Solar energy projects have taken root in Chicago, with the city investing $2 million in photovoltaic systems at several museums and schools. A new building called the Midwest Center for Green Technology will use solar and geothermal energy to achieve the highest green building rating. Spire Solar Chicago was attracted by $8 million in contracts with the city and utility ComEd, and will locate in the new green technology center. The city aims to obtain 20% of its electricity from renewable sources like solar within 5 years.

1. December 2001
Solar energy shines in Chicago
By Jeff Meredith
Once relegated to the Discover channel and remote desert fields of
panels, solar energy is no longer just another unattainable novelty fit
for a "Jetsons" episode. After all, even the 'Windy City' has begun to
see its merits, putting $2 million toward solar projects that have taken
root at city museums and schools. The Field Museum and Peggy
Notebaert Nature Museum already have photovoltaic (PV) systems in
place, as well as the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Historical
Society, and Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum.
The crown jewel of the city's effort may be the Midwest Center for
Green Technology, a 40,000 square-foot building at 445 N.
Sacramento Blvd. that will use solar and geothermal energy to be
submitted for a 'platinum' rating, the highest awarded by the U.S.
Green Building Council. The building itself has been constructed upon a
former contaminated industrial site, a transformation from brownfield -
abandoned, environmentally harmful, and unusable land - to
brightfield.
At the heart of this movement is Spire Solar Chicago, a two-year old
subsidiary of Bedford, Massachusetts-based Spire Corp. which was
lured here by $8 million in business with the City of Chicago and its
largest electric utility, Commonwealth Edison Co. Spire Solar’s
manufacturing plant and sales operations will be housed at the
Midwest Center for Green Technology once it opens in the months
ahead. Also in the building will be Greencorps Chicago, Mayor Daley's
community gardening and job skills program.
Whereas Spire, the parent company, has been in the solar electricity
business for over 20 years serving as a manufacturer of solar modules,
Spire Solar takes it one step further. They provide the equipment and
also assist with design services, post-sale service and support, and
helping customers with related paperwork that includes utility
interconnection agreements, permitting and the securing of grants.

2. "If residential customers want to put in their own PV system, the state
will pay for up to 60 percent of the cost," said Steve Walter, deputy
commissioner for energy at the Chicago Department of Environment.
Speaking of subsidies, Walter added: "That's what the government is
good at, getting the early adoption, getting the market kind of primed.
As more and more people adopt it, the cost per unit will start coming
down and then you'll have a viable market."
Mark Burger, a sales manager for Spire Solar, said the company is
focusing on the public sector, with not-for-profits presenting the next
opportunity beyond public schools and museums. Walter expects
major universities and hospitals to initiate renewable energy projects
in the coming months. And the commercial sector should follow with
the targeting of businesses that see the value of having solar systems,
said Burger.
"Businesses that are looking to do this need to look at issues like
hedging, that it is a very good hedge against price increases, volatility
as electrical markets continue to deregulate," said Burger. "Besides
grants, they can get federal business tax credits. And last but not
least, this is a very material way to express environmental values to
their employees as well as their customers."
A city-wide commitment
The City of Chicago certainly has seen solar energy's value. While
schools and museums represent the first recipients of systems, city
facilities - 1200 in all - will also see some deployments. Within 5 years,
the city also aims to acquire 20 percent of its electricity from
renewable sources; it entered into an agreement with Commonwealth
Edison this summer.
"No more than half of the renewable power that we buy can come
from landfill gas [methane], that's the supply that's pretty much
available right now," said Jessica Rio, a public information officer for
the city. "An explicit purpose was to not only amass our demand but to
promote the development of supplies in the region, so ComEd has to
attract wind providers."
Methane released into the atmosphere from landfills is over 20 times
more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas - methane

3. recovery, however, allows farms, wastewater treatment plants and
landfills to turn their waste into renewable, green energy. Through a
separate settlement reached with ComEd in 1999, the utility will invest
$12 million in renewable energy - half of that figure, or $6 million, was
put toward purchases from Spire Solar.
"ComEd has probably one of the best or the best interconnection and
net metering policies in the United States," said Burger. "Someone who
is looking to install solar electricity will be able to do it with a minimum
of hassles, unlike other places where either the service provider is
resistant or inexperienced."
ComEd offers net metering to customers with solar and wind energy
facilities at 40 kilowatts or less, roughly enough to power five homes
for a day. Customers are paid for energy delivered back to the utility -
perhaps a realization that they can chip in to not only meet rising
consumption, but also help when it is at its peak. The highest demand
for energy in Chicago is on sunny, summer days when the heat has
residents running their air conditioners.
"The demand for electricity in the Midwest is matched almost perfectly
by the availability of the sun," said Burger. Spire Solar has completed
15 installations in Chicago thus far and has 13 employees. As the
business ramps up, Burger expects Solar to have 50 to 60 employees
"With the interest by the present [Daley] administration - things like
green roofs, encouraging bicycling - this is a natural progression to
generate energy cleanly," said Burger. "And not only that, but to start
developing the industry internally."