Bright idea: Exelon urban solar farm to power 1,200 homes

Chicago may not have the Olympics, but at least the U.S.’s third largest city is on the cutting edge of urban energy farming.

Instead of adding a track and field stadium and an Olympic Village to the rundown south side, Chicago is making plans to turn vacant industrial space into a $60 million solar plant.

The plant is projected to have 32,800 solar panels, enough to power 1,200 to 1,500 homes a year. Not exactly a lot of bang for the buck, but at least it’s a huge step up from the big abandoned buildings now haunting already scummy neighborhoods in Chicago.

Exelon Corp. announced the project in April, but just recently said it expects to receive federal subsidies to build the facility.

“We have been given oral assurances that we will get it, and on that basis we have gone forward and done two thirds of the work to build the project,” Exelon CEO John Rowe told reporters Thursday, according to the Dow Jones Newswires.

Exelon, one of the U.S.’s biggest electric utilities, is partnering with SunPower Corp. to build what will be the largest urban solar plant in the nation. SunPower CEO Tom Werner said improved solar panel technology is what makes it possible to construct such a plant on a constrained 39-acre lot, which will be leased from the city of Chicago.

Chicago alderman Carrie Austin believes this idea is easily transferable to the vast number of other cities with plenty of space. Austin told the Environment Report she’s been working for years to get a company to invest in the 200 acres of unwanted space in her district.

“We’ve talked to FedEx, Kinkos and many other corporate offices. Even to Wal-Mart, bringing some of their distrubution to such a large piece of land. But to no avail,” she said.

But thanks to Exelon, Sunpower and a healthy dose of government coaxing, a piece of that land will have a new purpose after 30 years of sitting idle.