Solar power allows parishes to be ‘good stewards of creation’

By Carissa Krautscheid 

If you have visited St. Augustine Cathedral since Easter, you have probably noticed that a few things have changed. In addition to pressure washing and repainting the exterior of the church, the parking lot is under construction as crews install large arrays of solar panels.  

“We ask everyone to be very patient and careful as they navigate our parking lot while construction occurs over the next few weeks,” said Cathedral rector, Father Alan Valencia. “There is street parking around the property and a parking garage to the north, on Ochoa Street that many of us are using. Patience is key to be able to upgrade and improve our campus.” 

As summer quickly approaches, Cathedral and Diocese of Tucson Chancery visitors can look forward to the promise of shaded parking, thanks to the solar panel arrays that will cover four rows of the parking lot. Father Alan is looking forward to the improvements and potential the solar panels offer, “We are installing solar panels at the Cathedral because they are obviously good for our environment, cost-effective, energy efficient, and they will lower our utility costs. This allows us to be good stewards of creation, our parishioners, and our beautiful home, the Diocese of Tucson.” 

Father Alan says this project is a team effort that will benefit both the Cathedral and Chancery. “Our goal is to always work together for the good of everyone,” he said, “eliminate the ‘me mentality,’ and foster the ‘we mentality.’ We are all in this together.” 

Diocesan property manager, John Shaheen, says the Diocese of Tucson encourages parishes and schools to consider installing solar panels if financially practical, “in response to Pope Benedict’s call for stronger environmental protection and Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’,” he said. “For a parish to benefit financially, their system would need to use and generate enough electricity over a period of seven to 10 years to offset the cost of installation and to receive any cost-savings. It is difficult for our small parishes to meet this requirement.” 

Shaheen explained how the financing works, “For non-profit entities such as churches, we don’t get the federal tax credits that are available to for-profit businesses. So, for a parish to maximize any benefits for installing a solar array, they must partner with a solar array installer who will in turn seek investors to finance the installation of the system. The benefit to the investors is that they become the parish’s power company and thus charge the parish for electric use. Furthermore, they as a for-profit company can claim any dollar credits or incentives that are available. The benefit to the parish is that the electric rate that their partner will charge them is lower than their current rate and it is locked-in for 20 years. Also, there is little to no installation cost to the parish since their partner owns the system and, better yet, there is no burden of maintenance on the parish. One of our parishes does own their system, and the benefit of ownership is that the ‘electricity’ is free. However, upfront costs for installation and ongoing maintenance costs may take the parish a few years to break even before truly beginning to save money.” 

In the Diocese of Tucson, Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church was the flagship user of solar panels. Under the initiative of Monsignor Tom Cahalane, solar panels cover a portion of their parking lot where a plaque reads, “We get our power from the sun and the Son.” 

Now, seven parishes in the diocese have large solar panel arrays, including Corpus Christi, St. Thomas the Apostle, St. Pius X, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. John Neumann in Yuma, and St. John the Evangelist. 

At St. John the Evangelist Catholic School, solar panels cover both the parking lot and basketball court. This effort was initiated by then-principal Keiran Roche and completed a few years later under the supervision of Minh Solorzano. Roche saw many reasons to install solar at the elementary school. “TEP performed an audit and showed areas where we could save on electricity and this was one area,” said Roche. Other factors included, “a desire to provide shade for the students, to be more sustainable, being part of new cutting-edge solar initiatives, and to expose students to ways they can contribute to being better stewards of God’s creation. It was also a great project for the school board and would not have been possible without advice from community partners.” 

Four additional parishes have expressed interest in pursuing solar power, including San Solano Missions in Topawa which has already signed a contract. The Franciscan spirituality is evident in this community through many efforts to care for God’s creation, just like Saint Francis of Assisi would have done. San Solano Missions also has rainwater collection, LED lighting, recycling, Energy Star appliances, grey water used in their garden, eco-friendly products, low-flow toilets, air dried laundry, and very little food waste that’s repurposed to feed animals on the reservation.  

“There are so many things an individual can do,” Bishop Edward Weisenburger said at a recent panel discussion on sustainability. “We can use a lot less electricity; we can be careful with water; we can recycle – and we can lend our voice. Pope Francis says there's no change without structural change, and there's no structural change without individual change. And so it takes, on some level, each of us being willing to make a change for the sake of all.”