Positive Energy

Michigan IPL has helped dozens of congregations in Michigan go solar. But solar continues to be largely out of reach for low-income, low-wealth congregations and communities of color.

In 2022, there was just 1 Black church in our state who had installed solar power, compared with about 50 predominantly white congregations. And the racial wealth gap is growing.

We believe the benefits of clean and efficient energy must be shared by ALL, because it will take ALL of us working together to win a stable climate and a livable future.

This belief helped bring Positive Energy into being.

While many of our longstanding supporters are early adopters of solar in their homes and their congregations, we wondered: Would they be willing to financially support a solar project at someone else’s congregation?

For our first project at Lord of Lords Church in Detroit, five Michigan IPL supporters said YES, and agreed to lend $5,000 each ($25,000 total). We had an additional $6,150 to include in the funding stack from our donation-based Carbon Fund and philanthropic funds we earned for the Positive Energy program.

After a successful pilot at Lord of Lords (construction completed in November 2023), we are looking for our next project!

Follow the links below to let us know of your interested in participating in future projects as a Lender or as a Receiving Congregation.

Pilot Project at Lord of Lords Church

Rev. Dr. Calvin Glass and Elder Eddie Sykes at Lord of Lords Church in Detroit.

If we don’t care too much about the Earth, we still care enough for our neighbor that the Earth is producing good soil, good air, good water... I believe that this is just the right thing to do as people of faith.
-Rev. Dr. Calvin Glass

Details:

13.91 kW solar array
Cost: $31,150
Up front cost to the church: $0
Federal solar rebate: $9,345 (30%)
The church owns the panels
Expected energy savings: $69,000 over 30 years ($93,000 NOT paid to DTE)
Lord of Lords will repay the $25,000 loan over 10 years at 4% interest. Their energy savings make the finances immediately cash positive, with the church netting over $700 in the 1st year!

Guiding values:

Solidarity, not charity
Collaborative decision-making (Lenders and Borrowers set terms of the Loan Agreement together)

We are so grateful to these impact lenders and the generous support from the Adrian Dominican sisters, the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan, Kresge Innovative Projects: Detroit+, St. John’s Episcopal Church of Midland, and the Ann Arbor Friends Meeting for supporting this initiative. A hearty thanks also to D2 Solar and Homeland Solar for working with us on this project.

To learn about future opportunities to become a Positive Energy impact LENDER, fill out this form.
If you're involved in a congregation that's predominantly people of color, located in or around Detroit, and you want to learn more about becoming a Positive Energy RECEIVING CONGREGATION, fill out this form.

In the news: Read more about the Lord of Lords' solar project in the Michigan Independent.

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