SYCAMORE – Special use permits for three more solar power gardens in DeKalb County will be up for consideration during a public hearing later this week.

Sunvest Solar Inc. has submitted applications to develop solar gardens in Kingston and Franklin Township. An officer will determine during the
1 p.m. Thursday public hearing at
the DeKalb County Legislative Center East Conference Room, 110 E. Sycamore St., whether to recommend approval and move the special use applications along to the Planning and Zoning Committee.

Tim Polz, senior vice president of development at Sunvest Solar, said the community solar gardens would be able to power about 400 homes per garden.

He said anyone within the ComEd service territory, depending on individual power use, would be eligible to join the Adjustable Block Program through the Illinois Power Agency if they wanted to use the renewable energy from the solar farm projects.

"It can be from anywhere as little as a few hundred watts all the way to
40 percent of the total output of an individual project," Polz said.

The Wisconsin-based company is looking to construct three two-megawatt solar gardens, which range in size between 10 and 12 acres, on Pearl Street in Franklin Township and at the southeast and northeast corners of Illinois Route 72 and Pleasant Hill Road in Kingston. All of the land parcels currently are zoned for agriculture.

The applications for the three solar farms come after a county public hearing officer recommended approval for the first solar farm application to come to DeKalb County after the county passed a solar energy ordinance effective April 1.

The first application from Borrego Solar was approved by the Planning and Zoning Committee during their June 27 meeting and now goes to the County Board.

Polz said solar gardens can help economic development within the county as well, since the gardens would be able to bring in more real estate tax revenues than agriculture-zoned land. He said each solar farm should generate between $12,000 and $13,000 in tax revenue per year, whereas the land as currently zoned would only bring in a few hundred dollars.

“We believe this will represent an opportunity to bring clean, renewable energy to DeKalb County and its residents,” Polz said.