PRLog (Press Release) - Aug 18, 2011 - by Chuck Kuepfer, Staff Reporter with Elmira Independent
Trinity United Church plans to harness the sun's power to help generate funding for its ministry programs. The church had 54 solar panels installed last week by Arcadian Projects and expects to be connected to the electricity grid by the end of the month. "Our youth program is really expanding," explained Miles Schwindt. "We're getting a lot more kids and we're having different events going on and that's getting bigger — and you need money to pay for it." Schwindt and another church member, Chris Moore, attended an information session about solar power projects earlier this year. The church began the application process through the Ontario microFIT (Feed-in Tariff) program in March. It had approval from Ontario Hydro by the end of May and things fell into place to fund the project. "We were very lucky. We were able to get financing through the United Church of Canada," says Schwindt. Through the microFIT program, Ontario residents and businesses can be paid for generating green energy from renewable sources. According to the Ontario Power Authority, the Feed-In Tariff program is North America's first guaranteed pricing structure for renewable electricity production. "Everything produced is sold to Ontario Hydro," said Schwindt. That energy goes in the electricity distribution system, often referred to as the grid. Along with solar, the microFIT program pays for energy produced from biomass, biogas, landfill gas, on-shore wind and waterpower projects. The up-front cost to install solar panels at Trinity United is estimated to be about $65,000 plus HST. "In six-and-a-half or seven-and-a-half years it should be paid back," says Schwindt. "We're hoping to get around $10,000 a year in revenue from it. And really, other than paying back the loans, there aren't any expenses." Once hooked up, the church will be paid cadillac a fixed rate of 80.2 cents per kilowatt hour as part of a 20-year contract. The solar panels, which can be seen from Arthur Street North, cover most of the roof area on the south face of the church's education wing. The steep roof over the sanctuary was unsuitable. "The sun has to hit the solar panel at a bmw 90 degree angle as best it can," said Schwindt. Before the project went ahead, the congregation had questions about financing and the possibility of installing solar panels on a steel roof. "We were fortunate we had a steel roof," said Schwindt. "We didn't have to replace the roof. If you're going to do that on a shingled roof, you are going to have to include the cost of shingling your roof first, then putting the solar panels on." The location for the solar panels on the ed aston martin ucation wing, which gets direct sunlight, turned out to be the perfect spot. With more solar panels appearing on home, business and farm properties throughout the area, Schwindt said a lot of churches are looking into it. "The solar panels offer a decent return on investment, and an easy way to raise money for the church without having to go back to the same people all the time," he said. "You have to get the financing qualified and you have to make sure you have the right amount of roof space at the right angle.& chrysler #13;"We wanted to find a way to invest in our youth and help the environment, and solar panels kind of went together on that."
To view more work by Arcadian Projects, please visit the website and online photo gallery at http://www.arcadianprojects.ca.
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