The Cook County Department of Environmental Control announced on April 3 the selection of 15 pilot sites to help study and establish community shared solar power in the region. The initiative aims to broaden access to solar energy for residents, businesses, and institutions that may not be able to install their own systems.
Community shared solar allows multiple members of a community to benefit from a single solar-electric system. This approach is designed to expand access for renters, condominium owners, those with shaded roofs, or individuals who cannot install residential systems due to financial or other reasons.
The selected sites represent a range of property types across Cook County, including affordable housing units, schools, industrial developments, places of worship, and public facilities. Among them are Hill Arboretum Apartments in Evanston, Des Plaines-Lake Landfill in Des Plaines, Prairie State College in Chicago Heights, United Airlines Training and Data Center in Des Plaines, Altgeld Gardens Homes in Chicago, CTA Rail Heavy Maintenance Facility in Skokie, and several others.
With $1.2 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative through the Solar Market Pathways project awarded in 2014, Cook County and its partners will create case studies and engineering assessments for each site. These efforts are intended to help property owners enter the community solar market by providing models for implementation and identifying ways to overcome economic and policy barriers.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said: “Community solar is an exciting concept that can have a positive impact on the environment and on County residents’ pocketbooks. This project will open up the benefits of solar energy to wider groups of the population that otherwise would not be able to afford it.”
Anne Evens, CEO of Elevate Energy—one of the county’s nonprofit partners—said: “We are excited at the promise of community solar to advance access and equity in renewable energy development. This is especially critical in Cook County, where as many as 75 percent of households and businesses cannot currently install solar on their rooftops. These sites will likely represent the first community solar projects in the region and will serve as roadmaps for many more projects in the future.”
Eric Huffman, Executive Director at Over The Rainbow Association—which operates one pilot site—said: “We grew interested in community solar because we like the fact that it can reduce energy costs both for us as a non-profit with a tight budget and for our residents who are mostly low income. It’s our privilege to get the opportunity through this pilot to be part of an innovative project that promotes sustainability and can help lead the way in Cook County.”
The program is supported by over 100 stakeholders including developers. Its goal is to facilitate access to clean electricity from solar power within five years for at least 30,000 county residents who might otherwise lack such opportunities. The business cases developed during this project will serve as templates for other property owners considering entry into community shared solar.
