The Rt. Rev. Susan Goff, Bishop Suffragan and Ecclesiastical Authority of the Diocese of Virginia and The Honorable Justin Wilson, Mayor of Alexandria, joined Immanuel's rector, The Rev. Randy Alexander and the parish for a festive celebration Sunday, April 24, 2022. Under a blazing sky, Rev. Alexander climbed a ladder and sprinkled holy water to bless the work of the solar panels to the glory of God’s creation.

The parish celebrated with a special cake, courtesy of Alexandria Pastry Shop and Café, to mark the occasion.  Tom Kerns supplied the watercolor to the pastry shop artist, who reproduced the inspiring image of Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill’s steeple and solar rooftop in fondant icing!

Sustainable Energy Solutions (SES) completed installation of the 191 445-W solar PV panels on Immanuel’s Zabriskie Chapel/Parish Hall four rooftop sections during the first two weeks of April 2022.  The installation proceeded on time, at expected cost, and with no unplanned changes. The “squirrel guard” devices have been installed and supporting rails cut to match the profile of the collectors.  
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Following an inspection of the panels by the City of Alexandria, SES will contact Dominion Energy to request they put Immanuel on their schedule to install the net meter.  When Dominion gets the net meter up and running, our new solar panels can start generating electricity for the church to use.  We hope installation of the net meter will occur before mid-June, but this will be up to Dominion’s solar scheduler.  We anticipate the new solar installation will cover at least 65% of Zabriskie Chapel/Parish Hall’s annual electricity needs.