Church of England Installs 438 Solar Panels on Historic Chapel
The dramatic 438-solar-panel display on a chapel in Cambridge is just one way the Church of England is showing it practices what it preaches on climate change.
The 500-year-old chapel at King’s College, Cambridge, is one of the most recognizable church buildings in Britain. Every year millions of viewers tune in to watch a candlelit Christmas service from the college’s choir, opened by a boy soprano who begins the carol Once in Royal David’s City with an angelic, piercing solo.
In the BBC’s TV broadcast, which has run regularly since 1963, the opening shot is an external view of the chapel, surrounded by the roofs and spires of Cambridge. That view has barely changed in 60 years — until now. Last year, the college began installing 438 solar panels on its roof, a highly visible and somewhat controversial symbol of change.