Illinois Solar Tour - Northern Sites
Scroll to see all Northern Illinois Solar Tour Sites, or click here to see community-based tours! |
Arlington Heights
Paul and Diane Culhane Site Type: Residential Tour Type: Video System: 11 roof-mounted panels Annual Production: 4505 kWh Why I went solar: It has always been of interest to us. | Aurora
Brian Gravenhorst 3167 Savannah Dr. Site Type: Residential Tour Type: In-Person System: 32 roof-mounted panels Annual Production: 12 MWh Why I went solar: The cost of electricity will never go down. I wanted to do my part to be green and help the environment, as well as pay it forward to future generations. | Barrington
Ted and Jan Krasnesky 24974 W Miller Rd Site Type: Residential Tour Type: Outside Viewing System: 18 roof-mounted panels, 12 ground-mounted panels, EVs Annual Production: 12.7 MWh Why I went solar: Provides all electrical energy for a 2600 square foot house and two electric cars. Yields 10% return on investment after rebates, SREC and tax credits. |
Brookfield
Compassion United Methodist Church 9210 Broadway Ave. Site Type: Non-Profit Tour Type: Outside Viewing & Video System: 50 roof-mounted panels Annual Production: 15 MWh Why I went solar: Because we believe houses of worship have a moral responsibility to be leaders in the drive to net-zero carbon emissions: to get as much energy as possible from renewable energy - solar and wind. When our congregation bought and remodeled an old dry cleaner building as an art gallery/studio and worship space, we were thrilled to be able to donate a PV system that produces 100% of its electricity. (When we install the pottery kiln we dream of for the studio, there's room on the roof to expand the system!) | Buffalo Grove
Jeff Slepak 443 Cedar Ct S Site Type: Residential Tour Type: Outside Viewing & Video System: 27 roof-mounted panels, EV Annual Production: 10.76MWh Why I went solar: To lower our carbon footprint on the planet. The fact that we've paid $0 in electricity usage since the system started up has been great, too! Our home is fortunate to have the best azimuth. Though we have many trees in the back yard, we get full sun on the 27 panels in the summer with no tree shade; in the winter, when the sun is lower, the trees have no leaves, and we get plenty of sun then, too. | Carol Stream
Wendy Vernon Site Type: Residential Tour Type: Video System: 19 roof-mounted panels, backup battery, EV Annual Production: 7829kWh Why I went solar: We installed solar because we wanted to help the environment with clean, renewable energy and also wanted to save money on our electric bills. We also installed a battery backup because we wanted some off grid capability in case of a power outage. We felt like the time was right to install solar because of the availability of the federal and state tax incentives. |
Cary
James Chen Site Type: Residential Tour Type: Video System: 36 roof-mounted panels Annual Production: 14MWh Why I went solar: It is the right thing to do for the environment while making sense financially. | Deer Park
Peter Gorr 408 Bramble Ln. Site Type: Residential Tour Type: In-Person & Video System: 21 roof-mounted panels, community solar subscription, EV Annual Production: 8500 kWh Why I went solar: This is my second home with a solar PV system. The benefits of pollution free energy, energy independence, and financial gain are just too great to ignore. Over 8 years of data speak for itself. As a parent and grandparent, I realize the responsibility I have to contribute to the mitigation of climate change in any way I can. The biggest individual impact I can have is transitioning my energy use to clean renewables and then let people know how I am benefitting. The Solar Tour is a great way to get my message out. | Earlville
Richard Jones 4233 E 13th Rd. Site Type: Residential Tour Type: In-Person System: 60 ground-mounted panels, backup batteries, EVs, geothermal HVAC Annual Production: 24 MWh Why I went solar: To become energy independent & reduce my carbon footprint. Rid myself from the constant fluctuating gas & oil prices. |
Elizabeth
Joe Ambrosia Site Type: Residential Tour Type: Video System: 24 ground-mounted panels Annual Production: 11.23MWh Why I went solar: It was both ecologically and financially feasible. I figured a 4 year break-even based on electricity rates along with tax and financial incentives at the time, not accounting for the increases we have seen since then. Also, photovoltaic is a proven technology. The process of installing solar panels was simple. Our installer handled all of the permits, site recommendations, energy assessments and installation. | Elmhurst
