O
n any given day, the congregants
of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
are happy being guardians of
their house of worship. But now,
after four years of planning, research and
fundraising, the church and its people are
seeing the fruits of their labor in a special
caretaking effort: moving “off the grid” with a
switch to solar power.
“The solar panels were officially installed in
March, and by April we were already seeing the
benefits,” says The Reverend Noah H. Evans,
St. Paul’s rector. “The first full month of solar
usage saw the amount of purchased electricity
reduced by nearly 70 percent compared to the
previous April. On a nice day, our building is
totally powered by the sun.”
This is just one of several goals St. Paul’s
met in a larger campaign to reduce its carbon
footprint and
efficiently
operate the
church. It has
switched to
LED lighting,
installed motion
detectors to turn
off unnecessary
lights, and
replaced
decades-old
windows
with energy-
efficient ones.
“All of the
changes we’ve made during the last several
years fall in line with our expression of faith
and commitment to protect the beauty and
integrity of all creation,” says Reverend Evans.
“We’re so proud of what we’ve accomplished.”
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church was first
established in Pittsburgh’s Laceyville
neighborhood in 1836, before moving to Mt.
Lebanon in 1924. The church was dedicated in
1930. Today, it is a full-service establishment
in a three-story structure at 1066 Washington
Road that includes a 400-seat sanctuary, a
nursery school serving 200 children, church
offices, and meeting rooms. It is in use
seven days a week, usually for more than 12
hours a day.
St. Paul’s is the first church in southwestern
Pennsylvania to install its own solar panels
on-site; others have switched to solar
power through cooperatives or third-party
electric providers, according to Pennsylvania
“Going solar is a very significant
and public declaration of this
church moving toward a more
sustainable building and being
good stewards of the planet
and of our financial resources.”
Interfaith Power and Light, a State College-
based organization that helps communities of
faith respond to climate change.
“Going solar is a significant and
public declaration of this church moving
toward a more sustainable building and being
good stewards of the planet and of our financial
resources,” says Stephen Sumpter, a St. Paul’s
parishioner who chairs its Sustainability
Committee.
Along with Sumpter, committee members
Eric Linn, Andy Vines, Joe Gray, Preston
Shimer, Al Plantz, and Jamie VanNostrand
studied power generation, heating and
cooling, water usage and drainage, and energy
consumption.
A total of 51 Heliene, Inc. solar panels have
been installed on the roof of the church’s
education wing, which is parallel to Washington
Road. Since the roof is flat, it affords daylong
exposure to the sun’s path east to west. And
because a stone ledge obscures the roofline, the
panels cannot be seen from the ground.
Prior to switching to solar power, the church
consumed on average of 9,250 KWh a month,
and its electric bill ranged from $1,000 to
$1,300. The 51-panel solar system can generate
more than 18 kilowatts and is the first draw
on power for the property. When the panels
produce more energy than is needed at the
church, power is supplied back to the grid with
a reimbursement from Duquesne Light. To
date, the church has received more than $400
in payments.
The total cost for planning and installation
of the solar panels came to $48,000 and was
funded by a capital campaign supported by
St. Paul’s parishioners. Outside consultation
on the project was provided by Greg Winks
of Solbridge Energy Advisors, LLC. Energy
Independent Solutions installed the panels.
Both companies are based in Pittsburgh.
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church celebrated the
move off the grid by formally inaugurating its
solar panels during a blessing ceremony June
8. Bishop Dorsey McConnell of the Episcopal
Diocese of Pittsburgh officiated the service
from the roof of the church.
“Moving the church to solar power has gone
better than expected,” says Reverend Evans.
“We have great exposure to the sun because we
sit high atop Mt. Lebanon and even on a cloudy
day the rays of the sun reflect off the earth and
give us the power we need to run the church,
serve our parishioners and the community
around us.” ■
To learn more about St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, visit stpaulspgh.org.
MT. LEBANON
❘
FALL 2019
19