{"id":61928,"date":"2024-01-31T10:57:24","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T18:57:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/energi.media\/?p=61928"},"modified":"2024-01-31T10:57:24","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T18:57:24","slug":"across-the-united-states-houses-of-worship-are-going-solar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/energi.media\/news\/across-the-united-states-houses-of-worship-are-going-solar\/","title":{"rendered":"Across the United States, houses of worship are going solar"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was published by Grist<\/a> on Jan. 31, 2024.<\/em><\/p>\n

By Izzy Ross<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

This coverage is made possible through a partnership with Grist and Interlochen Public Radio in Northern Michigan.<\/em><\/p>\n

On a Sunday morning in Charlevoix, a small town surrounded by lakes in northern Michigan, people gathered in the Greensky Hill Indian United Methodist Church. The small, one-room log building is almost 200 years old and the hymns are sung in English and Anishinaabemowin.<\/p>\n

It was December, so Pastor Johnathan Mays was leading an Advent service, one of his last, since he would soon retire. In between reflections on scripture, Mays touched on an important venture: The church is planning to install solar panels on their larger meeting hall, working with\u00a0<\/a>Michigan-based nonprofit\u00a0Solar Faithful<\/a>\u00a0to do so.<\/p>\n

Greensky Hill has a long history of environmental care and stewardship, grounded in Anishinaabe culture, with a majority Native congregation.<\/p>\n

One of the ministry\u2019s priorities is the \u201cgreening of Greensky Hill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mays said that prompts them to ask \u201chow we can use our space and our resources to address those issues for climate care, or creation care, or what some people call Earthkeeping?\u201d<\/p>\n

As Greensky Hill works to become more sustainable, it\u2019s switching from propane to heat pumps to become more energy efficient. Mays said solar will allow them to use renewable energy and give that energy back to the grid.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest issue was how can we get this huge building off of greenhouse gas creation?\u201d he said, referring to the meeting hall, which was built in the 1990s.<\/p>\n

Across the country, houses of worship are pursuing solar systems.<\/p>\n

As of 2021, about 2 per cent of houses of worship in the United States have solar systems, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory<\/a>, which the University of California manages for the U.S. Department of Energy. That\u2019s disproportionately high; houses of worship make up only 0.6 per cent of all non-residential buildings.<\/p>\n

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Pastor Jonathan Mays talks to his congregation at Greensky Hill Indian United Methodist Church in Charlevoix, Michigan. The church is putting solar panels on its meeting hall next door.\u00a0Grist \/ Izzy Ross<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>
Pastor Jonathan Mays talks to his congregation at Greensky Hill Indian United Methodist Church in Charlevoix, Michigan. The church is putting solar panels on its meeting hall next door.\u00a0Grist \/ Izzy Ross<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But these projects can be difficult to execute. Congregations can have tight budgets, older buildings and more pressing priorities. And switching energy systems can mean a lot of bureaucratic paperwork for which they might not have the staff.<\/p>\n

And, because houses of worship generally don\u2019t pay taxes, they\u2019ve also had trouble capitalizing on renewable energy tax benefits.<\/p>\n

One alternative has been for them to work with third parties that could benefit from the tax credits. For instance, an investor could buy and install solar panels on a church. The church would buy that power from the investor, but wouldn\u2019t own the panels \u2014 an arrangement called a power purchase agreement.<\/p>\n

Now, they have another option. The federal Inflation Reduction Act has made it possible for governments and tax-exempt entities, including houses of worship, to get tax credits for renewable projects. Called\u00a0direct pay<\/a>, the program provides them with a\u00a0tax credit<\/a> worth up to 30 per cent of the installation cost. That can help cover some expenses, and advocates say it\u2019s critical to getting more congregations to consider solar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI expect in the coming year, it\u2019s really going to boom, the solar on houses of worship,\u201d said Sarah Paulos, the programs director for Interfaith Power and Light. \u201cIt makes a lot of sense. If they can cut their utility bill way back, then they have more money to do what they\u2019re there for, which is their mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interfaith Power and Light<\/a>\u00a0might sound like a local utility (or maybe a prayer group) but it\u2019s actually a national network focused on climate action and religion, started in 1998 as a coalition of Episcopal churches that worked together to buy renewable energy. It has since expanded to other denominations and faiths.<\/p>\n

Paulos has worked in this field for almost 20 years. She said when she started, there were a lot of climate deniers, especially in churches.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the beginning, people of faith were really, really being courageous and stepping out and talking about responding to climate change through renewable energy and energy efficiency as a moral call to care for creation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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While there\u2019s\u00a0increasing<\/a>\u00a0acceptance that climate change is happening, religious Americans are still far from unified in their views.<\/p>\n

