Rosemount parish looks to save thousands on electricity through leap in new technology

Going green is taking hold at St. Joseph in Rosemount. A newly completed solar array, known in the industry as a “solar garden,” will replace the use of fossil fuels in providing electricity for the church and school.

In addition to the environmental benefits, it will help the parish save thousands of dollars in annual utility costs. That’s the primary reason parish leaders and Father Paul Kammen, St. Joseph’s pastor, agreed three years ago to make the move. The array, completed in January and consisting of 3,528 panels measuring 7½ feet by 3½ feet on 5 acres of parish ground next to the church and its school, is expected to save $15,000 to $20,000 a year, according to Randy Haney, parish director. It will generate an estimated one megawatt of electricity (1.25 kilowatt hours) per year, which is enough to power about 150 average-sized homes.

The process began in 2017, when a parishioner approached Haney and other parish leaders about a company that specializes in building solar arrays for businesses, organizations and even small clusters of private homeowners. That led to meetings with executives from Novel Energy Solutions, founded in 2012 by Cliff Kaehler and his parents, Ralph and Philomena Kaehler, Catholics who live near St. Charles, Minnesota, and two others who no longer are part of the company.

They pitched a simple idea to St. Joseph: Allow the company to install solar panels free of charge, then pay only for electricity used. After seven years and up to the 20^th year, the parish can buy the array from the company. If St. Joseph decides not to purchase it, Novel Energy Solutions removes the panels at no cost to the parish at the end of the 20^th year. And, if more electricity than St. Joseph needs is generated, the company can sell that power to Xcel Energy.

The projected electricity savings without any initial investment made it an attractive offer for St. Joseph to accept, Haney said. St. Joseph will be the first Catholic church in Minnesota to strike such a deal with the company, but Ralph Kaehler expects others to take a serious look, especially those who take environmental concerns seriously, including principles outlined in Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical on human ecology, “Laudato Si’: On Care for our Common Home.”

“We need to go towards renewable energy,” said Kaehler, 59, who belongs to St. Charles Borromeo in St. Charles and owns a cattle farm. “It’s the next wave. It’s the stepping stone.”

It also could be an educational tool for students at St. Joseph School, who now see the array from their classroom windows. Although the panels themselves are fenced off, students will be able to get close enough to examine them. Haney envisions students in science classes studying data on how much power is being generated by the array.

Kaehler, who now works in business development for the company, likewise sees learning potential. “There’s a whole bunch of opportunity for kids to have real, live experience instead of (merely) reading about … something they’re not involved in,” he said.

“I think it’s fun for them,” he added. “I get jazzed up about that side of it. I think there will be a couple of kids that will find a career or find some passion because of studying that solar (array), and they will get excited about” working in the industry.

That’s exactly what happened for the Kaehler family. After working for multiple generations in cattle farming, they decided to branch out. Now, they are installing solar arrays throughout Minnesota and beyond, and have watched organizations not only use solar power but save money doing it.

“We’re expanding nationwide. We’ll be working from coast to coast this year, from Oregon to Maine,” said Ralph Kaehler, who noted that the company has built about 200 arrays overall, up to 10 megawatts in power generation. “We started eight years ago with five people, and there’s over 200 in the company now.”

He said the St. Joseph project is unusual because of its size. Arrays often are limited because of a lack of land. But St. Joseph sits on 29 acres and easily had 5 acres to spare for a solar array. Other parts of the land are used for gardening programs, including an easement in the middle of the array.

“It’s been quite the journey, and I’m blessed to be a part of it,” Haney said of the solar array project. “It took a lot of very smart, dedicated people to make all of this happen. And, I’m kind of looking forward to the fact that it may end up being a landmark in Rosemount.”