Decatur solar canopies project getting closer to completion

DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA) — One Central Illinois community is trying to save as much energy as they can. The City of Decatur is half-way finished with one of their newest projects , which aims to do just that.

2,600 solar panels are being added to the Decatur Civic Center parking lot. The solar canopies came from a solar energy company in Peoria. City officials say they will be in a contract for 20 years with the private company, but they’ll save an estimate of $200,000 a year on electrical costs.

“In addition to the energy savings that the city is realizing, we’re also getting covered parking for that parking lot,” said Jon Kindseth, Deputy City Manager. “Particularly over the last few weeks when we’ve had 90-degree plus temperatures, you can imagine what the temperature on that parking lot is. You leave a vehicle sitting on the Civic Center on a 100-degree day, you know, that vehicle gets up to 140 degrees. The covered parking alone is worth something.”

He said the project will be wrapped up by next week and then they can start testing it. Their next project will be installing solar canopies on the Decatur Public Library.

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