Along with other U.S. states, Illinois is working to make itself more dependent on renewable energy sources rather than fossil fuels. The head of a local Bloomington-Normal solar installation company said state and federal incentives make Illinois one of the strongest to go solar.
Shannon Fulton runs the Bloomington office for StraightUp Solar, a company that's been around since 2007. She said that the opportunity for going solar is better than ever.
“Pairing those [state] incentives with those that are available on a federal level, in the way of tax credits and direct payments for non-tax paying bodies, the case for going solar is as strong as it’s ever been,” she said.
Illinois has production-related incentives. Those come in the way of cash payments correlated to a certain amount of electricity that a solar system produces.
“This is a program known as Illinois Shines and it’s based on the solar renewable energy credit production,” Fulton said. “It’s the main mechanism that Illinois is using to get to our renewable portfolio standard of 40% renewable energy by 2030.”
The target for that much renewable energy in the state is six years away. Currently, Fulton said that the state isn’t on track to meet the deadline.
“In six years, it is going to be a big undertaking to get there, we are trailing a little bit behind,” she said. “But I have confidence given the amount of solar development that’s happening, solar development and construction that’s happening, that we can get there. I think it’s a goal we can reach.”
Other than the incentives, Fulton said rising costs of electricity are heavily affecting an individual's decision to go solar. While solar equipment had been falling in cost in years past, it has increased in the past few years, which she said is due largely to inflation. Higher interest rates have also slowed solar installations as customers wait for a better time to borrow.
Fulton said the timeline to receive the payoff, or recognition that the system has improved an individual’s finances, is around six to eight years.
“It does depend on system size and sort of if you’re in Ameren or Corn Belt (Energy),” she said. “There are a number of different factors at play, but I would safely say payback is anywhere from six to eight years.”
Some customers do the conversion for green reasons, or they primarily want to use renewable energy to better the environment. Fulton said that it is a rarer case than one might think.
“I would say the vast majority of people go solar for financial reasons,” she said. “They want to hedge against rising costs, however, there are always individuals who are environmentally minded. I am one of those individuals, that was one of the drivers for me to go solar and get into this industry, but I would say that, honestly, well over 90% of the people who go solar do it for financial reasons.”
She said the environmental reasons seem like “icing on the cake for most people.”
NPR’s recent reports show that rooftop solar installers have been receiving consumer complaints and even prosecutors have investigated their sales practices. Fulton said the “doorknockers” on an individual’s doorstep often overpromise or oversell what solar is capable of.
“I think that the door-to-door salespeople, if they’re really under pressure to get the leads and sell the leads and sell as many projects by the end of the year, they can also overpromise,” she said. “It’s not magic, it’s technology.”
