ComEd and Prologis, a commercial and industrial real estate owner, flipped the switch on the first of a rooftop community-solar project portfolio within ComEd’s Chicagoland region.
Designed by SunVest Solar, a national developer and independent power producer, the 1.56 MW installation is atop a 195,000-square-foot Prologis logistics center. Prologis owns the project, which residential customers will subscribe to, with the remaining credits available to local businesses.
Community solar enables people and businesses to participate in clean energy regardless of whether they are homeowners or renters, or able to put solar panels on their roof. The consumer subscribes to a portion of the electricity generated by a local community solar installation, receiving credits on their utility bills for the electricity produced by the facility.
“We are seeing the effect of the pro-solar incentives put in place by Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration and how they support a cleaner, more equitable energy future in our state,” said Gil Quiniones, ComEd president and CEO.
The project is the first of 45 installations that Prologis will be developing across Illinois over the next two years. More than half of the credits from the 82 MW portfolio will go toward income-qualified households in the Chicagoland area. Prologis told pv magazine that the portfolio’s income qualifications are households with incomes below 200% of the federal poverty line or below 80% of the area’s median gross income. The projects require income verification, which Prologis said “can be achieved through participation in existing federal, state, tribal, or utility assistance programs (like [The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program] or [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program “SNAP”]) or through methods like reviewing paystubs or tax returns.”
Prologis was among the early leaders in onsite corporate solar installations. The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) ranked Prologis among the top three corporations in 2018 for solar adoption. As of 2024, Prologis was ranked second for installed corporate solar capacity, according to SEIA.
Prologis develops, builds and manages distributed energy projects, such as rooftop solar, energy storage and community solar, around the world. According to Prologis, the company has nearly 800 MW of solar and storage currently deployed, and is on track to reach its goal of hitting 1 GW by the end of the year.
According to Prologis, the collective projects will be the largest rooftop community solar portfolio in Northern Illinois.
“Illinois policymakers have worked hard on policy that encourages businesses like Prologis to grow and our energy sector to expand, especially in renewable energy,” said Illinois House Majority Leader Robyn Gabel. “It’s exciting to see the fruits of CEJA [the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act], one of the most expansive energy bills in the country come to fruition with vital initiatives like this one, reinforcing Illinois’ leadership in community solar.”
CEJA and the Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA) are widely considered the catalyst to the state’s surging solar market in recent years. According to Prologis, there has been a 400% increase in connected community solar since CEJA was passed, four times the capacity of community solar that was installed in 2024 versus 2023.
There are currently about 200 active community solar projects interconnected to the ComEd system, according to ComEd. The utility said it expects to have 240 community solar projects connected to its system by the end of 2025, producing 520 MW of clean solar energy.
(Read: For rooftop, community solar, ‘we’re all for it,’ ComEd says)
“Illinois is one of the fastest-growing solar markets in the country,” Carter Andrus, Prologis’ chief operating officer.
This year, Illinois created a third clean energy package expanding upon its CEJA and FEJA successors. The package creates a Storage for All program, a Solar Bill of Rights, virtual power plant programs, among many other initiatives.
(Also read: Illinois powers up a new generation of community solar 2.0)
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