Shir Hadash Synagogue is thrilled to announce it commissioned a 117,000 watt solar panel system. The solar array was installed on the roof of the synagogue’s facility at 200 W. Dundee Road in Wheeling, Illinois this past fall. The system will save Shir Hadash more than $20,000 per year in energy costs, and will pay for itself in about seven and a half years.

According to the Village of Wheeling, Shir Hadash is the second business or organization to install solar panels that produce this amount of energy in Wheeling. Shir Hadash grant writer Rachel Schick Siegel notes, “We believe that Shir Hadash likely possesses the largest solar array of any synagogue in the Midwest. It’s also the largest of any religious institution in Illinois.”

The Synagogue was awarded a grant of $240,000 by the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation (ICECF) to help fund the project. The ICECF was formed in 1999 as an independent foundation endowed by Commonwealth Edison. Its goal is to improve energy efficiency, advance the development and use of renewable energy resources, and protect natural areas and wildlife habitat in communities all across Illinois. ICECF has provided thousands of grants to not-for-profit organizations, schools, municipalities and other local and state government agencies in each of the 102 counties within Illinois.

Shir Hadash Synagogue is committed to environmental sustainability and renewing the world. That is why the Synagogue continually re-evaluates its energy use and is actively implementing programs to reduce its energy consumption and environmental footprint. The solar system will reduce the Synagogue’s carbon dioxide emission by nearly 106 tons a year, which is the equivalent of planting more than 4,200 trees each year. In the next 25 years, the energy saved will be the equivalent of planting 108,976 trees or reducing automobile use by over 4 million miles. Shir Hadash will be hosting a “Solarbration” on Sunday, May 15, 2016, to introduce the public to our new solar system and answer questions about the project.

Shir Hadash worked with WindFree Solar on this project. The system includes a gateway web-based monitoring system. Steve Cortesi, Windfree project manager and chief engineer on the project, will train the Synagogue staff on how to monitor the data and maintain the system. WindFree will inspect the system twice a year and has provided a two-year parts and labor warranty on the system.

Shir Hadash Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow says, “Our Jewish tradition teaches that human beings have the obligation to protect the wonderful world that God has given us. By installing solar panels on the roof, Shir Hadash Synagogue is taking a big step in fulfilling our stewardship of creation as we reduce pollution and scale down our carbon footprint. This is a proud moment for our community.”

• [Editor:tianyawei]