German company gives pope gift of solar panels for audience hall

Published: 2008-01-04

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A German solar company has given Pope Benedict XVI something special for Christmas: an electricity-generating solar rooftop for the Vatican's Paul VI audience hall. The Bonn-based SolarWorld is donating approximately 2,000 solar modules to be installed on the audience hall roof to provide "the very first solar power ever generated in the Vatican," said a company press release. The solar system will produce some 315,500 kilowatt-hours of power a year, offsetting some 315 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, it said. Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases that trap heat in the earth's atmosphere and is seen as a major cause of global warming. DGAP News, an online German financial media outlet, distributed the press release Jan. 4. A SolarWorld press officer confirmed the statement with Catholic News Service.

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