Illinois ranked ninth in the nation for small-scale solar growth in a report released this week from the nonprofits Environment America Research & Policy Center and Frontier Group.
Small-scale solar — the majority of which is installed on roofs — produced 10 times as much electricity nationwide in 2022 as it did 10 years earlier, enough to power 5.7 million typical American homes, according to the report.
And while the Midwest lagged behind other regions, Illinois, which passed a major climate bill in 2021, produced 1,300 gigawatt-hours of electricity from small-scale solar in 2022, or enough to power 116,300 homes.
“Illinois fared really well in this study, and in particular, in the last five years,” said report co-author Johanna Neumann, a senior director at the Environment America Research & Policy Center.
“Nationwide, two-thirds of our solar capacity has come online in the past five years, and rooftop solar in Illinois skyrocketed over that period,” she said.
Illinois homeowners turning to solar power like never before
But the news wasn’t all good. The Midwest as a whole lagged, with no other state in the region making the Top 10 list for growth alongside heavy-hitters like California, Arizona, New York, Massachusetts, Texas and Florida.
And the overall progress, while impressive, leaves the United States “still just scratching the surface of our solar potential,” Neumann said.
The authors found that the nation has only tapped about 1/28 of its small-scale solar potential.
To put that in perspective, in 2022 the United States only generated about 1.5% of its electricity from small-scale solar.
“Given all the benefits that come from rooftop solar, every building without solar panels on its roof really represents a wasted opportunity,” Neumann said.
The figure for untapped solar potential was based on a 2016 report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which the small-scale solar report updated to reflect an increase in solar panel efficiency.
David Feldman, a senior analyst at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, told the Tribune that the small-scale solar report’s update of his agency’s 2016 report relied on reasonable assumptions.
Most small-scale solar, reported at 64%, is produced at residences, but the category also includes solar projects at commercial and industrial sites.
The small-scale solar report calls for an array of state-level policies to increase small-scale solar, many of which Illinois has already adopted.
The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act included a 30% tax credit and the state’s 2021 climate law — the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act — offers a rebate equal to roughly another 30% of the price of a residential rooftop system.
In a recent interview, Aaron Stigberg of the Albany Park neighborhood said that together those two incentives brought the cost of his $22,000 rooftop solar project down to $7,200.
The state also has net metering, a billing system in which homeowners with solar roofs get credits for the energy they add to the grid. In Illinois, the credits can be used on days when the home needs to draw from the grid, reducing electric bills.
One thing that Illinois could still do is to follow California’s example, and make local permitting faster and simpler, Neumann said.
California recently passed a law requiring most cities and counties to use automated online permitting for residential solar energy.
Installers still have to complete all the parts of a permit application, but the permitting process is standardized, outdated requirements are eliminated and permits can be issued in 15 minutes instead of 15 days, saving time and money, Neumann said.
Under the current patchwork of city and county permitting requirements, some local officials still require hand-signed paperwork or mandate in-person visits to village offices.
“It really is time to make sure policymakers recognize the immense benefits of rooftop solar and do everything they can do to help us realize that potential as quickly as possible,” Newmann said. “Because when it comes to climate action, the clock is ticking.”