Solar pergola at South bend nonprofit aims to cuts costs, build community
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A new solar pergola at St. Peter Claver Catholic Worker is helping the nonprofit cut energy costs and reinvest savings into community work, thanks to a collaborative project partially funded by the city of South Bend.
The 6.9-kilowatt solar array, made up of 20 panels atop a wooden pergola at the nonprofit’s Women’s House at 518 S. St. Joseph St., will offset approximately 45% of the home’s annual electricity use.
The South Bend nonprofit says the project exemplifies how local nonprofits can benefit from the city’s Energy Assistance and Solar Savings Initiative, a matching grant program that helps fund energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades.
“The goal of the program is to help, especially nonprofits, be able to reduce their energy consumption, energy load, so they can reuse some of that money and invest it back into their organization and back to the community,” said Jack Rees, project manager with the city’s department of community development. “That’s exactly what will be happening here with St. Peter Claver.”
The grant covered 30% of the total cost of the solar panel installation, amounting to just over $4,600 of the $15,300 price tag. The funding did not cover construction of the pergola itself, but the city’s support made the solar component feasible.
“We built this project. It was a long time coming but we finally got it together,” said Stacey Odom, owner of Odom Community Developers, which oversaw the construction of the pergola.
The project design was spearheaded by Wellspring Solar Lead Sales Representative Ryan Lengacher, who began working with St. Peter Claver in 2022 after being connected through Inovateus Solar, a large scale solar engineering firm.
“This project is maybe one of the last projects in Indiana that’s still net metered. Every kilowatt-hour that’s produced by the solar panels will be credited to their account,” Lengacher noted. “So if there’s excess electricity hitting the panels, it feeds the neighbors and AEP gives the residents here an electric bill credit.”
The nonprofit’s co-founder Margaret Pfeil said the vision for the project was both practical and philosophical.
“We’re just so thrilled to now have this structure built. Part of our vision was that the structure could provide shade and a place to gather and also produce electric power on sunny days,” Pfeil said. “It is part of the Catholic Worker commitment to integral ecology and celebrating God’s creation.”
The city’s EASSI program has helped fund 12 solar installations in South Bend over the past four years, totaling 820 kilowatts of capacity. Three additional arrays are expected to be installed by the end of 2025.
For more information about the EASSI program, visit southbendin.gov/eassi.