Churches Embrace Solar Energy for Economic, Environmental Benefits

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A United Methodist Insight Special

Methow Valley United Methodist Church (MVUMC) in Twisp, Wash., will be able to access solar energy this spring to reduce the burden of its monthly electricity bills and to provide its community with power during frequent weather and fire-related blackouts. For that blessing, the more than a century-old church can thank its pastor’s daughter. The high schooler wrote a successful grant application and has received so far $667,135 from her state to pay for the necessary solar panels and battery system.

The adoption, harvesting and sharing of solar energy by houses of worship is dawning across the nation’s landscape over the past several years. Churches, synagogues, and mosques are embracing the emerging energy alternative, thanks in part to the federal government’s 2023 decision to include them in its Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) financial incentives and support.

That inclusion is also spreading to underserved and under-resourced communities to promote environmental justice, along with clean, sustainable energy solutions and economic savings. Clean energy tax credits—even for non-taxed nonprofits—are available now through 2032. 

For her ambitious school project, Juliana Robinson, a junior at Methow Valley’s Independent Learning Center and her church's youngest member, was aided by friendly local experts. But she did “hundreds of pages of reading about solar power” and plenty of math and science research to help design the church’s solar energy system and write a $843,315 grant proposal. They expect to receive the balance of the requested amount this year.

“It’s not the grant writing that she is really excited about,” said her mother, the Rev. Leigh Ann Robinson, who is Methow Valley UMC’s pastor. “It’s the solar and engineering side.” Her comments and her daughter’s accomplishment were reported by the local Methow Valley News. (“Methodist Church to get solar panels, thanks to teen grant writer)   

Since the church’s roof is not suitable, the unused parking lot is where an array of 148 solar panels will be installed to feed the sun’s energy into large batteries that will store the electricity generated.   

While generating its own power, the church’s solar set-up will also benefit its community by serving as a resiliency hub for valley residents during power outages. That shared community benefit likely helped the teen to win the highly competitive grant from the state’s Department of Commerce last September. Using federal IRA funds, the agency awarded $37 million to 46 proposals.

The church already offers shelter to neighbors during power outages and on days when oppressive heat and smoke fill the atmosphere, said its pastor. “This church really has a heart...for finding ways to serve the community.”

Juliana will work on details to make the resiliency hub efficient as her senior-year capstone project. She will focus on developing partnerships with other local groups. After that, she is considering studying electrical engineering or mathematics in college

Churches share solar energy with their communities  

Economic and environmental factors are fueling the growing trend of churches embracing solar energy solutions, proving once again the adage that necessity is the mother of invention.

For churches in New Orleans, La., the environmental necessity is severe, with frequent hurricanes that regularly create power outages—inconvenient for all and potentially dangerous for many. First Grace and Cornerstone United Methodist churches are among over a dozen congregations and community institutions there that have erected small and medium-scale solar panel and battery storage micro grids in the past year as part of the innovative Community Lighthouse Project, launched by Together New Orleans (TNO).

The plan is to develop 85 self-sustaining solar energy resiliency hubs across greater New Orleans and hundreds more across the state. During power blackouts those hubs can make energy available to their surrounding communities.

TNO unites a coalition of diverse congregations and organizations to address concerns of families and communities together through civic education, collaboration and advocacy. The assemblage—interracial, interreligious and non-partisan—is part of the statewide Together Louisiana coalition organized by the venerable Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), the oldest and largest broad-based network of grassroots coalitions, with 65 around the nation.

“Hurricane Ida in 2021 was an a-ha moment for us, when we lost power for two weeks,” said the Rev. Shawn Moses Anglim, longtime pastor of First Grace UMC and a founding member of Together New Orleans. “We came to the realization that we just have to do something about the power outages during these hurricanes we keep having every year,” Indeed, his multiracial church resulted from the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when it forced the merger of two heavily damaged predominantly Black and White congregations.  

Ten operational Lighthouses got an early test of their stored solar energy hubs when Hurricane Francine struck last September. Their network’s success received local and national media coverage. (Climate solution: In the swelter of hurricane blackouts, some churches stay cool on clean power, Associated Press.)

Power went down for only about four hours, Anglim recalls. But the church’s solar-charged Tesla batteries turned on, and over a hundred neighbors, in response to broadcast text messages, walked or bicycled to First Grace to recharge their devices. As they fellowshipped, children played, food was served, and the church—which hosts language classes, transitional housing for women and various other ministries—discovered yet another way to function as a community center.

