Mission Green Project Update

GOOD SHEPHERD CARBON NEUTRAL INITIATIVE NEARS COMPLETION!

Monday and Tuesday (July 31/August 1), an 8-man crew erected the solar canopy on the post and beam pergola. 

Eleven 37’ aluminum extruded beams were firmly secured on the wooden pergola. Then 50 solar panels were placed into the racking and secured. 

Many thanks to the great crew who helped make this effort successful!

pictured L to R: 

Carl Prescholdt, Lance Wood, Jim Fritz, Cal Couillard, Bob Wilson, Tim Wagner, Reg Laursen, and Duncan McLean.   

The newly installed 50 panels are equal to 27 kW of photovoltaic cells. When added to the panels of 21 kW Mission Green put on the roof of the Education Wing last fall, along with the 8 kW system installed in 2016 by GoSolar, Good Shepherd now has its own energy-producing facility of 56 kW of solar.  

Projections are that it will meet (or exceed) 99.2% of the total energy needs of Good Shepherd, all done without using any fossil fuels. Monitoring this system over 12-18 months will help verify this projection. We will soon be Carbon Neutral and Net Zero energy use. We will generate on-site as much as we consume. This. Is. Huge!

The final steps to 100% completion include 1) installation of 44’ of high-output LED strip lighting to light the courtyard, 2) installation of the speaker system (re-use of the speakers that were formally in the Sanctuary….the other two were re-used in the Fellowship Hall), and the final installation, hook-up and commissioning of the solar canopy to the grid. We are still on track for completion on or before August 15. 

Jim and Liz Fritz

Mission Green LLC

Questions/concerns? Contact Jim and Liz at: missiongreen@icloud.com

Information about the Carbon Neutral Initiative for Good Shepherd can be found here:

• Good Shepherd’s website: www.goodshepherddecorah.org/missiongreen/
• Jim and Liz’s website: www.missiongreen.llc