As of Wednesday, March 13th, 2024 Peace UCC became a church largely powered by the sun. Yes, our 95 solar panels have been installed and are up and running. “Green energy” is now a part of our ministry!
There are, of course, two major reasons to adopt solar energy: financial stewardship and environmental stewardship. The estimated savings on our future energy bills is 86%, translating to over $9,000.00 saved annually in electric bills. Our January and February Duke Power bills were each a bit over $1,100.00. Our April bill (first full month with solar power) came in at $386.00. Wow! This is indeed good stewardship: saving money and spending it wisely for the benefit of the Gospel.
Second, environmental stewardship in this case is directly related to our increasingly dire climate reality. Storms, draughts, fires, floods, each directly related to increasing global temperatures and CO2 levels, are now part of our daily experience. The most recent winter fires in Texas are a prime example of the climate chaos that has taken hold of our planet in the last 20 years and now we are into sustained summer heat waves all over the world. Solar power allows us to be significantly less dependent on carbon producing energy (coal, oil, gas), thus adding no CO2 to the atmosphere through the power of the sun. So, solar panels make sense and we are proud to be using the power of the sun and witnessing to our local community as people pass by and see our solar panels at work.
Visit Peace United Church of Christ online at: http://www.peaceucc.com