A 2022 Pew Research Center\u00a0survey<\/a>\u00a0found that most religious adults believed they should protect the Earth. But for a\u00a0variety of reasons<\/a>, highly religious people tend to be less concerned about climate change than other adults in the U.S.<\/p>\n

One way to reach people and engage them in climate action is through tangible efforts like solar, said Leah Wiste, the executive director\u00a0of Michigan Interfaith Power and Light<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the public conversation, I think we\u2019ve kind of failed to see the leadership that people of faith and conscience are taking on these issues,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Local\u00a0involvement<\/a>\u00a0is critical to getting more people to install solar and non-residential buildings \u2013 such as schools or houses of worship \u2013 are part of that.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0study<\/a>\u00a0published last November in the journal Frontiers in Sustainable Energy Policy found that when non-residential buildings install solar, they can spur other installations in the area.<\/p>\n

But raising awareness of solar doesn\u2019t necessarily make it more equitable.<\/p>\n

The researchers say it\u2019s unclear how effective houses of worship can be in encouraging more solar in their communities \u201cwithout directly addressing low-income barriers to solar adoption,\u201d like budget constraints and lower home ownership rates.<\/p>\n

And houses of worship with solar are located disproportionately in \u201crelatively wealthy, white and educated census tracts,\u201d according to Berkeley Lab, mirroring the broader trend.<\/p>\n

Still, many people working at the intersection of religion and renewables say these projects are an opportunity for more people in those communities to learn about solar.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of that can happen just through the simple physical act of putting a system on the roof,\u201d said Galen Barbose, a scientist at Berkeley Lab. \u201cBut houses of worship are also in a unique position to be able to sponsor events, talk to their membership, and potentially really serve as emissaries for solar energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rob Rafson has worked to put solar panels on churches for years. He\u2019s the president of the solar energy company Chart House Energy.<\/p>\n

About a year ago, Chart House Energy teamed up with the\u00a0Climate Witness Project<\/a>, Michigan Interfaith Power and Light, and climate activists in the Detroit area to launch Solar Faithful.<\/p>\n

Rafson wanted to make it easier for houses of worship to adopt solar.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a very big challenge,\u201d Rafson said. \u201cBecause churches \u2014 they\u2019re nonprofits, they don\u2019t have a budget, they don\u2019t want to borrow money, and the size project\u2026 is too small for investors to invest in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite such challenges, congregations have managed to install panels. At the First Lutheran Church in Muskegon, a new solar array shines on the roof.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re hard to see,\u201d said Pastor Bill Uetricht. He\u2019s walking around the church, craning his neck, trying to get a good view of the panels. \u201cYou can see that it\u2019s on about half of that roof up there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now that it has solar panels, the church needs to buy less power from utilities. That\u2019s expected to lower the energy bill.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an example of a power purchase agreement. By purchasing the solar-powered energy, First Lutheran will pay off the project cost of around $175,000 to an investor. Buying the power from their own array, they\u2019re slowly paying back their investor. Once that\u2019s done, the power that comes from the array is essentially free.<\/p>\n

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Pastor Bill Uetricht at First Lutheran Church in Muskegon, Michigan, said \u201cit only makes senses\u201d that his church would have solar panels.\u00a0Grist \/ Izzy Ross<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>
Uetricht said First Lutheran got involved with solar when a couple in the congregation gave the church two panels they didn\u2019t know what to do with.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI contacted a cousin of mine who works in alternative energy, and I said, \u2018Hey, send me to someplace where I can do something with these two panels,\u2019\u201d Uetricht said.<\/p>\n

They ended up working with Solar Faithful.<\/p>\n

Uetricht said installing solar panels is one way of fulfilling their mission. He said that the world doesn\u2019t belong to us, but that it is a gift \u2013 one that we haven\u2019t been caring for.<\/p>\n

\u201cOld technologies have contributed to that lack of care,\u201d he said. \u201cSo it only makes sense that we would be at the forefront of encouraging alternative energy sources.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article was published by Grist on Jan. 31, 2024. By Izzy Ross This coverage is made possible through a partnership with Grist and Interlochen Public Radio in Northern Michigan. On a Sunday morning in [Read more]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":61929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2595,120,109,528,14,598],"class_list":{"0":"post-61928","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-church","9":"tag-clean-energy","10":"tag-climate-change","11":"tag-electrification","12":"tag-featured","13":"tag-us"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nsolar - Thoughtful Journalism About Energy's Future<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/energi.media\/news\/across-the-united-states-houses-of-worship-are-going-solar\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"solar - Thoughtful Journalism About Energy's Future\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This article was published by Grist on Jan. 31, 2024. 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By Izzy Ross This coverage is made possible through a partnership with Grist and Interlochen Public Radio in Northern Michigan. 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