Installation of 62 rooftop solar panels begins September 9, 2019 at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Hastings. The solar array is projected to supply over half of the electric needs of the church.
Emmanuel parishioners signed footings that attach the panels to the roof on Sunday, September 8, and a blessing of the materials and prayers for the workers will be held at the site at 8:00am, September 9. “Acts of Transformation: A Solar Celebration” is planned for Wednesday, October 23, 2019 beginning at 3:30pm at the church, when the system will “go live,” and the church will be plugged in to the Consumers Energy power grid.
Solar Winds Power Systems, LLC of Shelbyville, Michigan was awarded the project.
“We learned of Solar Winds through Michigan Interfaith Power and Light, an organization whose mission is ‘to inspire and equip people of faith to exercise stewardship of and love for all Creation,’ and which helps houses of worship with practical ways to put faith into action by promoting energy efficiency, renewable energy, and other sustainable practices that lead to a cleaner, healthier, and more just world. We found Mike Linsea, of Solar Winds to be very knowledgeable and generous with his time and attention as we began to explore this action toward solar energy for Emmanuel. He has worked with other churches in western Michigan and supports our faith-based commitment to Creation Care,” stated The Reverend Linnea Stifler.
Solar Winds has been providing both residential and commercial solar for eleven years and provides turnkey solutions ranging from design, engineering, material, labor, installation, and web monitoring. Some of Solar Winds references include Church of the Servant, United Church of Christ, St. James Apartments and Townhomes, Apex Stamping, and the Michigan Public Service Commission/ Michigan Agency for Energy.
The 20-kW system to be installed at Emmanuel includes sixty-two 325-watt Panasonic solar panels, SolarEdge Invertors and Optimizer, an IronRidge roof mounting system, and features a web-based monitoring system. A special feature of the SolarEdge power optimizer is a DC/DC converter which turns the solar modules into smart modules, increasing the energy output from the PV system by constantly tracking the maximum power point of each module individually.
