The Brightfield Solar Project in Danville, Illinois

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The City of Chicago, working with DOE and Commonwealth Edison, developed an extensive plan that uses the brightfields approach to advance its economic development, climate change, air quality, and electricity reliability goals. The "brightfield" solar project in Danville, Illinois is a 2.6 MW installation in central Illinois, built on a former General Motors Powertrain Division Plant turned brownfield site. Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company, an independent power producer and green energy investment company, is the owner of the installation. The Danville Solar System is making productive use of land that might otherwise lie dormant, while avoiding construction in more pristine areas. The Danville solar system consists of over 6,600 solar modules and is connected to the Ameren utility grid. The completed project is expected to generate over 3,600,000 kWh of electricity and offset over 1,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually. These figures are equivalent to powering 350 Illinois homes and removing approximately 480 cars from the road. Brightfields is a new initiative launched by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in August 1999, aimed at using former industrial sites contaminated with toxic waste for producing pollution-free solar energy. This novel concept addresses three of the nation's greatest challenges: climate change, urban revitalization, and toxic waste cleanup

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