WEST MICHIGAN — Earth Day was this past weekend, but that doesn't mean that the mission to help our planet stops on April 22.
In an effort to reduce carbon emissions, promote clean energy, and save money on energy bills, local churches are in the process of installing solar panels.
This is being done through a group called Solar Faithful. It joins the organizations of Chart House Energy, Climate Witness Project, World Renew, Michigan Interfaith Power and Light, D2 Solar, and a few other individuals to promote the use of clean energy.
Since churches and houses of worship are often unable to afford the up-front cost of installing solar panels, that's where Solar Faithful comes in. Through local investors, churches and houses of worship are given the opportunity to help their communities.
The Refuge Church in Grandville is one of the several churches working with Solar Faithful. Gerry Koning, the pastor of The Refuge Church, believes that this is a benefit for all. He has been looking into solar panels for some time, but the cost was simply too much.
During an interview with FOX 17's Haleigh Vaughn, Koning shared the following:
“When we looked at it, doing it on our own, it was just, you know, insurmountable costs and things like that. And then I heard about Solar Faithful through our denomination, the Christian Reformed Church in North America. And we said, 'Let's look at this possibility,' because there would be no upfront costs at all for us. We could get into a solar system that would not only provide for our own energy needs, but also for the community, as well. We have a large system that's going on on the roof, it's like 86 kilowatts. We will probably use that at some times. But most of the time, we won't be using that. And so we just pass that right on through the grid, to our community. We can serve over a dozen houses and give them green energy for their electricity.”
Rob Rafson, the president of Solar Faithful and Chart House Energy, has been working towards clean energy for houses of worship for some time.
He began working with churches to install solar. He was working with one church at a time and knew one day that he wanted to help bring this to a much larger scale.
When asked why he wanted to do this, he said there were two answers. “One is faith based and how we take care of the world. How that is integrated into the teachings of the houses of worship that we work with, but also the economic one. In doing this, adding solar panels to the churches, really allows them to participate in the energy savings that the solar panels provide.”
The churches and houses of worship are expected to have a 10% lower energy bill due to the installation of solar panels.
In addition to saving of money, they will also provide clean energy to their communities. Any solar energy that they do not use will go back to the "grid" for other households to use.
The Refuge Church in Grandville is not the only church participating in the plan. Already six other churches signed up for the first quarter of this year. An additional 30 or 40 houses of worship have proposals and a few hundred are interested.
Solar Faithful wants to help as many houses of worship as they can, no matter the type or religion or denomination.
If you are interested in learning more, you can email Rob Rafson, the president of Solar Faithful. His email is rob@solarfaithful.org.
