Breaking away from traditional energy supplies

by Megan McGlynn mmcglynn@my.madonna.edu A total of 1,032 solar panels are to be installed collectively at both the Madonna University campus, above the Franciscan Center, and on a patch of land at the Montessori Center of Our Lady, adjacent to Newburgh Road.  These solar panels are part of a nationwide initiative from the Felician Sisters of North America to install solar panels at six Felician Sisters’ sites across the United States. Adjacent to Newburgh Road, the Montessori Center of Our Lady will feature ground-mounted panels, consisting of 600 solar panels; these alone are expected to generate 98 percent of the electric power afforded to the Montessori Center.   On top of the Franciscan Center at Madonna’s campus, 432 solar panels are to be installed, directly supplying our campus with a portion of the campus’s total electric power.  Having these solar panels directly supplying our campus and related institutions with sustainable power will provide students a first-hand opportunity to witness the practical application of sustainable solutions.       “In using these solar panels, we are planning to use as much clean energy as we can,” said Sister Nancy Marie Jamroz, Co-Director of Catholic Studies and Interfaith Dialogue.  “One of our Franciscan values, after all, is to care for creation.” “With this project, we’re looking at these in regard to both the Felician and Franciscan values, for the Church to care for creation, and to use less fossil fuels,” said Sister Jean Sliwinski, Provincial Sustainability Coordinator for the Felician Sisters of North America.   In April 2013, Sister Jean Sliwinski was one of the first to streamline this project.  Nationwide, at Felician convents and Felician-sponsored ministries, solar panels are also being installed as part of this project.  Other locations include Buffalo, New York; Lodi, New Jersey; Chicago, Illinois; Coraopolis, Pennsylvania; and the Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania-based Provincial House of the Felician Sisters, which is the administrative and canonical center for nearly 600 Felician Sisters across North America.  These combined sites will produce an estimated 3.3 million kilowatt-hours of electricity within their first year of operation.  In addition to this supply of power, these collective solar panel sites are estimated to reduce 110 million pounds of CO2 emissions over their 35-year operating life—which is equivalent to the CO2 emissions from burning more than 3 million pounds of coal every year for 35 years. “We wanted to diminish our reliance on fossil fuels and invest in something that will help us use a natural source, as well as to decrease our dependence on large energy companies,” said Sister Nancy.     “They’re a physical reminder to care for the Earth,” said Sister Jean.  “[As well as] a physical sign for what we are doing—the actions that we’re taking—and to raise awareness among the community, as well as to reinstate the encyclical of Pope Francis, to ‘Care for our common home’.”