Solar Energy
Īśāvāsya midaṃ sarvaṃ yat kiñca jagatyāṃ jagat |
tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā mā gṛdhaḥ kasya svid dhanam ||
"Everything in the universe belongs to the Supreme God.
Therefore, take only what you need, that is set aside for you. Do not take anything else, for you know to whom it belongs".
Nature has given us enough resources for our sustenance. We are indebted to Mother nature (Bhuta Rin) for all the resources she has endowed us to satisfy our basic needs. It is our responsibility to minimize the destruction of natural resources. We take enough for survival and at the same time ensure that we are giving back to nature by living in an ecologically friendly way.
Hindu Temple of The Woodlands has been a proponent of ecologically sustainable development. HTW has taken up multiple projects as part of its sustainability efforts. This includes numerous projects in gardening, composting and measured use of energy and supplies. Using renewable energy, with this solar project, is one more step in that direction.
With HTW growing and operating for longer hours and celebrating social, religious and cultural events, the energy consumption and therefore the electricity bill continued to increase. In 2018, the temple spent over $15K for electricity and this figure was fast increasing with the increased hours of operation and more needs for power. More than money itself, the footprint of our temple green-house-gas (GHG) emissions was also rapidly increasing as the energy needs of the temple increased.
In 2018, a small group of temple patrons joined together and charted a plan for delivering solar energy to HTW.
The installed solar energy system at the Hindu Temple of The Woodlands was constructed using 232 solar modules for a total system size of 84.68KW. The system is projected to produce roughly 90-100 megawatt hours annually for the next 25 years, offsetting nearly 80 – 90% of temple energy needs at the current consumption level.
HTW has accomplished a high degree of energy independence and lowered its carbon footprint by installing solar panels and harnessing what Mother Nature provides for us without consuming any more fossil fuels.