Illinois Policy Guide
Stated Goals
“To sustain the development of new renewable resources in support of the Illinois Renewable Portfolio Standard.”
Objectives
Maintain a methodology for distinguishing between projects submitted to the Traditional Community Solar block.
Provide a scoring system that prioritizes qualitative aspects of individual projects in order to allocate additional credit for featuring key objectives, including agrivoltaics.
Settings
“System accommodates continuous growth of crops underneath or between the solar photovoltaic modules, with height enough for labor and/or machinery as related to tilling, cultivating, soil amendments, harvesting, etc., and grazing animals. At least 50% of the project footprint must feature agricultural production at the time of project energization.”
Part I Application (Agrivoltaic Development Plan)
- Description demonstrating the planned agricultural use of the site.
- Explanation of the viability of the agricultural use. Crop(s) are compatible with the design of the solar system, accounting for such factors of crop selection, sunlight percentage, etc.
- Detail of system design (no design parameters imposed; besides maximum system rated capacity of 5MW AC).
- Attestation of the intent to utilize agrivoltaics throughout the lifetime of the Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) Contract.
- Detail of provisions for decommissioning to preserve the land’s agricultural resources and utility during and after the project’s lifetime.
- Commitment to annual reporting.
Part II Application
- Active agricultural use is demonstrated.
Implementation
Developed and managed by the Illinois Power Agency (IPA). Administered through a third-party Program Administrator, “Energy Solutions.”
Mechanism
Point system.
Monitoring
Annual reporting to the Program Administrator and subject random inspections.
Definition
“[A] dual-use configuration where solar photovoltaic energy generation and agricultural production (crops, livestock, and livestock products as defined by 505 ILCS 5/3.02) are directly integrated and simultaneously producing within the footprint of the project.”
Other
The initial 50% project footprint requirement may be reevaluated in the drafting of the IPA’s next Long-term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan.
Resources
Traditional Community Solar Project Selection – Final Guidelines
Illinois Power Agency 2022 Long–Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan
