ForeFront Power announced commercial operation of the largest solar project in Kane County, Ill. With 7,384 panels, the 2.8-MW project delivers power to the Mooseheart Child City and School, a non-profit residential childcare facility for children and teens in need. The project created more than 44 jobs during the construction and operation phases.
Mooseheart’s solar project is a single ground-mounted project sited on a 1,000-acre campus located 38 miles west of Chicago. Progressive Energy Group of Aurora, Ill., helped Mooseheart Child City and School source this clean electricity deal and oversaw the endeavor from inception to completion. SolAmerica served as ForeFront Power’s engineering, procurement, and construction partner on the Mooseheart project.
The Mooseheart solar project received incentives through the state’s Adjustable Block Program (ABP), which was established by the Future Energy Jobs Act to support the development of new photovoltaic distributed generation and community solar projects in Illinois. While the program has been successful in helping generate new clean electricity in the state, the funding for the program has been exhausted and must be renewed for the state to see uninterrupted growth in the sector.
“Industries that create jobs in Illinois should stay in Illinois,” said Rep. Keith Wheeler of Illinois’ 50th district. “The Mooseheart solar project is a testament to the job creation engine that solar energy has become in our state over the past few years as a result of the Future Energy Jobs Act. The Mooseheart organization is a treasure in the Fox Valley for a long list of reasons, and their leadership of building one of the largest solar projects in our local area is just the latest example of why.”
“Since we are a non-profit organization funded through the generosity of donors, every dollar counts. We are very pleased to partner with ForeFront Power in this opportunity to demonstrate strong fiscal stewardship, and with the money saved over the next 25 years of the solar project’s life, we’ll be able to reinvest those dollars into other programs in order to better serve our youth,” said executive director of Mooseheart, Gary Urwiler. “We understand that clean air and a healthy environment are linked to a child’s potential for success, so it aligns squarely within our mission to offset 114 million pounds of carbon emissions with this energy project, directly contributing to cleaner air and a better overall environment for the young children and teens we serve every day.”
“Mooseheart Child City & School is an organization with an inspiring mission to care for and educate youth in need,” said Chris Wall, director of construction for ForeFront Power. “The ForeFront Power team was honored to build this project to help Mooseheart save money and demonstrate energy leadership.”
— Solar Builder magazine
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