B.C. parishes harness power of the sun

Drew Eves-Lethbridge

Solar panels at St. David’s, Vancouver, (being blessed here by Rev. Michael Batten) will heat water. It is one of two parishes in the diocese of New Westminster to use solar power to supplement their electricity.

All Saints Anglican church in Mission, B.C., diocese of New Westminster, is now the first church in the country to have photovoltaic solar panels on its roof.

Rev. Sharon Salomons recently blessed the panels from the top of an aerial bucket provided by the Mission Fire Department, according to the diocese’s Web site, www.vancouver.anglican.ca

The panels, which will supplement the church’s electricity needs, were obtained through a “green energy” grant from the VanCity credit union and the Real Estate Foundation of B.C. “We are really excited to have the panels because they are a concrete action in reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and they act as a symbol to all of us that change is happening,” said Brenna Maag, the parish’s environmental steward.

Another diocesan parish, Vancouver-based St. David’s, also had solar panels installed and blessed last spring. Rev. Michael Batten blessed the panels from an ordinary ladder; the panels will heat water at St. David’s.