What is SolSmart?
SolSmart is a national designation and technical assistance program that helps local governments to reduce the barriers to solar energy. The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) and the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) lead the program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office.
The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus served as a SolSmart Advisor to the Chicago-area communities from 2017 to 2018, providing intensive technical assistance to help them achieve their designations. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provided additional support to the Caucus to advance these local clean energy policies. In 2021, the Caucus recruited 10 communities that were interested in achieving SolSmart designation, and IREC provided technical assistance to the municipalities. The Caucus was not serving as a SolSmart Advisor at the time, but also offered guidance to the communities that helped them to earn SolSmart designation.
Collaboration Leads to Success
When working as a SolSmart Advisor in 2017 and 2018, the Caucus led 31 municipalities and four counties in two separate cohorts successfully through the program to achieve SolSmart designation. In 2021, the Caucus recruited 10 more communities that were seeking SolSmart designation and provided assistance with IREC to help the municipalities become designated. Including the 14 other Illinois communities that have received SolSmart designation independently, Illinois now has 59 local governments designated SolSmart, the most of any state in the country!
Illinois has the most SolSmart designated communities in the nation. | Graphic by Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, data from SolSmart in March 2023
The Caucus helped the below communities earn SolSmart designation. The designation means that the local governments have made it faster, easier, and more affordable for residents and businesses to go solar. Based on their accomplishments, each community received an official SolSmart designation of Platinum, Gold, Silver, or Bronze.
Communities designated SolSmart Gold include City of Aurora, Village of Bartlett, Village of Beach Park, Village of Carol Stream, Village of Hanover Park, Lake County, Village of Lake in the Hills, Village of Montgomery, Village of Mount Prospect, Village of Park Forest, City of Rockford, Village of South Barrington, City of Warrenville, City of Waukegan, and Will County.
Communities designated SolSmart Silver include Village of Bensenville, Village of Broadview, City of Darien, Village of Deer Park, City of Elgin, Village of Hawthorn Woods, City of Highland Park, Village of La Grange, Village of Libertyville, City of Naperville, Village of Richton Park, Village of River Forest, and Village of Schaumburg.
Communities designated SolSmart Bronze include Village of Brookfield, Cook County, City of Geneva, Village of Glencoe, Village of Gurnee, Village of Hazel Crest, Village of Hillside, Village of Hoffman Estates, Kane County, City of Lake Forest, City of Northlake, City of Oak Forest, Village of Palos Park, City of Park Ridge, Village of Round Lake Beach, Village of Westmont, and Village of Winnetka.
Other Illinois communities that have earned SolSmart designation independently include the Cities of Chicago, Evanston, Freeport, and Urbana, as well as the Villages of Northbrook, Oak Park, and Woodridge, which all earned Gold. The Villages of Mundelein, Roselle, and Wilmette earned Silver on their own. DuPage County, the Village of Grayslake, the Village of Palatine, and the Village of Skokie achieved Bronze level SolSmart designation.
The Village of Schaumburg (SolSmart Silver) and the Village of Beach Park (SolSmart Gold), members of the Caucus’ first SolSmart cohort, are featured in this “About SolSmart” video. The Village of Schaumburg experienced explosive growth in solar permits – a 24,500% increase over 2017 numbers – after earning SolSmart designation. The total capacity installed on residential buildings in Schaumburg (or in the process of being installed, as of March 2022) is 1.646 MW.
All municipal members of the cohorts are signatories to the Caucus’ Greenest Region Compact, which guides and unifies regional sustainability efforts. Specifically, the Compact goal to, “Enact policies to support clean energy” is addressed by the SolSmart program. This underpins the success of the Caucus cohorts earning the SolSmart Innovation Award and the IREC 3i Energy Heroes award.
The Mayors Caucus won two awards for its innovative approach in helping 35 communities achieve SolSmart designation.
To receive SolSmart designation, municipalities and counties made changes to their local processes to reduce the time and money it takes to install a solar energy system. This included evaluating local permitting processes, as well as planning and zoning procedures. These actions help solar companies greatly reduce the cost of installations and pass those savings on to consumers, making the community “open for solar business.”
For example, communities in the Caucus cohorts established clear processes for solar building permits, set reasonable fees, offered expedited processing, and posted a helpful solar permitting checklist on their municipal websites. Communities trained their planning, permitting and inspection staff in solar industry best practices to assure safe and reliable solar energy systems are installed.
Please visit the links below to learn more about how some of our communities are making strides in solar:
Press
Waukegan joining consortium to clear regulatory path for local solar power – Chicago Tribune/Lake County News-Sun, Feb. 11, 2019
Why more suburbs are going after a SolSmart designation – Daily Herald, Dec. 17, 2018
With little space for solar farms, suburbs are finding creative ways to embrace renewable energy – Aurora Beacon-News, Jan. 21, 2019
Sharing Successes at NLC’s 2018 City Summit – SolSmart, Nov. 16, 2018
Southland communities honored for work in solar energy – Daily Southtown, Feb. 2, 2018
Will County wins gold award for solar energy plan – Daily Southtown, Dec. 26, 2017
Hawthorn Woods receives SolSmart solar energy designation – Daily Herald, Feb. 19, 2018
Village (of Mount Prospect) Designates ‘SolSmart Gold’ For Advancing Solar Energy Growth – Journal & Topics, April 4, 2022
Oak Forest wins award for boosting solar power fueled by resident interest – Daily Southtown, July 1, 2022
Press on Cohorts
Chicago-area mayors hope collaboration will spark more interest in solar – Energy News Network, Nov. 1, 2017
Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, regional collaboration earns innovation award – SolSmart, Feb. 4, 2020
National 3iAward Winners and Energy Heroes Honored by IREC at Solar Power International – IREC, Sept. 24, 2019
10 Chicago area communities just made it easier to go solar – Solar Builder, March 17, 2022
Geneva 1 Of 10 Local Towns Recognized For Solar Energy Work – Patch, March 18, 2022
Broadview, Northlake Achieve National Solar Energy Recognition – Village Free Press, March 19, 2022
Northlake joins Park Ridge, Oak Park, Skokie in award for encouraging solar energy – Pioneer Press, March 21, 2022
Suburban towns receive solar energy honors – Daily Herald, March 30, 2022
Achieving SolSmart on Your Own
Funding has ended for the Caucus to be a SolSmart Advisor and lead cohorts through the program. However, the Caucus wants to see more communities achieve the SolSmart designation. Resources to help solo communities through the process are located on our SolSmart Solo page.