eland Electric, the same company that we were leaning toward.
What are the costs?
We received a quote from Eland Electric in Feb. 2022 of $48,200 for 42 panels. The new quote we received in April of 2024 was $49,400 for the same 42 panels. We were eligible for a Focus on Energy grant of $903. We also received a Solar for Good grant of $7,500. The Biden Administration passed the bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act or IRA. The IRA provides non-profit organizations like our church a pathway to receive a tax rebate of up to 40% of the cost of installed and operating solar panels. To make sure Eland was competitive we elicited another quote for a similar array. Because of Eland’s long history in Green Bay, experience completing many commercial projects and high recommendation from the Moravian Church we decided Eland was our best choice. The Capital Campaign budgeted $31,000 for the solar project and if all the grants and tax rebates are realized we will come under that amount.
What energy cost savings can we expect?
According to the experience of the Moravian Church and Eland’s estimates we should reduce our annual energy consumption by about 20%. We will see a much higher percentage in the summer months when the sun is out longer. In fact, there may be days in the summer when there are no clouds, low humidity and minimal usage of the church where we will exceed 100%. If we do exceed 100% our electric meter will actually run backwards!
Are there other projects that would provide this type of energy savings?
This is where the congregation’s expertise came into play, as we have a member who works as an energy consultant for Focus on Energy. This member investigated improvements to our boiler system, insulation solutions, replacing windows, and others but given our bespoke physical plant no other alternative made sense for this amount of money.
Finally: is this project worth it?
We talked a lot about the viability of this project and came to the conclusion that while spending over $30,000 of members’ hard earned money for solar panels with a payback of about 15 years is a long return on investment, what is ideal is that we are doing something tangible to reduce electrical usage. WPS gets the vast majority of its electricity that it sells by burning coal. Coal is dirty and causes air pollution. In our small way, by reducing our reliance on coal, we are being better stewards of the precious earth God gave us.