'Solar for Good:' Wisconsin nonprofits and churches land solar energy grants

Wisconsin nonprofits, including churches and schools, are getting $445,000 in solar-power grants for projects aimed at promoting clean energy and reducing electric costs.

Altogether, the 36 grants from RENEW Wisconsin are expected to result in more than $4.5 million in new solar investments, according to the Madison-based nonprofit that supports solar power, wind power, biogas, geothermal systems and electric vehicles.

In Milwaukee, Redeemer Lutheran Church, just west of the Marquette University campus, will receive one of the “Solar for Good” grants to help pay for the installation of solar panels behind the oldest part of the century-old church.

The $15,000 grant will help defray the cost of the $68,000 project that, over the course of 25 years, could result in nearly $129,000 in energy savings, church officials said.

It also fits with Redeemer’s commitment to the environment that includes things such as keeping honey-bee hives on the church roof and a stormwater collection system.

When God created the world, one of his first expectations of mankind was environmental stewardship, said the Rev. Lisa Bates-Froiland, pastor of the church at 631 N. 19th St.

“It’s that call to stewardship of the earth that has inspired us to do this … We are trying to do what we can, from where we are, to make some kind of an impact,” she said.

Beloit College will receive a $20,000 Solar for Good grant to help pay for the installation of several hundred solar panels on the roof of an old Alliant Energy power station that’s being converted into a student recreation center on campus.

The center will use the Rock River to help cool the building in the summer, and it will draw energy from the river to lower heating costs in the cold months.

Called the “Powerhouse,” the 120,000-square-foot-facility will have a conference center, theater, swimming pool and coffee shop.

An indoor track will weave through sections of the building where, previously, power turbines generated electricity for the utility company.

The Powerhouse will open next fall, said Beloit College spokesman Daniel Schooff.

“We are reusing this building from Alliant Energy that otherwise would have been torn down,” he said.

Primates Inc., a sanctuary for primates retired from research and the film industry, will receive a grant to install solar panels at its center near Westfield.

The Sawyer County Housing Authority will get a grant for solar panels on low-income housing facilities, which will help lower residents’ utility bills.

Some of the other nonprofits offered Solar for Good grants include: Abinooji Aki, a Native American center in Hayward; the Housing Authority of Milwaukee; Attic Angel Place, a senior living campus in Middleton; the Beaver Dam Family Ice Arena; the Madison Audubon Society; the Solon Springs School District; and the Humane Society of Burnett County.

The program is primarily funded by philanthropists Cal and Laurie Coulliard of Deerfield.

In 2017, Cal Coulliard was quoted in an Associated Press article as saying the price of solar panels had dropped to the point where it made financial sense for nonprofits to pursue the energy source.

“The idea is that if we can install on churches and other nonprofits, then all the people that are going there will also see this happening. So basically, I want to spread the message that solar is not just green for the environment, it’s green monetarily. You can actually save money doing it. It pays for itself,” he said.

In two earlier rounds of funding, RENEW Wisconsin issued more than $200,000 in grants, assisting 23 Wisconsin nonprofits invest in more than $1.67 million in solar projects.

The earlier projects totaled 730 kilowatts of electricity, enough to power approximately 150 homes.

The grants fund up to 20 percent of an organization’s solar installation.

RENEW says it plans to issue another round of funding in the spring.