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| ELCA Congregation in New York Goes Solar | |||||||
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NEW YORK – Emanuel Lutheran Church in Pleasantville, N.Y., is the first congregation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) Metropolitan New York Synod to go solar by installing photovoltaic panels on the church's roof. The panels will be dedicated on Oct. 24, Emanuel's "Bring-A-Friend" Sunday. "Now that we see the solar panels in place, actually working, they've become something we're very proud of," said the Rev. Paul T. Egensteiner, pastor of Emanuel. "It sends the message to the community that the church cares about the environment and that we can be on the cutting edge of that care. The neighborhood has responded very positively," said Egensteiner. Members of Emanuel anticipate that the panels will cover all of the church's electrical needs, said Egensteiner. "In fact, we hope to sell some back to the grid." According to Gerry Falco, chair of Emanuel's environmental stewardship committee, the congregation was behind the idea of the solar panels 100 percent. "There's a certain elegance to the (solar panels). They add to rather than detract from the church," he said. Guaranteed for 25 years, the panels are essentially maintenance free. The panels cover the church's black roof, creating a barrier to maintain the surface beneath. There are 134 panels, each 62 inches tall and 31 inches wide. When the 23.45kw system is operating in the sunshine, the electrical meter runs backward as kilowatts feed back into ConEd's grid. Emanuel's annual energy bill is about $6,000, which was about the cost of the panels to the congregation. A few years ago the project did not seem feasible, with a $190,000 price tag. The congregation would have needed a third-party to finance the project. So instead, the congregation tightened up its energy use in other ways such as insulating windows, changing light bulbs and following advice from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). When the price of solar panels dropped by more than a third and NYSERDA offered to pay 90 percent of the cost of the panels, the congregation saw an opportunity and purchased the panels. It took eight months for the process to be completed, from signing the agreement to installing and testing the panels. The installer, Mercury Solar Panels, took care of the technical details such as submitting drawings and getting the necessary permits. According to Egensteiner, the congregation remains very passionate about the stewardship of creation. Emanuel's environmental stewardship committee "continues to remain very active today," he said. |
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