What’s New with the ILSFA Programs?

Program Year 4 is Underway

Congratulations to this year’s organizations who were selected to conduct grassroots education campaigns for Illinois Solar for All (ILSFA). We are excited to be working with the following organizations to help educate Illinois residents on ILSFA and its benefits. Thank you again to all those who submitted applications.

• A Just Harvest
• Blacks in Green
• Bond Clinton Marion Washington Community Services Inc.
• Community Organizing and Family Issues
• Ecology Action Center
• Faith in Place
• Garfield Park Community Council
• The Mildred Franks Foundation
• North River Commission
• People for Community Recovery
• Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization
• Prairie Rivers Network

Head to IllinoisSFA.com/Grassroots-Education to find contact information for the Grassroots Education Organizations and the communities in which they’ll be working.

Please note all ILSFA Grassroot Education events will follow most up to date CDC guidelines on events and gatherings.

What’s New with the ILSFA Programs

The project application process for ILSFA’s fourth program year started earlier this summer. A program timeline is available here. Read below for updates on ILSFA’s programs as well as a wrap up of program year three, which ended on May 31, 2021.

PROGRAM YEAR THREE WRAP UP

84 projects (7.9MW) were approved in program year three. 53 of these were single family residential projects and many of these are already up and running, generating savings on electricity bills for those households. There were also nine 5+ unit multifamily residential projects approved as a part of the Low-Income Distributed Generation sub-program. In the other sub-programs, there were three Low-Income Community Solar projects and 19 Non-Profit/Public Facilities projects approved.

LOW-INCOME DISTRIBUTED GENERATION

The Program Administrator is accepting income-eligible residential solar project applications for single-family and multi-family homes throughout Illinois on a rolling basis. Interested homeowners, property owners, and vendors can learn more about the eligibility and savings requirements here.

Homeowners interested in residential solar through ILSFA can now work with the Program Administrator to check whether they’re income-eligible before reaching out to an Approved Vendor. More information about the income verification process is available here.

NON-PROFIT/PUBLIC FACILITIES

The project applications for non-profit and public facilities exceeded the amount of funding available this year. Project selection occurred on Wednesday, August 11, 2021. Twenty projects were selected (2.4MW), all located in an environmental justice community or low-income census tract. Additional information can be found on the ILSFA website.

Projects approved in previous program years have been energized and are now generating electricity and savings for the participants. Learn about Cunningham Children’s Home and Normal Township’s Activity and Recreation Center projects with ILSFA.

LOW-INCOME COMMUNITY SOLAR

The Program Administrator began accepting project applications for community solar projects on Monday, August 23, 2021. The initial project submission window closes at 5PM CT Friday, September 3, 2021. If projects submitted exceed available funding, project selection will be on Wednesday, October 27, 2021.

Income-eligible Illinois residents interested in subscribing to an ILSFA community solar project can view the ILSFA Low-Income Community (LICS) Subscriber Directory. The directory lists community solar projects in utility territories that are either currently accepting subscribers or will begin accepting subscribers soon. Customers interested in a project should look to the details on the targeted and eligible subscriber base to help determine if the project is right for them.

The information in this directory will be updated as current projects stop accepting subscribers and new projects are added.