In December 2014, we became aware of the SUN grant for solar panels and began exploring this possibility. We had long assumed that our location in the woods meant we had too much shade for photovoltaic energy production, but after a shade analysis by professional solar installers, we learned that our upper roof receives plenty of sun. We then began the process of writing a grant application, formulating a plan to finance the remainder of the costs, presenting the plan to the congregation, receiving their approval to move forward, and finally, being awarded the grant in June 2015. Our panels were installed and went live in November 2015!
The video below is Switching to Solar at the “Church in the Woods,” the mini-documentary produced for us by Wesley Rice-Snow, a young member of Interfaith Earth Care (our local HIPL chapter) that captured our process from start to finish.