Britain's Churches Can Raise $51 Million / Year through Solar Power

 Churches and other religious buildings in Britain can earn £34 million ($51 million) annually through solar panel installations, a study by British Gas’s Green Streets program reveals.

The buildings can bring in £29 million pounds every year through Britain’s feed-in tariff scheme and can save nearly £5 million in energy expenses, since they rely only on solar energy for their electricity needs.

Aside from the economic benefits they bring, photovoltaic installations on religious buildings can also reduce 42,000 metric tons of carbon emissions per year, which is equal to the carbon produced by more than 600 transatlantic flights.

“These potential savings are great news for Britain’s religious buildings and their congregations, and give them the opportunity to lead their communities in tackling climate change and helping Britain move towards a low-carbon society,” said Phil Bentley, managing director of British Gas.

Churches and other religious buildings have been badly hit by the recession. The Times reported that one-fourth of all 44 dioceses in Britain are experiencing deficits, thus spending their reserves to pay for stipends and pensions, while a similar number of dioceses are left with liquid reserves to last them a month or less.

For instance, the Church of England spends £1 billion annually for clergy salaries and pensions as well as for building maintenance – an amount barely covered by donations from parishes.

Therefore, the money-making potential of solar energy systems serves as a welcome solution to the religious buildings’ financial problems.

Mr. Bentley noted that religious buildings are particularly well suited for solar installations because the structures tend to have large roofs that face south, making them receptive to direct sunlight during most of the day.

British Gas is already involved in several solar panel installations on religious buildings across the country.

The utility launched the Green Streets program in January 2008 to help local British communities become more sustainable. British Gas allocated £2 million for microgeneration and energy efficiency measures to help 14 communities across the country to save and generate clean energy.

These communities were selected from almost 100 applicants to take part in the program. The participants are all competing until January 2011 to win up to £100,000 which they can invest in a local environmental project of their choice.

If the Green Streets program were implemented across Britain, it would help save £6 billion in energy expenses and eliminate 35 million metric tons of carbon emissions, British Gas estimated. This is approximately the equivalent to the emissions of four coal-fired power plants and one-third of Britain’s carbon emission reduction goal by 2020.