There are many ways to go green with solar energy. The number of options and types of program can be confusing. The River Forest Sustainability Commission has developed the below table to help you navigate the various existing solar programs. Residents can also sign up to receive a free Guide to Solar from the Illinois Citizens Utility Board here.
| Rooftop Solar |
Community Solar |
Green Electric Aggregation |
- Panels installed on your roof (or ground mounted in your yard).
- You hire a contractor.
- Permit required from the Building Department.
- You own the panels.
- You receive credit on your electricity bill for the electricity the panels produce.
- Info on permit process found here.
- Cook County Switch Together is a solar group buy program where vetted solar installers compete against each other to offer their best price Learn more here.
- Nonresidential properites can find low-cost, long-term financing options for solar installatoins through the Cook County Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) program found here.
- Illinois Citizens Utility Board offers further informaiton in their Rooftop Solar Fact Sheet found here.
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- Opt-in Program where you sign-up.
- Administered by MC2, but a seperate program from the Green Electric Aggregation program.
- You subscribe to a portion of a large, offsite solar project.
- No need to install equipment on your property.
- You receive credits on the electricity supply portion of your ComEd bill.
- MC2 then seperately bills you for 90% of the credits.
- You save a net 10% of the community solar credits on the supply portion of their electricity bill.
- You can learn more and sign up to particpate here.
- The Illinois Citizens Utility Board explains how community solar programs work here.
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- Opt-out program where you are notfied and automatically enrolled.
- You are not required to participate and may opt-out at any time with no fee.
- Administered by MC2, but a seperate program from the Community Solar program.
- Provides residents and small businesses with electricity that supports renewable energy projects and offsets CO2 emissions.
- You pay the same rate as the standard ComEd rate and continue to receive their monthly electricty bills through ComEd.
- Learn more about the program here.
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