February 18, 2021
East Bay Church Catches the Sun
Novato and Sonoma based SolarCraft, a leading North Bay solar installer for over 35 years, recently completed the installation of a 61 kW DC solar system at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Castro Valley, CA. Their facility is now powered by clean, sustainable power and they are saving thousands in electrical bills every month.
The solar power system is roof mounted on the adjacent Our Lady of Grace school building, consisting of 163 high-efficiency solar panels and producing 87,156 kWh annually. The new solar array will offset a large portion of the Church's electrical needs, and those savings can be put back into the needs of the congregation.
California Clean Energy (CCE), a Renewable Energy Service Provider for nonprofit organizations, will own the system and recover its costs through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the church. A PPA is an alternative to purchasing or financing your own solar power system, providing nonprofits the opportunity to utilize clean solar energy with no up-front costs and no system operation, maintenance, and replacement costs. Customers, such as Our Lady of Grace, benefit from fixed electricity prices which will never increase.
Every year nearly 62 metric tons of carbon dioxide generated by Our Lady of Grace's operations will be eliminated. This impact is equivalent to removing air pollution produced by almost 4 million miles of driving over 25 years or the pollutants removed by 81acres of trees in one year.
SolarCraft is 100% Employee-Owned and has been one of the largest green-tech employers based in the North Bay for over 35 years. SolarCraft delivers Clean Energy Solutions for homes and businesses including Solar Energy and Battery Energy Storage. With over 8,500 customers throughout Marin, Sonoma and Napa Counties, our team of dedicated employee-owners is proud to have installed more clean energy systems than any other company in the North Bay. Visit us at www.solarcraft.com or follow along @SolarCraft on Facebook and Twitter.
Please contact us if you are interested in a free proposal.
About Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church & School
On September 19, 1947, Our Lady of Grace was established by the Most Reverend John J. Mitty, Archbishop of San Francisco. During this time, ground was broken for Our Lady of Grace Church, and a small congregation was established. Eight years later in 1955, under the guidance of Reverend Patrick Stack (for whom our Stack Center is named), Our Lady of Grace School was established. Nine members of the Carmelite Sisters of Charity arrived from Madrid, Spain to greet 250 students in grades 1-4. One class was added each year until the school served students in grades 1-8. It currently serves students TK-8.
