Kia Ora!,

We have made significant progress in getting the solar project underway for our parish.  This project will provide our parish relief from ever-escalating energy bills for our large and growing campus for many years to come.  We have been able to select locations for the panels that will not adversely affect the aesthetics of our beautiful church and still provide the maximum benefit for energy production as well as the side benefit of providing covered parking for people who work on or visit our campus.  You’ll note in the drawing that only the north parking lot will be covered with solar arrays, as well as a portion of the school playground (providing much needed shade for our students during the warmer months) as well as an array in the St. Clare parking lot.  This arrangement will cover 100% of our electric energy needs providing relief from our current six-figure annual energy bill.

An opportunity to get this project underway sooner than was thought came forward this week.  The company had an opening for our project to begin Monday, 11 December; if we didn’t take this opportunity, it would have delayed the start of construction several months.  While beginning the project early presents some temporary inconvenience with regard to parking, it will allow us to have the project up and running before we have to pay those large summer electric bills (August alone is $17,000+ at current rates).  You’ll note in the diagram that the project will occur in phases: 

The first phase includes the school portion and St. Clare’s parking lot (taking advantage of the two-week Christmas break for the students).  We should be able to get through Christmas with minimal disruption to the parking lots as only St. Clare’s parking lot will be used for staging of equipment.  Access to the maintenance facility, St. Vincent de Paul, and the Hall will still be available for delivery and pick-up, but there won’t be space to park in that area. 

The second phase is the north parking lot and won’t begin until after Christmas.  We will make necessary parking adjustments by using other available spaces for Sunday liturgies.  Note that the south parking lot will remain unaffected for the most part by construction restrictions.

This project provides many benefits to our parish – especially considering the long-term positive effect on our costs of operation.  It is projected that, at current rates, the parish will save over $5.0 million over the next 25 years; that number will only grow as the cost of energy continues to rise.  Additionally, one-third of the construction costs will be offset by a grant eligible to non-profit organizations (including religious facilities) that may not be available in the future should we have chosen to wait for a future date.  We have been able to fund this project out of our regular savings without sacrificing our budget for other projects.  Note, too, that the funds for the solar project do not use any funding that has been given for the chapel, which is the next project to get underway now that the solar project is in progress.

Please stay tuned for additional updates as this project progresses. 

May God continue to bless our parish and all who come here to worship our loving God.

Fr. Bryan