Our solar array is live and producing sustainable-power for the church and our community!

The Story

Our congregation’s denomination (ELCA), teaches that human beings are called to care for God’s creation by honoring its integrity and striving for fairness within the human community. Oftentimes, the most fundamental threats to the environment come from excessive consumption and high population growth. Therefore, as Lutheran Christians, we strive to advocate for the non-human parts of creation, acknowledge our interdependence with local and global creatures, and meet basic human needs without compromising future generations. (Read the full Social Statement on the environment here.)

From the little things like using reusable utensils for events with food and eco-friendly ice melt to printing our bulletins on recycled paper and vermicomposting, we’ve worked to reflect these values. So, we began dreaming about what other sustainable steps we might take as a church. Thanks to the gifts of GAINSystems Inc., WPLC explored installing a geothermal heating and cooling system to best care for the environment but ultimately found that a solar array paired with energy-efficient heat pumps would maximize our commitment to the environment for a reasonable price.

We anticipate that our added energy load for air conditioning our upper level will be more than offset by our  14.97kWp solar array. Overproduction on our array feeds the electric grid to create “green” power for our immediate neighbors. We are excited to know that our flat roof is now able to reduce carbon emissions and pass on God’s creation to future generations.