Community Solar Booms in Illinois, Sparking Fears of a Bust

When the Illinois Power Authority opened applications for community solar projects in February, the state was flooded with nearly 2 gigawatts' worth of project applications. A few weeks later, the Solar Foundation released a new round of jobs figures that showed Illinois added 1,308 jobs in 2018 alone, a 37 percent increase in the industry that placed the state as the lead solar employer in the Midwest. Since 2016, the business membership of the Illinois Solar Energy Association, a 45-year-old trade association, has quadrupled, according to Lesley McCain, the group’s executive director.