Sid Chhabra Site Type: Residential Tour Type: Video System: 14 roof-mounted panels, backup battery Annual Production: 4349kWh Why I went solar: I have been fascinated by the potential of solar power as a clean energy source for a while. This resulted in the DIY project for solar charged battery backup system. Success of that project, coupled with the federal and state incentives for solar, made it a very easy decision to build the larger grid tied system. | Elmhurst
Donald Haraf and Karen Pachyn 286 W Claremont St Site Type: Residential Tour Type: Outside Viewing System: 28 roof-mounted panels Annual Production: 9141 kWh Why I went solar: We are always looking for ways to make our home and lives more sustainable. The Elmhurst Cool Cities Coalition hosted a Solar Power Hour and we liked the idea of being able to work with an installer that had been approved by both the MREA and CUB. We had talked to other installers and found it all very confusing but the Solarize Chicago program gave us the confidence we needed to move forward. We have been excited with the results and now look forward to getting our electric bill every month, just to see how low it is! |
Evanston
Jeff Balch Site Type: Residential Tour Type: Video System: 21 roof-mounted panels Annual Production: 10MWh Why I went solar: We bought the house in 1997 partly because the rooftop solar thermal (hot water) panels caught our eye. Our two kids took their first baths in sustainably heated water, first steps in sustainably heated rooms, and grew with the knowledge that their home is warmed by love but also by friendly technology. This year, after a hailstorm forced re-roofing, and with the encouragement of the original installer, we replaced the solar thermals with PVs. But we didn’t landfill the 35-year-old thermals: they shrugged off the hail and went to a neighbor’s house. | Evanston
Chuck Carrington Site Type: Residential Tour Type: Video System: 26 roof-mounted PV panels, 2 Thermal collectors with 80 gal tank Annual Production: 10.83MWh Why I went solar: For the health of our planet and for future generations. I have long thought it important to do what we can to reduce the use of fossil fuels. My old house had a few thermal panels, but it was too shaded for PV. By the time I bought my present home, I realized that solar PV is a good investment financially also. | Evanston
Michael Moran Site Type: Residential Tour Type: Video System: 2 solar thermal collectors with 80 gal storage tank Why I went solar: I saw the opportunity to save energy and money when we did a second-floor addition and could add solar thermal panels to our roof. The economics convinced me there was no reason not to do it. And solar-heated showers feel better! |
Frankfort
Ray Stadt 20032 S Mallory Dr Site Type: Residential Tour Type: In-Person System: 20 roof-mounted panels Annual Production: 7100 kWh Why I went solar: Wanted to reduce our carbon footprint, as well as install early (2015) to help boost the technology and its visibility in our community. Have been electrifying the house since and continue to stay within our production. | Glen Ellyn
Richard Whitney Site Type: Residential Tour Type: Video System: 16 roof-mounted panels Annual Production: 4000kWh Why I went solar: Concerned about climate change, we made a philosophical choice to live our values and reduce our carbon footprint. I did not believe in 2010 that PV would be purely justifiable on a cost-benefit basis, but felt that everyone must do what they can to reduce their impact on the earth. As it turned out, the move to solar has paid for itself, not even counting any additional increase in home value. | Glenview
Mary Munday and Richard Clark 2309 Linden Leaf Dr Site Type: Residential Tour Type: In-Person System: 19 roof-mounted panels, EV Annual Production: 4500 kWh Why I went solar: We installed solar so we could charge an EV on sun power. We also wanted to help decarbonize the electric grid. We wanted to lower our electric bills, too. Installing solar accomplished all three goals. |
Grayslake
College of Lake County Site Type: Non-Profit Tour Type: Video System:
CLC just installed a 1.9 MW Solar PV system in 2021, which includes both rooftop and ground-mount systems. The college has solar thermal collectors on 8 different buildings. There are two closed-loop geothermal systems, totaling over 120 wells running 500 ft deep each.
