The likelihood of solar farms in area counties continues moving forward. Iroquois, Kankakee and Champaign county officials are anxiously waiting for decisions from the state as a new year approaches.

Several proposed solar farm operations are in a lottery. Illinois officials will determine which projects are a go. That lottery is expected in February.
Tax credits are part of the game.

Kankakee County has designated several sites for solar farms. More are on the agenda for future zoning hearings.

In Iroquois County --- the County Board has talked about solar sites. Now, Chairman John Shure says it’s time for the county to get more active. The Management committee is now pushing solar farm opportunities with additional advertising.

There is a proposal for a solar farm on the County Farm. The Management committee is accepting bids for up to 30 acres of county-owned land to be used for solar. Bids are to conform to the Iroquois County Solar Farm Ordinance.

The University of Illinois is considered a leader in solar energy. A second solar farm planned in Savoy would put the U of I in the lead among American universities in terms of solar opportunities.

The campus is moving forward with a 55-acre solar farm about a mile south of the first 21-acre farm on Windsor Road.

The solar farm, according to Physics Professor Scott Willenbrock “is the most effective way to go to meet the iCap objective –part of the Illinois Climate Action Plan.”

Willenbrock said “we will be second to none as far as campus solar generation goes.” That he says is quite an achievement.

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