We recently installed a solar photovoltaic system at Spring Glen Church, United Church of Christ, on Whitney Avenue in Hamden. The 32.45 kW system will cover 97% of the church’s yearly electricity usage. The system is comprised of 118 Solarworld SW275 panels and 3 Solar Edge SE9000 inverters with P600 power optimizers.
Spring Glen Church first began researching a solar installation in 2008 under the guidance of House Committee Chairperson, Nancy Dittes. In 2012, Committee member Roger Johnson revisited the idea after learning about an opportunity to significantly reduce the installation costs through Zero Emission Renewable Energy Credits offered by Connecticut’s electrical utility companies. In 2014, Spring Glen was selected as the first recipient for the ZRECs for that year. The value of the credits, in addition to a significantly reduced electric bill, is expected to provide the church with a small net increase to its annual budget.
Church member Ron Offutt says the best part is “… our 117 clean energy producing solar panels reduce our carbon footprint by about 48,000 pounds of carbon; that’s equal to burning 23,000 pounds of coal. Or in other words, Spring Glen Church has just freed up 18 acres (14 football fields) of forest to now breathe easy”.