St Teresa of Lisieux, Lexden is one of the first parishes in the Brentwood Diocese to take a strategic approach to sustainability with the installation of a solar panel and battery system which will provide electricity across its hall, presbytery and church – and importantly reduce CO2 emissions by two tonnes annually. The 22-panel, 8.91kW system cost £19,000 and is estimated to deliver annual electricity savings of £1,725 – with net savings over the lifetime of the system estimated at £64,936. The parish also paid £3,000 for additional electricity work needed to ensure a single three-phase supply across all its buildings. Future plans include an air conditioning system to provide heating to the hall, powered by the panels.
After a quote-gathering exercise, which ascertained that the south-facing presbytery roof was a perfect site for the panels, the system was installed by local company SOLARhome, which has been delivering installations since 2000.
Says parish administrator Richard Larkins: “We chose SOLARhome on a combination of price, helpfulness and how the staff conducted themselves. It has been a steep learning curve for us – and for the Diocese, which has been supporting the initiative.”
He added: “As a parish we have been trying to be as sustainable as we can because it is better for the environment – and hopefully this move will improve things for the parish too.”
The drive has been led by parishioners Peter and Mary Johnson who are representatives of the Pope Francis-inspired Laudato Si’ Movement in the Diocese. The Diocese of Brentwood launched Laudato Si’ Invitations, Commitments, and Actions in 2021 as a response to the heartfelt plea from Pope Francis to listen to ‘the Cry of the Earth and the Cry of the Poor’.
After training as Laudato Si’ Animators, Peter and Mary set up the parish’s Our Common Home group to pursue the environmental and sustainability goals espoused by the Diocese. Says Peter: “The first thing we did was gain the CAFOD LiveSimply Award last year, which involves trying to live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with the poor. One of our cited targets was to get solar panels to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.”
Peter liaised with solar panel companies for quotes, and the Diocese, which has a significant interest in the parish buildings, and made a presentation to the parish finance committee. “We were then the first parish in the diocese to have an energy audit from Matt Fulford of Inspired Efficiency, a company employed by the Diocese to do such audits. Matt looks at the whole picture, analysing the present fossil fuel arrangements and the benefits of alternatives for different situations. That was a really useful exercise – he is extremely knowledgeable about sustainability and could also look at what we could do in the future.”
Due diligence also had to be done on the company chosen to do the project, how ethically sourced the panels were, and the working practices of the manufacturer itself (Solar Home is a premium partner with German manufacturer Solarwatt.)
While the project has taken some time to come to fruition, Peter is delighted with the result. “I have been incredibly impressed with the expertise and the patience of SOLARhome through what was a considerable learning process for both us and the Diocese and would highly recommend them. It should be so much easier for other parishes to go through the process now that they will be able to learn from our experiences.”
Lexden has advantages in terms of suitability for such a system. It has a south-facing roof with a suitable pitch, and a well-used hall, an office and a presbytery to use the generated power. At present, what cannot be stored in the battery for later usage will go to the grid, with the parish looking to sign up to an appropriate export tariff. The parish was also fortunate to have the funds necessary for the panels but is planning a fundraising drive to help pay for the next phase. It has a Mass attendance of more than 400 which is gradually creeping up towards its pre-Covid total of 600.
Parish administrator Richard has already been contacted by other parishes who are interested in the project. And Peter says he would be happy to talk about how it works from a parish perspective. “I feel very positive about it. It is the right thing to do environmentally, reducing our fossil fuel use and our carbon footprint. The Church should be taking a lead in these matters,” he says. “And it has also set us up for the future: looking at more things we can do to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. We are looking at removing the gas boiler in the hall and running air conditioning units off the solar panels, for example, and considering an air source heat pump when the gas boiler in the presbytery reaches its end of life. An EV charger and an electric car for our parish priest are likely at some point too.”
Parish priest Fr Riq Fernandez feels the project is an important move for the parish. “I believe that our parish church’s adoption of solar energy reflects our stewardship of God’s creation, by reducing our carbon footprint and honouring the environment as a divine gift. By embracing sustainable practices, we set an example of care for the Earth, aligning our faith with the action to protect and preserve God’s creation for future generations of His children.”
Bishop Alan Williams SM, who is keen for all parishes to achieve the CAFOD LiveSimply Award, added: “It is great to see Lexden leading the way with this project, and the news of it is particularly apt in this Season of Creation, a time of prayer and action to protect our common home. I hope it will encourage other parishes.”
Adoption of solar energy reflects our stewardship of God’s creation, by reducing our carbon footprint and honouring the environment as a divine gift.