The Greenfield Covenant Church has received a donation of 19 solar panels  from the Hillsborough Area Renewable Energy Initiative, which volunteers will install on the congregation’s Slip Road building Dec. 7.

The Rev. Daniel Osgood said at first, he thought the offer was too good to be true. 

“There are so many scams out there. I thought they next thing would be they would want my credit card number,” Osgood joked. “I had never heard for the Hillsborough Area Renewable Energy Initiative, but I quickly found out they do great work. They selected our church because we have a food pantry, and the Clothes Closet, and we have a transitional housing apartment, the Richardson Apartment, which is always full,” Osgood said. 

HAREI is an all-volunteer non-profit organization which facilitates the installation of sustainable-energy and renewable-energy systems in private homes and small businesses. Chris Kolb, president of HAREI, said the installation of the panels on the church was the organization’s first charitable installation.

“We were looking for a way to give away solar panels to a deserving cause, but it was hard to find an organization that was set up for solar panels. It had to be someone who owns their own property. It had to be a new roof, so the panels won’t have to come down soon,” Kolb explained. “We were looking for a food pantry, because they have high electric needs due to refrigeration. It turned out this church is just perfect. The roof is new; the building is new, and it has southwest exposure.” 

According to Osgood, the electric bill for the church currently averages around $500 a month.

“Having these panels will make quite a difference for our church,” Osgood said. 

Volunteers from HAREI installed anchor railings for the solar panels in the second week of November, and are scheduled to install the panels Dec. 7.

Osgood said the panels are about three years old and in excellent condition.

“The story was that someone bought a house and tore itdown to build a new house, and they didn’t need the solar panels, so they donated them to HAREI,” Osgood said. 

According to Kolb, the cost of installing solar panels in New Hampshire is higher than in Massachusetts or Vermont, where the states offer incentives and support for homeowners and small businesses.

“Our organization tries to fill that gap for people who want to do the right thing and install solar but maybe can’t afford the $30,000 installation  costs,” Kolb said.