Solar power in Illinois

Solar power in Illinois has been increasing, as the cost of photovoltaics has decreased. As of the end of 2020, Illinois had 465 megawatts (MW) of installed photovoltaic and concentrated solar power capacity combined employing over 5,200 jobs.^[1] 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.^[2]

Solar electric car charging station in Frankfort, Illinois

As of 2022, Illinois ranks 17th nationally in cumulative installed solar capacity. There is enough solar energy installed in the state to power 217,000 homes.^[3]

History

 

Solar panels, Palatine Township

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.^[4] In 1904 they set up the Willsie Sun company in St. Louis, and built a 6-horsepower motor.^[5]

In 2002, Illinois's 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.^[3] The University of Illinois built a 5.87 MW solar farm in 2015 which will provide 2% of the university's electricity.^[9][10]

In November 2016, ComEd attempted to add additional fees to the bills of only residential solar users, commonly called demand charges, in the text of a wider energy bill.^[11] They were eventually pulled out of the bill,^[12] which passed in December 2016 without them.^[13]

Statistics

Source: NREL^[14]

Illinois Grid-Connected PV Capacity (MW)^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18]^[19]^[20]^[21]^[22]
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	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%
2016	70	5	8%
2017	81	11	16%
2018	106.2	25.2	31%
2019	211.5	105.3	99%
2020	465.4	253.9	120%
2021	1,107.1	641.7	%
2022	2,036	928.9	%

Utility-scale solar generation in Illinois (GWh)^[23]

Year	Total	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2010	14	0	0	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	0
2011	16	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1
2012	31	1	1	2	2	4	4	4	3	3	3	2	2
2013	53	2	3	4	4	4	5	5	5	5	6	5	5
2014	50	2	2	4	4	5	6	5	5	5	5	4	3
2015	48	2	3	4	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	3	3
2016	49	2	4	3	4	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	3
2017	54	2	4	4	4	6	7	6	6	6	3	3	3
2018	65	3	3	6	7	7	7	8	7	6	5	3	3
2019	63	3	3	6	6	6	7	8	7	6	5	3	3
2020	93	2	4	4	6	7	9	9	10	8	6	6	8
2021	528	13	16	24	28	34	36	60	61	79	55	69	53
2022	1,601	73	83	110	121	148	167	175	206	182	162	107	67
2023	977	70	116	137	194	228	232

See also

•  Renewable energy portal
•  Energy portal
•  United States portal
•  Illinois portal

• List of power stations in Illinois § Solar photovoltaic
• Wind power in Illinois
• Solar power in the United States
• Renewable energy in the United States

References

1. "Illinois Solar Energy Association - Illinois Solar Industry Data". illinoissolar.org. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
2. Illinois - Net Metering
3. Illinois Solar, Solar Energy Industries Association. Accessed June 20, 2022
4. Solar Power in Olney, Illinois
5. Environmental History Timeline
6. A greener field - Energy
7. Solar power may get chance to shine in Illinois
8. [1], 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. "Bill for massive coal, nuclear bailout, residential demand charges introduced in Illinois". pv magazine USA. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
12. "BREAKING: Demand charges removed from Illinois nuke bailout bill". pv magazine USA. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
13. "Illinois energy bill passes without demand charges or repeal of net metering". pv magazine USA. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
14. "PV Watts". NREL. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
15. Sherwood, Larry (August 2012). (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-09-06. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
16. Sherwood, Larry (June 2011). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2010" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved 2011-06-29.
17. Sherwood, Larry (July 2010). (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-09-25. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
18. Sherwood, Larry (July 2009). (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-11-23. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
19. Sherwood, Larry (July 2009). (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-11-23. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
20. Sherwood, Larry (July 2012). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2012" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 16. Retrieved 2013-10-11.
21. Sherwood, Larry (July 2014). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2013" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved 2014-09-26.
22. Illinois Solar
23. "Electricity Data Browser". U.S. Department of Energy. March 28, 2018. Retrieved September 25, 2021.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Solar power in Illinois.

• GA Mansoori, N Enayati, LB Agyarko (2016), Energy: Sources, Utilization, Legislation, Sustainability, Illinois as Model State, World Sci. Pub. Co., ISBN 978-981-4704-00-7
• Illinois Solar Energy Association
• Incentives and policies