Willowbrook Wildlife Center in Glen Ellyn is a native wildlife rehabilitation facility that provides care and medical treatment to injured and orphaned wild animals.

It also serves as a resource to teach DuPage County's residents how to live in harmony with local wildlife.

Installing a photovoltaic array will reduce the wildlife center’s carbon footprint by reducing fossil fuel emissions and pollution and improving air quality, thus improving the environment and habitat that supports wildlife.

Description

The project involves constructing of a 57.6 kVA AC photovoltaic array on Willowbrook Wildlife Center’s species recovery building.

Work includes completing an interconnection to ComEd’s utility grid and installing all supporting equipment to complete a fully functioning photovoltaic distributed generation energy system.

A data communication gateway will collect and distribute information, which will monitor the array’s performance and status. Future improvements will highlight the performance and benefit of solar power in educational programming and displays.

The system is projected to offset almost 30% of the wildlife center’s electrical demand, providing the potential to save the District up to $8,000 annually for the next 25 years or more.

Funding

The total project cost, including all permitting and design fees, is estimated at $176,000. An estimated $109,300 of that amount will be offset by ComEd distributed generation (DG) rebates, the sale of energy credits through the State of Illinois (SRECs), and a restricted private donation. The remainder of the project will be funded through the Forest Preserve District’s construction and development funds.

Status

A contract with 93Energy LLC, of Skokie, IL, was awarded on July 21, 2020. Construction began in September and was completed in fall 2020.