‘So much growth’

St. Louis-based Straight Up Solar is also pinning its hopes on the Illinois energy lottery. The company contracted with 12 farms in Illinois, for projects sized from one to two megawatts each. The larger ones will have as many as 8,000 panels. This is new territory for the company, as it has mostly done smaller installations of up to 400 panels.

“To date, the market in Missouri has been primarily small commercial and residential because of caps on what you can connect to the grid. In Illinois, the legislation is just now hitting,” said Erin Noble, director of business operations at Straight Up Solar. “That’s why we’re seeing so much growth.”

The solar industry in Missouri is actually larger than in Illinois, producing a total of 167 megawatts versus 90 in Illinois. But experts say that Illinois, ranked 34th nationwide in solar capacity, is poised to grow to 1,856 megawatts in the next five years, putting the state in 11th place and well on its way to meeting the legislation’s goal to get to 3,000 megawatts by 2030.

Missouri, on the other hand, is only predicted to grow to 214 megawatts over the next five years. The state currently ranks 29th in the country for solar capacity.