The solar panels deliver a message at Santa Rosa church

Congregants at a Santa Rosa church may not realize what makes their facility’s new solar panels special — unless they look from above, so to speak.

Bayside Church’s panels are arranged in the shape of a cross on the roof.

“The solar photovoltaic system was installed in such a way, that panels were left uninstalled in the center of the array, creating the form of a cross, only visible from above,” the installing company, Novato-based SolarCraft, stated.

The down-to-earth basics of the install, the company said, is that the solar photovoltaic system is designed to produce 184,895 kilowatt-hours annually, providing 100% of the church’s yearly electric demand with renewable solar power.

That means, the employee-owned solar firm added, the annual clean energy production will offset 128 metric tons of carbon dioxide that would otherwise be emitted by fossil-fuel based utility power, or the pollutants removed by over 151 acres of trees.

“This impact is equivalent to removing the air pollution produced by close to 318,000 miles of driving every year,” the company said.