Solar power in Illinois

Solar electric car charging station in Frankfort, Illinois

Solar power in Illinois has been increasing, as the cost of photovoltaics has decreased. Illinois adopted a net metering rule which allows customers generating up to 40 kW to use net metering, with the kilowatt hour surplus rolled over each month, and lost at the end of either April or October, as selected by the customer. In 2011, the limit was raised to 2 MW, but is not net metering, as the term is commonly known, as it uses two meters for systems larger than 40 kW.[1]

Illinois ranks 22nd nationally in cumulative installed solar capacity. There is enough solar energy installed in the state to power 7,300 homes.[2]

In 2012, $27 million was invested in Illinois to install solar on homes and businesses. This represents a 259% increase over the previous year, and was expected to grow again in 2013.[3]

A 2012 estimate suggests that a typical 5 kW system will pay for itself in about nine years.[4] Additionally, a 5kW system could end up adding around $10,000 to the value of your home. Reports have also shown that a home with a solar panel system will end up selling approximately 15% faster than a home without. Illinois also offers up to a $10,000 tax credit for a solar installation.[5]

In 2002, Illinois' largest solar array was the 99.4 kW array on the roof of the Field Museum of Natural History, in Chicago.[6]

In 2010 the country's largest urban solar array, 10 MW, was installed in West Pullman, on Chicago's south side.[7] In 2012, IKEA installed solar PV on its two stores in Bolingbrook and Schaumburg totaling almost 2 MW.[8] Also in 2012, the 20 MW Grand Ridge Solar Plant in LaSalle County was completed.[2] The University of Illinois built a 5.87 MW solar farm in 2015 and which will provide 2% of the university's electricity.[9][10]

The first experimental solar power plant was in 1902, in Olney, Illinois, by H.E. Willsie and John Boyle, and was based on a design by Charles Tellier.[11] In 1904 they set up the Willsie Sun company in St. Louis, and built a 6-horsepower motor.[12]

Statistics

Source: NREL[13]
Illinois Grid-Connected PV Capacity (MW)[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]
Year Capacity Installed % Change
2007 2.2 0.2 10%
2008 2.8 0.4 27%
2009 4.5 1.7 61%
2010 15.5 11.0 244%
2011 16.2 0.7 5%
2012 42.9 26.7 165%
2013 43.4 0.5 1%
2014 54 10.6 24%
2015 65 11 20%

See also

References

  1. ↑ Illinois - Net Metering
  2. 1 2 Illinois Solar, Solar Energy Industries Association,accessed August 11, 2014
  3. ↑ http://www.illinoissolar.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1511256
  4. ↑ Illinois
  5. ↑ Solar in Illinois
  6. ↑ A greener field - Energy
  7. ↑ Solar power may get chance to shine in Illinois
  8. ↑ , IKEA, July 25, 2012
  9. ↑ Solar farm connected to UIUC grid, Anna Carrera, 11/19 2015
  10. ↑ Updated: Solar farm construction to start in spring at UI, The News-Gazette, January 20, 2015
  11. ↑ Solar Power in Olney, Illinois
  12. ↑ Environmental History Timeline
  13. ↑ "PV Watts". NREL. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  14. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (August 2012). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2011" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved 2012-08-16.
  15. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (June 2011). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2010" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved 2011-06-29.
  16. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (July 2010). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2009" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  17. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (July 2009). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2008" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  18. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (July 2009). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2008" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 16. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  19. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (July 2012). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2012" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 16. Retrieved 2013-10-11.
  20. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (July 2014). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2013" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved 2014-09-26.
  21. ↑ Illinois Solar

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