Nuns hope to use solar power to spread God’s light

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — It’s a modern idea, coming from an order of nuns that was founded in 1842.

Henriette Delille, a free woman of color in pre-Civil War New Orleans, started the Sisters of the Holy Family to serve and educate the poor. It is the second oldest order of black nuns in America.

Today, from their convent in New Orleans East, the nuns still oversee a small daycare, a nursing home, and St. Mary’s Academy for girls. But as their number has dwindled, the sisters are looking for a new way to serve.

Congregational Leader, Sister Alecia Costa, says she woke up to a news report one morning in 2024, about a group of non-profits and churches- of very faith – who were starting the Community Lighthouse program.

The program turns places where the community can gather, into places of refuge during times of need. For example, if a neighborhood loses electricity in a summer storm, the nearest “lighthouse” has an alternative power source that can provide air conditioning and internet access until power is restored.

The convent became one of the lighthouses, but the nuns wanted to continue their mission of helping those in need, year-round.

They were approached by the non-profit group, Together New Orleans, to consider putting solar panels on 22 acres of unused land the Sisters own behind the convent. Despite initial regulatory roadblocks, the goal is to provide affordable power to 300 homes.

The idea was on track to get started within the year but Costa says that with the Trump administration’s cut in funding for alternative energy programs, the nuns can no longer afford to buy the solar panels. She says donations are greatly needed to bring the project to life.

You can learn more about the project, in our story above.

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