As sustainable energy options become increasingly more important for the well-being of the planet, they have become more accessible and commonplace to put into practice. The expansive 40-acre campus of St. Anselm’s Abbey School in Washington, D.C., now hosts 1,648 solar panels on the premises, generating 1,045,875 kilowatt hours of energy. 

St. Anselm’s is a Catholic all-boys preparatory school educating grades 6 through 12 run by Benedictine monks of Saint Anselm’s Abbey. 

Abbot James Wiseman, who leads St. Anselm’s Abbey and teaches religion at St. Anselm's Abbey School, was the first to suggest the solar panel project in 2019.

“Any group today, or any person today, has to be environmentally responsible. We’re well aware of it. There’s such a thing as climate change. We have to recognize that in many ways we are harming our planet with unnecessary pollution,” Abbot James said.

This closely follows the message of Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical, “Laudato Si’, On Care for Our Common Home,” which stresses the importance of caring for the environment. On Oct. 4 on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the pope issued a follow-up document, Laudate Deum. 

Abbot James emphasized that caring for the environment is not only a Catholic effort. 

“We’re part of the world. We should, in a sense, be models or exemplars for other groups. But I don’t dare say Catholics are the only religion behind this. I think, in one way or another, adherents of all major religions are aware they have to be responsible for our planet. It’s a planet that all of us share,” Abbot James said.

The solar panels at St. Anselm’s Abbey School cover various areas, such as the roof of the main academic building, the gymnasium, the theater, the commons (where students have lunch), and the canopies in the school's parking lot. 

“In all honesty, I find that quite attractive. Sometimes, when I drive around, and I see solar panels all over lawns, I don’t think that’s terribly attractive. But you don’t see the ones on top of our buildings and the ones on top of the canopies you can see, [but] I honestly believe the parking lot looks better now than it did before,” Abbot James said. 

He added that the cars are now better protected from the elements, whether on a hot sunny day or during a bout of rain.

A new transformer had to be installed to carry the new capacity of the solar panels installed throughout the St. Anselm’s Abbey School campus.

Abbot James said they were partnering with the firm Greening Urban for a future endeavor. 

“[The project will] help prevent stormwater from running off the property and polluting the Potomac River and eventually (the) Chesapeake Bay. This project is just getting started. When completed, there will be ‘rain gardens’ installed at various places on the abbey’s property,” Abbot James said. 

St. Anselm’s headmaster, John Corrigan, explained how the project was started. Utility costs, tax incentives, and clean energy were all considered. 

“The power gets dumped into the grid, and it offsets the power that we would buy from Pepco. It will take a quarter for us to see exactly what [the savings are,] but it looks like the school buildings and the athletics buildings will all be covered, and the monastery will be offset as well,” Corrigan said. 

The money saved has the potential to be transformed into academic aid.

“We’re always trying to find more money for scholarships. Our tuition is $34,000, and we’re trying. We have 43 percent of kids on some sort of financial aid,” Corrigan said. “In the private school world, you chase every dollar you can. We don’t have that state money to rely on.” 

Jose Morales has been the facilities director at Saint Anselm’s for 15 years. He managed the solar panel project. According to Morales, the hardest part was prior to installing the solar panels.

“They had to replace the roof to start the new panel, and that was done during the academic year while students were taking classes. We had to monitor when we could drill and when we couldn’t drill,” Morales said. 

Morales recognizes the impact of the project as going beyond the campus itself.

“It’s a good thing for the school, especially for the students and the young generation coming up. It helps them to be conscious of the problem that we have with climate change, and we save a lot with this project. It’s good for them to learn from a young age how important it is to save energy and [reduce] pollution,” Morales said.