Margo Holowicki

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Solar in the City of Chicago -Limitations and Opportunities

February 10, 2020

Summary

  • The City of Chicago has made installing solar easy -for certain kinds of projects.
  • Solar companies still have issues obtaining permission to build ballasted solar projects on flat roofs.
  • Go with a Solar company local to the City of Chicago in order to get your solar project done.

Solar Installation in the City of Chicago is easy

Back in 2015, the City of Chicago and surrounding Cook County launched an initial to help the solar industry called ‘Solar Chicago’. I was intimately familiar as I filed the permitting for a large portion of those projects in my work with Ailey Solar. The City of Chicago made the permitting process faster with an “easy” permitting process for projects under 13.44kW and for pitched roofs. Once you fill out the paperwork, time to permit approval should be 10 days or less. During the early days of this process, the timing was accurate. Anything outside of this process can be several months and require more engineering (and, hence, expense).

Ballasted Solar on Flat Roofs

Early on in solar installation cities had required special permitting or outright banned ballasted solar on flat roofs. This did not have basis in experience and was simply a precaution on the part of Cities to protect the structural integrity of buildings. Now that we are in a fully mature solar market large cities have developed streamlined permitting routines for ballasted systems as well as verification of individual systems. A good example is the LA permitting department’s allowance of Ecolibrium ballasted systems after extensive testing.

Local Solar Companies Understand the City of Chicago

If your organization finds solar compelling in Chicago, it only makes sense to work with solar contractors that have a working relationship with the City of Chicago and have passed ballasted and roof-attached systems. They understand what is required and can advise you on the true costs and timing of solar. For any further questions, please feel free to reach out to me at my current solar company: margo@windfree.us