Illinois Department of Transportation’s Shining a Light on Solar Power project addresses rising energy costs and advances long-term sustainability goals while showcasing the agency’s commitment to green practices and innovation. 

As Illinois is under legislative mandate to achieve 25 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, the $617,700 project installed solar panels on an Illinois DOT District 8 maintenance building team to produce enough energy to offset the facility’s annual electricity consumption and feed power back into the utility grid. 

This pilot project on Illinois DOT property, consisting of a 900-square-foot array with 102 panels at the Scott Dome Yard in St. Clair County that generates approximately 60,000 kilowatt hours annually.  The department noted that this project resulted from research conducted with the University of Illinois that studied feasible locations for solar panels on underutilized property, such as rights of way, rest areas, and maintenance yards.