Why I went solar: The College of Lake County is a leader in sustainability. Hosting solar PV, solar thermal, and geothermal heat exchange systems not only saves the college operational costs, but provides demonstrations of energy innovation for students and the community, renewable resources to be tapped for a more sustainable future. | Grayslake
John & Kathleen Wasik 1278 Prairie Orchid Ln Site Type: Residential Tour Type: Outside Viewing System: 13 roof-mounted panels, community solar subscription, hybrid cars Annual Production: 4600 kWh Why I went solar: Reduce our carbon footprint and lower our ComEd bill. | Highland Park
Jay Futterman 1399 Green Bay Rd Site Type: Residential Tour Type: In-Person & Video System: 25 roof-mounted panels, EV, heat pump water heater, heat pump HVAC Annual Production: 7400kWh Why I went solar: I am very concerned about climate change. One of the major contributors to this is coal, and I can see train cars full of coal passing through my town. Rather than just getting mad about this, I decided to do something about my own personal contributions to this disaster and power my house and car with the sun. While I unfortunately won't be available to speak with anyone on September 25th, I'm happy to talk or email with interested folks any other time! |
La Grange
Bertold Kraessig 437 7th Ave. Site Type: Residential Tour Type: In-Person & Video System: 33 roof-mounted panels, EV Annual Production: 11.3 MWh Why I went solar: I believe every building should have solar energy collectors on its roof. I wanted to do my part in this endeavor and be an example for my neighbors. | Northbrook
John and Merilee Novinson 1105 Adirondack Dr Site Type: Residential Tour Type: In-Person Part of Northbrook Community Tour! System: Roof-mounted panels in two different arrays Annual Production: 5200kWh Why I went solar: The south facing 2009 panels are far less efficient than the 2019 array on the north side of the house. We will have technical data available at the tour. We have 6 grandchildren and believe anyone with the means to reduce fossil fuel based energy is morally obligated to do so for the sake of the generation that follows. We also wanted to encourage others to invest in the future. Finally, as evidenced by the improvements in 10 years, we wanted to invest in the industry. | Northbrook
Aaron Stash 1833 Maple Ave Site Type: Residential Tour Type: In-Person Part of Northbook Community Tour! System: 39 roof-mounted panels, EV Annual Production: 15 MWh Why I went solar: Climate change is the biggest challenge of our time and we wanted to take action. Our home is LEED Platinum certified (2014) - before solar - and this was an obvious next step once the Illinois incentives stabilized. With government support for renewable energy, we can all make a difference that’s affordable and right for the planet. |
Northbrook
Bernadette Knight & William Johnson 2602 Prince St Site Type: Residential Tour Type: In-Person & Video Part of Northbrook Community Tour! System: 41 roof-mounted panels Annual Production: ~15 MWh Why I went solar: We installed solar as we wanted to use a clean energy source rather than use electricity from fossil fuels. We want to reduce our carbon footprint to support global efforts to tackle climate change. The federal subsidy made this project affordable and it made financial sense. | Northbrook
Bob Israel Site Type: Residential Tour Type: Video System: 30 roof-mounted panels Annual Production: Too early to tell! Why I went solar: To reduce my carbon footprint and help make the world a slightly better place. | Northbrook
Northbrook Court Site Type: Business Tour Type: Video System: 3095 roof-mounted panels Annual Production: 1300MWh Why I went solar: Northbrook Court is committed to sustainability! Part of that commitment is generating 1.2M kWh of carbon-free electricity each year through our investment in Solar. |
Oak Park
Ana Garcia and Jim Doyle 165 N Taylor Ave Site Type: Residential Tour Type: In-Person System: 48 roof-mounted panels, geothermal, greywater system, LEED Gold Certification Annual Production: 20.3 MWh Why I went solar: We installed our solar panels because after our home renovation in 2012 (we were on the GreenBuilt Home Tour several times), we had already converted our 100 yr old home to geothermal. Solar was the next step, to get us more energy independent, able to generate our own electricity to run most of the property (house & garage). Also, it's how our family wants to live and the "right" thing to do for long term sustainability of our home and our community. We are lucky and privileged to be able to have done this work. | Park Ridge
Kenneth Doody 1025 S Home Ave Site Type: Residential Tour Type: In-Person Part of Park Ridge Community Tour! System: 12 roof-mounted panels Annual Production: 5353 kWh Why I went solar: Environmental concerns and reduce personal cost of electricity. I plan on buying an electric car so solar panels will offset increased use of electricity. | Park Ridge
David Ziegenhorn 1304 S Greenwood Ave Site Type: Residential Tour Type: In-Person Part of Park Ridge Community Tour! System: 34 roof-mounted panels, backup batteries, EV, heat pump Annual Production: 11.7 MWh Why I went solar: Along with the usual benefits of going solar, saving money, saving the planet, etc. I've always been a big fan of being self sufficient and being able to create and store my own energy at the house is a huge peace of mind. No matter what happens to the world I can power my family and our car to do what we need to do. |
