Switch to Sunshine

Thinking about solar? Read our Switch to Sunshine Information Sheet, up-dated on 18 Feb 2019.

There’s never been a better time for faith communities and faith-based organisations to install solar capacity on available rooftops. It’s affordable, pays itself off in approximately 4 – 5 years, and helps address the urgent need for action. Why not encourage your community to participate in “Living the Change” by engaging with solar providers that ARRCC members have found to provide good service? Wherever you live in Australia, your community could take part in the “Faith Communities Switch to Sunshine” as a demonstration of their commitment to a flourishing world.

This is a short guide produced to encourage and help faith groups work through the issues relevant to deciding to “Switching to Sunshine” as a renewable power source. It deals with both the ethical issues and the financing considerations which are fundamental to deciding to look into a switch. It also deals with the tricky issue of trust in deciding what you need and who should supply it. It provides information about how to make decisions – not what decisions to make. Other faith groups have gone through this decision-making process and can help you as you proceed.

Not that we know everything! ARRCC has made a point of gathering up-to-date information and the experience of other faith groups so that people new to thinking about the issue can be assisted to find the type of information that they can trust. We would like to connect you with people who are really interested in seeing solar blossom, and can provide help to negotiate what has become a very crowded and confusing business space.

For specific resources, please see our “Resources” section at the end of this Information Sheet.

Up-date 7 Sep, 2020: Switching from gas to solar

The ACT Conservation Council have a Make the Switch project to encourage / support households in the ACT to get off gas and switch to clean renewable energy. The website provides information about why to switch off gas at home, how to go about it, and answers a whole load of questions that consumers may have about appliances, environmental impacts, connections etc. It also includes a calculator in which consumers can enter their own data about their gas use, and get out the 10 year savings from switching as compared to the upfront cost of appliance switching.

The website is written for the specific context of the ACT, but is useful also to motivated readers: https://maketheswitch.org.au