On June 27th, I had the honor to travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to celebrate Christ Episcopal Church’s faithful investment in clean energy and our collective future. Over 50 excited people gathered in the afternoon to attend a program about the project and to tour the installation. We came together to acknowledge and celebrate the wonderful achievement of Christ Episcopal Church in their installation of a new solar array.
At Iowa IPL, we promote clean energy through advocacy, education, and support for renewable energy projects and energy efficiency initiatives. Seeing these beautiful new solar panels was a testament to the dedication and commitment of faith communities across Iowa who are embracing and acting on their environmental responsibilities.
Across Iowa, our faith communities are taking significant steps towards sustainability. From installing solar panels and heat pumps to creating more energy-efficient houses of worship, people of faith are living out their values by taking meaningful climate action. This is what loving your neighbor looks like: Caring for our environment to ensure a healthier, more sustainable world for all.
Thankfully, both state and federal policies are in place to support projects like Christ Episcopal Church’s. The Inflation Reduction Act, for the first time, provides nonprofits and houses of worship with 30% direct pay, making such investments more accessible. Additionally, our state’s net metering laws play a crucial role in making renewable energy projects viable and financially feasible.
Iowa IPL Board Chair, Rob Hogg, is an active member at Christ Episcopal Church and a part of the team who spearheaded this amazing project. He shared that it was a $140,000 investment to build the solar array that would save $10,000 a year in electricity costs, a 14-year payoff period, and then free electricity. With the direct pay from the Inflation Reduction Act, it cut the cost to around $100,000 for a 10-year payoff period before free electricity. The church has already raised roughly $30,000, so the payoff period is down to 7 years. The Inflation Reduction Act is making installing solar panels and/or arrays more accessible to our faith communities.
There are even more benefits for the church, besides financial ones. According to Dannia Thorpe from Ideal Energy, lead engineer on the Christ Episcopal Church project:
“The church’s 45kW DC solar array will produce an estimated 59,940 kWh annually in its first year. This system will offset the church’s utility usage by 100% over the course of a year, saving over $200,000 in utility costs over 25 years. In terms of carbon and greenhouse gas emission reductions, this array will cut CO2 by 998 metric tons over 25 years. To put this in perspective, it’s like eliminating 1.1 million pounds of coal being burned or planting 16,502 trees and having them grow for 10 years.”
This is what loving your neighbor looks like!
Iowa IPL is dedicated to encouraging and supporting faith communities in their journey towards clean energy. My hope is that we will have countless more events like this across Iowa, celebrating the dedication of solar panels that power up our faith communities and enable them to engage with their local communities in new and impactful ways. Together, we can make a difference, one solar panel at a time.
Let us continue to work together, guided by our faith and conscience, to create a brighter, cleaner, and more sustainable future for all.
If your faith community has or is planning to use the Inflation Reduction Act’s direct pay for nonprofits to install solar panels, Iowa IPL wants to know! Email us at info@iowaipl.org so we can work with you to share your story to inspire more houses of worship.
Iowa IPL does not recommend individual solar installers. However, we fully recommend the Iowa Solar Energy Trade Association. ISETA is committed to ensuring safety, quality workmanship, and high technical standards in Iowa’s photovoltaic industry. Through public policy, public relations, and education, ISETA strives to benefit both the industry and its clients. You can learn more about them and the solar installers who are members at www.iowaseta.org.