Maryland Church Shines a Light on Solar Energy

This case study describes the implementation of multiple solar energy projects by the First Baptist Church of Glenarden in Maryland. Through partnerships with Suntrail Energy and IGS Solar, the church installed a large ground-mounted array and several rooftop systems across its campuses to reduce fossil fuel dependence and lower energy costs.

• The First Baptist Church of Glenarden established a 2.06 megawatt (MW) ground-mounted solar farm consisting of 6,048 panels. This project generates 2.9 megawatt-hours (MWh) annually and provided 60 percent of the power for the Upper Marlboro campus at the time of its activation. The project offsets greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to approximately 444 passenger vehicles per year.
• The church financed the Upper Marlboro solar array via a 25-year fixed rate power purchasing agreement with no upfront costs. This arrangement allowed the church to secure energy rates lower than those charged by its utility provider, PEPCO, resulting in nearly $1 million in energy savings over three years.
• The church expanded its solar capacity with three rooftop arrays: the Family Life Center (245 kW capacity, 308,046 kWh annual generation), the Ministry Center (500-kW capacity, 657,808 kWh annual generation), and the Empowerment Center (approximately 50,000 square feet, expected to generate 514,332 kWh).
• Combined, the four solar arrays provide 3.2 megawatts of installed energy and generate over 4.3 MWh annually, which is equivalent to the energy usage of 392 homes for one year. These installations allow the church to cover more than 80 percent of its energy usage.

APA

Yañez-Barnuevo, M. (2022). Maryland Church Shines a Light on Solar Energy. Environmental and Energy Study Institute. https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/maryland-church-shines-a-light-on-solar-energy

Chicago

Yañez-Barnuevo, Miguel. Maryland Church Shines a Light on Solar Energy. Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 2022. https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/maryland-church-shines-a-light-on-solar-energy.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Yañez-Barnuevo |first1=Miguel |title=Maryland Church Shines a Light on Solar Energy |publisher=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |date=7 September 2022 |url=https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/maryland-church-shines-a-light-on-solar-energy |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaezbarnuevo2022maryland, author = {Yañez-Barnuevo, Miguel}, title = {{Maryland Church Shines a Light on Solar Energy}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2022}, month = sep, url = {https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/maryland-church-shines-a-light-on-solar-energy}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }