With an almost unanimous congregational vote last year, Christ the King Lutheran Church, New Brighton, MN, decided to put solar panels on its roof. 239 panels are now installed.

The Property Committee did a lot of research and met with many people to plan the project. Motivated by care for God’s creation, they also found that solar installations are successful investments:

·       Solar Panels produce some electricity even on cloudy, rainy or snowy days.

·       They require no maintenance.

·       They can be monitored via Wi-Fi.

·       Warranted for 25 years; will last 30 years.

·       Installations pay for themselves in 15 years.

·       They reduce greenhouse gases: Each kilowatt produced saves 1 lb. of CO2 from polluting our atmosphere.

·       Electric rates keep going up, so solar is the answer!

Financing help is available for non-profits via the CollectiveSun . This “for profit” company makes use of the 30% tax credit and pay non-profits 12%. They have helped over 200 churches & other non-profits with financing!

Many other churches have also installed solar, including:

·       Cherokee Park United Church of Christ - the first twin cities church with solar (2012).

·       Judson Memorial Baptist, Mpls

·       St. Luke’s Lutheran, Bloomington, MN

Here’s an article from Solar Energy Technologies Office re: Solar Energy in the United States:

Solar power is more affordable, accessible, and prevalent in the United States than ever before. From just 0.34 GW in 2008, U.S. solar power capacity has grown to an estimated 97.2 gigawatts!(GW) today. This is enough to power the equivalent of 18 million average American homes. Today, over 3% of U.S. electricity comes from solar energy.

Christ the King is glad to be known as an environmentally friendly church. Besides our solar panels, we have a flourishing community garden and are planning a pollinator flower bed. Five young adults have joined our Caring for Creation Team. One of them is an environmental philosopher!

For more information, contact Dick Ashland at dsashland2@gmail.com.