Solar tour set at two churches

Two Little Rock churches are participating in the 2019 National Solar Tour today and Sunday.

St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, 12415 Cantrell Road; and Second Presbyterian Church, 600 Pleasant Valley Drive, will have signs indicating the locations of its solar installations, each of which received a $2,000 grant from Arkansas Interfaith Power and Light, according to Scharmel Roussel, the nonprofit’s executive director. The churches will be available both days for tourists to drive by and tour: St. Michael’s, during general daylight hours; Second Presbyterian, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The National Solar Tour is billed as “the largest grassroots renewable energy event in the nation,” and as of Wednesday was set to offer more than 800 solar open houses and nearly 80 multisite tours in 46 states, according to its website.

Second Presbyterian will also hold a blessing of the solar panels at noon on Sunday, which will include a brief outdoor ceremony with Scripture and responsive readings; and prayer led by the Rev. Lindy Vogado, the church’s associate pastor. The blessing will occur in observance of the installation at Second Presbyterian of 81 solar panels and two electric vehicle charging stations on the premises, the latter of which are the first charging stations to be installed at a church in Arkansas.

More information on the Second Presbyterian tour can be found at bit.ly/2kQdDWW; other locations on the National Solar Tour can be found at nationalsolartour.org.