Episcopal church looks to heavens for its electricity source

Solar panels help pare building’s utility bills

St. Paul Episcopal Church in Mt. Lebanon is the first church in the area to “go solar.” The church’s array of 51 rooftop solar panels were dedicated and blessed with holy water at a recent “moving off the grid” ceremony.

The Right Rev. Dorsey W. M. McConnell, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, and the Rev. Noah H. Evans, rector at St. Paul, dedicated the solar panels at the June 8 event.

The panels were activated at the end of March. For the first full month of use, the church saw a 70% reduction in the amount of purchased electricity. The church, which is a three-story building that is in use seven-day-a-week, previously had a monthly electric bill of between $1,000 to $1,300.

Some months, the panels could even make more electricity than the church uses and could receive rebates from its electricity provider, Duquesne Light. So far, the church has received about $400 in reimbursements.

“It’s both environmental and economical,” Rev. Evans said about the solar panels.

He added that being good stewards of the environment and caring for creation are core values of the Episcopal Church. In the past few years, St. Paul also has converted its lighting to LED and installed new, more energy efficient windows.

“This is a way we are living out our faith,” Rev. Evans said of the work that the church has done to reduce its carbon footprint.

During the day, the building is powered mainly by the solar panels — even on cloudy days. “At night, we’re drawing from the electrical grid,” Rev. Evans said

He added that several St. Paul’s parishioners have installed solar panels on their homes after being inspired by the church’s example.

“It’s something people are very proud of,” Rev. Evans said of the solar panels.

He added that St. Paul has an environmental sustainability task force that “dreams about what’s next” for the church.

On tap this year is a joint meeting with the Unitarian Universalist Church of the South Hills and Bower Hill Presbyterian Church to talk about collaborating on environmental issues such as glass recycling.

Rev. Evans is no stranger to helping a church reduce its carbon footprint.

Previously he was rector at Grace Episcopal Church in Medford, Mass., near Boston.

Rev. Evans said in nine years the parish was able to reduce its carbon footprint by half through installing solar panels, LED lighting and other environmental upgrades.

The $48,000 project was funded by a campaign supported by St. Paul parishioners. The panels were installed by Energy Independent Solutions of Pittsburgh. The consultant on the project was Greg Winks of Solbridge Energy Advisors of Pittsburgh.