Traditional Community Solar
The Traditional Community Solar category now allows for community solar projects up to and including 5 MW in size (increased from 2 MW). Capacity for the Traditional Community Solar category for the first two years after the effective date of Public Act 102-0662 were allocated to projects already on ordinal waitlists as of Public Act 102-0662’s enactment, as outlined below. Traditional Community Solar projects must have subscriptions of 25 kW or less constitute at least 50% of the facility’s nameplate capacity. The Traditional Community Solar category will generally comprise at least 30% of the Illinois Shines capacity. Traditional Community Solar projects will now also feature 20-year REC delivery contracts that pay for RECs over time as they are delivered, rather than the front-loaded payment schedule previously used for community solar.
Looking to subscribe? Find a Community Solar Project with this downloadable list.
For assistance in this project category, contact the Community Solar Sector Strategist, Jess Blue, at [email protected] or the Program Administrator team at [email protected].
Category-Specific Resources
"Find a Community Solar Project" Resources
- Download the “Find a Community Solar Project” template (June 11, 2024)
- Download the current “Find a Community Solar Project” report (June 27, 2024)
2023-24 TCS Waitlisted Projects Awarded Capacity in Program Year 2024-25
On June 3, 2024 Traditional Community Solar capacity for the 2024-25 Program Year opened with 64 MW for Group A and 149 MW for Group B. Capacity was first allocated to projects on the 2023-24 Group A and Group B Waitlists, with a 20% Developer cap applied. Capacity has been fully allocated to projects submitted before June 3, 2024. The list of awarded waitlist projects can be found below.
Traditional Community Solar Scores for Program Year 2024-25
On June 3, 2024, Traditional Community Solar capacity for the 2024-25 Program year opened. In accordance with the TCS scoring guidelines previously published in both the 2024 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan and the 2024 Program Guidebook, the Program Administrator has scored all TCS projects submitted on June 3, 2024 that completed application processing.
These scores are published below, and the full TCS scoring announcement can be found here.
| 2024-2025 Traditional Community Solar Scoring | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| 2024-25 Traditional Community Solar Scoring | Revised September 4, 2024. Original file August 9, 2024 |
September 10, 2024 Random Selection Event
On June 3, 2024, (Day 1 of the 2024-25 Program Year) Traditional Community Solar capacity opened. For this Program Year, capacity available for the TCS category was 64 MW for Group A and 149 MW for Group B. On Day 1, capacity was initially allocated to projects on the 2023-24 Program Year waitlist, leaving 0.5 MW of capacity available for Group A and 28.43 MW available for Group B for newly submitted applications. Applications submitted to the Program just before the new Program Year portal closure were not processed as of June 3, 2024. Once these applications were added to the waitlist, they exhausted the available TCS Group A and Group B capacity, leaving 0 MW available for applications received on or after June 3, 2024. When projects were awarded capacity for this Program Year, the 20% developer cap was applied and will reset for the 2025-26 Program Year.
To summarize the new applications submitted the first day of the Program Year, the Program received 161.73 MW, including 6.95 MW submitted to Group A and 154.78 MW submitted to Group B. In accordance with the TCS scoring guidelines previously published in both the 2024 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan and the 2024-25 Program Guidebook, we scored all TCS projects submitted on Day 1 of the Program Year and determined that a random selection event was necessary to break any tied scores and order the waitlist. Please see the full announcement for further information.
View the recording here
View the slides here
View the Q&A here
View the results spreadsheet here
Traditional Community Solar Scores for Program Year 2023-24
On June 1, 2023, Traditional Community Solar capacity for the 2022-2023 Program year opened. In accordance with the TCS scoring guidelines previously published in both the 2022 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (pg. 166) and the 2023 Program Guidebook (pg. 115), the Program Administrator has scored all TCS projects submitted on June 1, 2023 that completed application processing.
These scores are published below, and the full TCS scoring announcement can be found here.
| 2023-2024 Traditional Community Solar Scoring | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| 2023-2024 Traditional Community Solar Scoring | Original file August 24, 2023. |
September 20, 2023 Random Selection Event
TCS Capacity for the 2022-2023 Program Year was fully awarded during the Random Selection Event. Please see the announcement for more details. Projects submitted after June 1, 2023 will be prioritized and processed in the order received and will be added to the applicable waitlists for the TCS blocks if the project meets the 5.0 point minimum threshold. These waitlists are published on the Block Capacity Dashboard and are updated regularly. Waitlisted projects will be eligible for new capacity released for the 2024-2025 Program Year beginning June 1, 2024.
Traditional Community Solar Scores for Program Year 2022-23
On November 1, 2022, Traditional Community Solar capacity for the 2022-2023 Program year opened and Approved Vendors were able to submit TCS applications. In accordance with the TCS scoring guidelines previously published in both the 2022 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (pg. 166) and the Program Guidebook (pg. 22), the Program Administrator has scored all TCS projects submitted on November 1, 2022 that are Part I verified.
These scores are published below, and the full TCS scoring announcement can be found here.
| 2022-2023 Traditional Community Solar Scoring | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| 2022-2023 Traditional Community Solar Scoring | Original file March 10, 2023; Updated file May 3, 2023 (fifth update issued). |
May 30, 2023 Random Selection Event
Category-Specific Updates
This blog includes key items specific to this Illinois Shines project category, but AVs and Designees are still expected to read all Program announcements in full, which contain other critical Program items and updates.