Park Ridge
Kenneth Jaconetty 100 Shoreline Dr Site Type: Residential Tour Type: In-Person & Video Part of Park Ridge Community Tour! System: 17 roof-mounted panels, backup batteries, EV Annual Production: 4500 kWh Why I went solar: My house roof has a flat roof and unobstructed access to the sun. Climate change is real and traditional energy production can release significant carbon. State and Federal credits helped bring down the installation cost of the solar system. | Rockford
Steven Hall 7706 La Harve Dr Site Type: Residential Tour Type: In-Person System: 16 roof-mounted panels Annual Production: 5000 kWh Why I went solar: To make my world a better place to live and save some money. It was a no brainer. We were lucky that we had the money to purchase the system. That is how you can really save money for the next 25+ years. | Stillman Valley
Michael Winter 9489 E Scott Rd Site Type: Residential Tour Type: In-Person System: 40 ground-mounted panels, geothermal Annual Production: ~20 MWh Why I went solar: PV - Interesting project, use less energy from grid and save on electricity bills. Geothermal - We had the land available and no access to natural gas. |
Warren
Matthew Alschuler 5949 N Canyon Park Rd Site Type: Residential Tour Type: Outside Viewing & Video System: 25 roof-mounted panels, EV Annual Production: 12 MWh Why I went solar: I always believed in living as light on the Earth as possible by recycling, insulating buildings, caulking windows, using high efficiency appliances, and buying an electric car. Installing solar was the obvious next step. I'm going to transition my farm house from propane powered heat, hot water, and cooking to an electric heat pump hot water heater, and inductive cooking. I had the room to install the modules, and a clear southern sky, so it was time to move ahead with the installation. | Warrenville
Connie and Michael Schmidt 3S501 Landon Ave Site Type: Residential Tour Type: In-Person System: 13 roof-mounted panels Annual Production: 4350 kWh Why I went solar: We are retired and care about out energy costs. However, as a very involved leader in the Sierra Club we also want to lead by example using clean energy. It was also encouraged by our very enthusiastic son who works in this industry. | West Chicago
Mike Bullock Site Type: Residential Tour Type: Video System: 41 roof-mounted panels, air-based heat pump Annual Production: 11.4MWh Why I went solar: We installed Solar PV to reduce our carbon footprint and because it is the best financial investment we can make in our home. We are on a path to electrify everything and meet our energy needs with the sun. With other efficiency improvements, we expect to meet almost 100% of our electricity needs this year from the sun. This includes driving the Volt and providing heat for the house (except for the coldest days). |
Wheaton
Jeff Gahris 1826 E Willow Ave Site Type: Residential Tour Type: In-Person & Video System: 8 roof-mounted panels Annual Production: 3700kWh Why I went solar: We were excited to join the clean energy revolution for both financial and environmental reasons. We have enjoyed sharing our solar lifestyle with others who are interested in going solar. | Wilmette
Beth Drucker Site Type: Residential Tour Type: Video System: 12 roof-mounted panels, solar thermal, EVs Annual Production: 5000kWh Why I went solar: When we had to reroof the house, we had to remove the eight year old solar panels. Efficiency has improved so much that we were able to replace the old panels with a similarly-sized system and make twice the energy. | Wilmette
Bruce Davidson 123 17th St Site Type: Residential Tour Type: In-Person System: 18 roof-mounted panels, community solar subscription, EV Annual Production: ~6500 kWh Why I went solar: We wanted to reduce our carbon footprint and save money on our energy use. The monetary payback estimated at 9.12 years, and was achieved in about 7+ years. |
Winnetka
Ted Wynnychenko 1086 Oak St Site Type: Residential Tour Type: In-Person System: 45 roof-mounted panels, geothermal, rain water collection, native garden Annual Production: 11 MWh Why I went solar: We had been concerned about the environment and our legacy to our planet for some time. When we had the opportunity to build our home, we decided to incorporate as many energy saving/environmentally friendly systems as we could. | Woodridge
James and Beth Galbreath 6688 Foxtree Ave Site Type: Residential Tour Type: Outside Viewing & Video System: 16 roof-mounted panels, EV Annual Production: 5900kWh Why I went solar: We have been passionate about the environment and safe, renewable energy forever! But living in homes we didn't own for 43 years, we focused on energy conservation until retirement. At last owning our own home, we are doing everything we can to cut our carbon footprint, for the sake of all creatures who live on God's good earth. In 2020, we bought a lightly used Nissan Leaf EV and expanded the 10-panel system with six more (newer tech) panels to feed it. Of course, that year we didn't go many places! But in 2021 and 2022, especially now with gas pushing $6/gallon, and more and earlier heat waves, our solar panels are truly profitable! |
Northbrook
More info coming soon! | Park Ridge
More info coming soon! | Wilmette
More info coming soon! |
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