Chicago & The Solar Market
Chicago is Trying to Enter the Solar Market
The solar market has been doing well in the rural Midwest, but what about the city? Cook County officials have expressed interest in bringing solar into the city of Chicago. Before construction begins, it needs to be determined whether or not the model can function in the dense urban area.
The chief sustainability officer for Cook County, Deborah Stone, states, “We want it [solar] to come here. Community solar doesn’t all need to go to very remote greenfield states. We think that these pilot sites will go ahead…”
Community solar lets people have the opportunity to be solar without having their own array. People are able to buy a share of the project instead of having to have their own.
There are many successful solar arrays in cities and small towns. The location is not as much the issue as to how the model is designed. As well as to who the target audience is. It seems that a small apartment complex is the only location that did not have a strong economic case with going solar.