The Catholic Diocese of Brownsville has taken a step toward green energy with the help of UTRGV.

To help oversee the installation of solar panels at two parishes in Brownsville, a memorandum of understanding was established between the Catholic Diocese and the UTRGV Engineering Technology Program within the College of Engineering and Computer Science in August of last year.

The Catholic Diocese owns 72 parishes, 44 missions and 14 Catholic schools across Starr, Hidalgo, Willacy and Cameron counties.

The partnership with UTRGV will help the organization find a reputable solar panel company to carry out installations. It will also help educate UTRGV engineering students on solar energy as a cost-effective resource for environmentally friendly energy.

Jesus Gonzalez is an assistant professor of practice in the program. He said the diocese reached out to them for help with technical support.

“We were contacted by a representative from the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville for help with powering some of the parishes with solar energy,” Gonzalez said. “We would provide technical support, not fabrication or installing the project for them, but rather consulting them on what solar panel energy is and how it could help them and how to select a viable vendor.”

With so many solar panel companies in existence, he said, it can be hard to decipher which companies are legitimate.

“We are helping them select better candidates to go on to the next steps and proceed with the project,” he said.

A Bright, Lengthy Partnership

The first part of the project includes the UTRGV program providing requests for qualifications and requests for proposals to the Catholic Diocese. Both entail research and time.

So far, RFPs have been drafted to give to bidders, so potential companies can provide quotes based on stated terms. There have been visits to parishes, with a diocese contact planning all visits. The university is part of the overall decision-making concerning costs and only is overseeing technical analysis of the companies.

The second part, Gonzalez said, is describing the solar panel installation. This includes installment location, types of essential equipment, warranties and overall service.

Assisting with the project is Eugenio “Gene” Reyes, a UTRGV junior from Raymondville pursuing an engineering technology degree. He is interning with the Catholic Diocese to maintain project flow.

“So far, I’ve learned how solar energy works and am getting into the business aspects of engineering,” he said. “I’ve been able to break down documents and work with associates to help this type of nonprofit organization. It’s been an eye-opening experience.”

The project touches a personal note for Reyes.

“My aunt was taken advantage of by a solar company, and the energy bills were actually higher than before the installation,” he said. “With the church reaching out to us, they know that there are scammers out there, so it’s reassuring to them that we are looking for companies that have done many projects for many years.”

A Bright Future

Immanuel Edinbarough is a professor in UTRGV’s Engineering Technology program. He said that while the diocese has parish members and potential investors to help support continuity of the solar panel project, they were lacking the technical knowledge for implementation.

“They want the university to be the neutral authority coming in and giving them advice on the technical front, including who is going to implement the installation and how it is going to be maintained,” Edinbarough said.

Within the project, there is potential for future research projects. UTRGV students can learn about the performance of solar systems on a larger scale.

“They assured us that once we fully implement the project and it’s running, we will have free access for our students to go there and look at how the project was implemented, and they will learn the technical support of a project like that,” Edinbarough said.

There has been no selection of a solar panel company yet. The Catholic Diocese has all the documents from UTRGV to help them select companies to interview for the project. The installation process should begin next year.

The UTRGV Engineering Technology Program, overseen by Dr. Robert Jones, will continue to be a part of the project in the future.