St. Michael’s Cemetery

Organization: St. Michael’s Cemetery, owned and operated by St. Michael’s Episcopal Church

Location: rooftop solar on the mausoleum buildings and crematory office, Queens, NY

CHALLENGE

St. Michael’s Cemetery, founded in 1852, is one of the oldest nonprofit cemeteries in the New York City area, serving all faiths. St. Michael’s Episcopal Church faced significant energy demands across its church and cemetery assets portfolio, including the mausoleum buildings and crematory offices. They had previously explored solar and heat capture options, but none proved viable due to high costs and complicated contractual terms. With a high volume of energy consumption, they needed a financially sound solution that aligned with the Diocese’s environmental goals, which included a 30% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030.

ANALYSIS

During the initial analysis, Mission Energy maximized the Cemetery’s infrastructure to design an aggregate rooftop solar system across multiple buildings. Existing underground conduits allowed multiple rooftop arrays to be interconnected under virtual net metering. Mission Energy also identified numerous federal and state incentives that could be used to help finance the project.

STRATEGY

Mission Energy:

• Completed a site review, analyzed energy data and presented a step-by-step path to develop and install the project;

• Designed the solar system to incorporate existing underground conduits to interconnect multiple arrays, taking advantage of virtual net metering;

• Identified a per-watt financial incentive offered by NY-Sun, reducing the overall cost of the installation;

• Incorporated the Federal Direct Pay credit, reducing the entire capital cost of the project by 30% and increasing the ROI;

• Managed installation of the solar system working with local contractor installers.

RESULTS

• The solar system is projected to offset 82% of the energy usage across the cemetery properties

• Exceeds the Diocese’s goal of a 30% emissions reduction by 2030, achieving over 80% reduction

• Federal and state incentives led to a simple payback period of less than six years, providing significant long-term cost savings

• Demonstrates commitment to environmental stewardship and Creation Care, modeling core Episcopal values for their broader community

• Supports compliance with annual emissions regulations such as NYC LL97

• The installed solar system is estimated to produce 390,280 kWh per year

• The solar energy generated saves approximately 289 tons of carbon dioxide per year

This is equivalent to:

• Planting and growing 4,336 trees for 10 years

• Removing 61.2 gasoline-powered vehicles from the road each year

• Providing electricity for 54.6 homes for a year