St. Bartholomew's Church

A spiritual leader in the Poway community since 1960, St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church is showing their dedication to creating a clean energy future and preserving our environment. The church has transitioned from utility power to solar energy with Sullivan Solar Power. The church's facilities are used six days a week by various community members and organizations throughout the year, and the new solar installation will meet their energy consumption needs. "Going solar allows us to practice good stewardship of all that God has given us," said Johnny Watson, parishioner of St. Bartholomew's Church, "Savings from solar will allow us to keep our facilities open long-term while keeping down our costs." The church energized their recently installed 56,708 Watt solar powered system in September. For the project, Sullivan Solar Power designed the system with 260 locally manufactured Kyocera solar panels. The project will produce 8,619 kilowatt-hours each month to offset 100 percent of the facility's electrical usage. More than 128,000 pounds of carbon emissions will be negated from entering the atmosphere each year as a result of St Bartholomew's new solar project. "People of faith are increasingly aware that the Lord has blessed us with the resources we need to live a sustainable lifestyle," said Daniel Sullivan, founder and president of Sullivan Solar Power, "It is a matter of choice as to whether we use those resources wisely, like the solar energy, to show we are worthy and thankful for being blessed with dominion over the Earth." The church originally became interested in pursuing solar power after a St. Bartholomew's parishioner visited a solar powered church in Walnut Creek in 2009. This year, after realizing the parish's electricity bill was continuing to increase, they revisited their potential solar project. "I was excited to work on this solar project as St. Bartholomew's Church is the perfect example of how going solar can have significant benefits, not only financially, but also as a part of creating a greater future for our planet," said Sean Mazelli, system designer and senior project developer at Sullivan Solar Power. Sullivan Solar Power provided St. Bartholomew's with a unique, lease to own financing tool that allows the church to adopt solar power with no upfront cost, keep their monthly payments equal to their current electric bill, and protect themselves from future rate increases. The church will own the system outright in seven years and be utilizing the free energy that falls from the sky each day for decades to come. Over the lifetime of the system, St. Bart's will save more than $570,000 by going solar. "St Bartholomew's Church is setting an example in the faith community for being good stewards of God's divine creation," concluded Sullivan. To view this system's production click here.