For Community > Solar For All > Solar For All Program Under Future Energy Jobs Act

The Future Energy Jobs Act and The Solar for All Program

Solar For All Program Under Future Energy Jobs Act

Everyone Should Have Access to Solar

Illinois Solar For All, made possible by the Future Energy Jobs Act in 2016, helps make solar installations more affordable for low-income households and organizations through state incentives Homeowners, residents of low-income properties, facilities for non-profit organizations and religious institutions are eligible for program incentives.

With Illinois Solar for All, participants will see no upfront costs and fees will not exceed 50% of the value generated from the solar PV system.

StraightUp Solar is an Approved Vendor-designee for Illinois Solar for All. We have completed projects for churches and non-profit organizations in Peoria, Normal, and East St. Louis

StraightUp Solar can assist homeowners, businesses and non-profit organizations to determine their eligibility for the programs based on income levels and their property’s location. We offer power purchase agreements, leases and financing options for outright purchase of your solar PV System.

Fill out the form below for our Illinois Solar For All Project Developer to provide a solar assessment and quote.

Helping Low-Income Communities Experience the Power of Solar

Quite remarkably, despite the national epidemic of political gridlock, Illinois lawmakers took decisive action in December 2016, to address low-income access to solar electricity and solar employment. They created Illinois’s Solar for All Program under the Future Energy Jobs Act. which was signed into law in December 2016.

Illinois Solar for All Creates Jobs

Solar is the fastest growing job sector, but not all communities have had access to these careers. Illinois Solar for All helps create jobs for members of historically marginalized communities.

StraightUp Solar is proud to have hired individuals from the Illinois Solar For All training programs and continues to participate in the training pipeline. For a 74.9kW installation at Heaven View Christian Fellowship in Peoria, StraightUp Solar installation team included graduates of the Solar Pipeline Training Program. This program, a partnership between Community Transformation Partnership, Jobs Partnership Peoria, Tri-County Urban League and Illinois Central College, provided hands-on training for future solar installers. Additional solar workforce training programs under Illinois Solar For All are sprouting up all across the state.

Solar is the fastest growing job sector, but not all communities have had access to these careers. Illinois Solar for All helps create jobs for members of historically marginalized communities.

The Solar for All programming established in the Act includes only broad guidelines. The State’s Illinois Power Agency (IPA) is responsible for managing the creation of specific programs and they just began the process in earnest in spring 2017. Here are a few of the highlights so far:

Improves solar affordability for households with an income of 80% or less of Area Median Income

No upfront costs and guaranteed energy savings

Non-profits and public facilities must reside in an environmental justice or low-income community to be eligible

Offers community solar subscription options for low-income households

Provides incentives to encourage Power Purchase Agreements, leases and outright system purchase

In addition, NRDC issued a report in April 2017 that directly credits the Future Energy Jobs Act impact on health effects in low-income areas:

“The Future Energy Jobs Act will help drive significant public health benefits in the state and the region—especially for children and the elderly—by reducing dangerous air pollution from coal-fired power plants…” (NRDC)

In addition, NRDC issued a report in April 2017 that directly credits the Future Energy Jobs Act impact on health effects in low-income areas: