CENTRE COUNTY, Pa (WJAC) — A Centre County Mennonite church is taking the turn towards using clean solar energy.

On Friday morning, local leaders and residents met to learn more about this solar energy and how it benefits the church.

For this State College Mennonite church, solar energy will now provide both a cost affordable and environmentally friendly way to power their systems.

The church hopes to inspire other business and organizations to also make the switch to renewable energy.

Local leaders from the University Mennonite Church partnered with the solar company Envinity to install various solar panels and systems throughout the church.

State officials say the turn to solar energy can benefit businesses as a viable energy resource.

“Clean, reliable, and affordable solar and other renewable energy sources, like geothermal, are increasingly a really good solution for businesses and for individuals in organizations like here at the church,” says Rep. Paul Takac.

On Friday morning, church leaders partnered with the solar energy advocacy group PennEnvironment to conduct a tour of the church’s new panels.

The tour aimed to give tips for other consumers who may be interested in going solar.

“It’s an exciting opportunity to tour that and to help spread the word that this really does make a lot of sense and people should be looking into it as a viable alternative, particularly during a time when energy prices continue to rise and demand continues to increase,” Rep. Takac said.

The church says the newly installed solar panels will significantly reduce energy costs, while also turning down reliance on traditional power sources. Energy costs can also be fixed over a period of time with solar panels.

“What we also see is that predictability and stability of pricing is a big incentive for a lot of businesses because you can fix the cost for a period of time. You know what it’s going to cost you to generate your energy,” Rep. Takac added.

Over time, solar companies will set their sights on increasing battery storage of these solar panels for more cloudy days.

For the future, state officials and solar energy groups say they hope this will set a precedent moving forward, enabling other local businesses and residents to follow suit with clean energy.