The city later asked to store oxygen tanks there—a crucial need for people who need power for their breathing and dialysis machines during outages. A local food bank asked to distribute food there during such emergencies. Moreover, the church is now able to provide residents with a cooling center in sweltering temperatures, which cause more deaths than hurricanes each year. “I discovered that the city functions better when the church is here to help its neighbors,” said Anglim.

What Anglim and others initially thought was “a crazy idea” came about because of an environmental necessity that inspired sensible economic investment.

The Community Lighthouse Project received $1 million from the Greater New Orleans Foundation and $8.6 million from statewide and federal sources, with more funding in the pipeline that may increase that total to $13 million.

Churches adopt solar energy for ‘creation care’

St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church, in Acton, Mass., began generating its energy from the sun in 2020 to manifest its concern for the earth’s environment.

With a low-interest loan from the New England Conference Loan Fund, the church purchased its array of rooftop solar panels and batteries. And with funds raised in a capital campaign it has paid off three-fourths of that loan. Boston Solar, a leading commercial solar energy installer in New England, installed and cares for their equipment, as it does for other houses of worship.

In addition, the congregation cut its energy use by a third in 2022 by modifying lighting fixtures with the aid of a grant. It installed low-wattage bulbs, insulation and double-paned windows. And it uses recycling, composting and other measures to get as close as possible to its goal of getting off the local energy grid and using net-zero energy from non-renewable sources.

“We are a congregation committed to caring for creation,” said Susan Evans, the church’s Energy Project Manager.

An informative PowerPoint slide presentation she created, with the conference’s help, illustrates that commitment. A certified energy management adviser for Advanced Energy Group, Evans welcomes inquiries and promotes cost-saving solar energy strategies and “creation care” to other congregations. She especially lets them know about financial incentives available from local power companies to help them pay for renewable energy solutions and thus save funds by avoiding fossil fuels and volatile electric utility costs. 

Churches have several options for financing their solar energy usage. New nonprofit solar energy incentives may allow them to receive a 30% direct payback through the federal government’s Inflation Reduction Act. Churches can use:

  • Cash and acquired low-interest loans to purchase and own their solar energy equipment.  
  • Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) where a business pays a church to install solar equipment on its property. The church then buys solar-generated electricity at a rate that is lower than its current utility rate, while the business receives all relevant incentives.
  • Leases from solar energy providers who pay to install equipment on church properties and then charge churches reduced usage fees. Churches have the option to buy and own the equipment after seven years. 

Prior to Methow Valley UMC and several other Pacific Northwest Conference churches, Vashon (WA) United Methodist Church received a state grant of about $130,000 in 2023 to purchase solar equipment and provide energy for its sanctuary. But it also serves as an emergency shelter and energy hub during power outages, especially among “vulnerable populations.” The church is equipped with a kitchen and showers, while local service agencies provide staff and support during emergencies.

Vashon UMC lay member Eric Walker serves on a conference Solar Grant Support Group to help other churches, including Methow Valley UMC, gain available solar and green energy funding. He also works with the Rev. Jenny Phillips, Director of Environmental Sustainability at United Methodist Global Ministries, and others to help churches access the IRS’ 30 percent tax rebates to fund solar equipment installation. Phillips attended a White House meeting in August 2024 to address faith leaders’ concerns about climate, clean energy and environmental justice.

Meanwhile, People’s United Methodist Church in Oregon, Wisconsin, unveiled its solar project in 2023, funded by a generous bequest from faithful members and a grant from the Couillard Solar Foundation, which supports the development of solar energy in Wisconsin. 

“We talked about doing something…(as) a witness to the community of our commitment to the future, and that was the solar project,” recalled the Rev. Dan Dick, lead pastor. That commitment is focused on exemplifying creation care while reducing the church’s utility costs and carbon footprint.

“The real value that we see here is first and foremost creation care,” he said. “Not just for today, but for future generations.”

Additionally, Midwest Solar Power, People’s UMC’s installation contractor, facilitated a group-buy program that allowed its neighbors to install solar panels in their own homes or businesses at a reduced cost. The church was named Dane County Climate Champions, after completing its solar project in September 2023.

“It is no small thing to be able to declare that we are committed to the preservation of God’s creation,” said Dick, “to do good, faithful environmental stewardship and to do things not necessarily because we’ll benefit, but because they’re the right thing to do.”

John W. Coleman serves as editor-at-large for United Methodist Insight.

This feature is part of United Methodist Insight's participation in Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 600 news outlets committed to enhance reporting on the worldwide climate crisis, with emphasis on solutions. Please email United Methodist Insight for permission to reproduce this content elsewhere.