North Coast Electric Company

Family Life Church in Newburg, Oregon will soon be saving thousands of dollars in annual electricity bills thanks to a new 82kw solar installation that was completed at no cost to the congregation.

North Coast Electric was awarded the PO for this project and provided a Sunmodo ground mount system, 360 SolarWorld PV panels, 15 Solectria 5000 watt inverters, and all miscellaneous electrical components to complete the job.

The Church was able to acquire the $6000 dollar solar array with no upfront costs by partnering with the electrical contractor who could take advantage of various state and federal tax incentive programs for renewable energy. The contractor can install a solar array and recoup the costs through various tax breaks and incentives. They then sell the electricity to the church at the same cost the local utility would, minus the usual governmental taxes and surcharges. After six years the solar array is sold to the church at "fair market value."

The solar array is expected to produce 82.8 kilowatts and provide 80 to 90 percent of the churches power needs. Annual savings for electricity has been estimated at $2000 for the first six years, and $9000 after the church takes ownership. The congregation expects to save approximately $300,000 over the 30-40 year life span of the system.

Family Life Church elected to install a "production meter", which is an electric meter that can run both ways. In the summer, when the church is using less electricity than it consumes, the utility will credit their account and bill them in the winter once their credit is exhausted.

Depending on your location, many utilities have programs just like these to save time and money when converting to alternative energy. Before you begin a project it's a good idea to check with your utility as well as local and state agencies to see what programs are available.