Water Heater Project Helps W.Va. Church Go Solar

Water heaters are helping a Shepherdstown church reduce its electricity costs.

A 60-panel solar electricity system has been installed on the roof of Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church. The system’s $55,000 cost will be paid through a community-funded project involving water heaters.

About 100 Shepherdstown area residents and businesses have agreed to have demand-response controllers installed on their electric water heaters.

The controllers are managed by Maryland-based Mosaic Power. Mosaic Power co-founder Greg Vaudreuil says the company sells electricity saved with the controllers to the power grid during peak-use times.

Mosaic Power pays customers $100 year to participate in the program. The Shepherdstown participants will donate their payments to the church to pay for the solar power system. The church’s cost is $1.