Illinois General Assembly

  Bills & Resolutions  
  Compiled Statutes  
  Public Acts  
  Legislative Reports  
  IL Constitution  
  Legislative Guide  
  Legislative Glossary  

 Search By Number
 (example: HB0001)
Search Tips

Search By Keyword

Illinois Compiled Statutes

Information maintained by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Updating the database of the Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) is an ongoing process. Recent laws may not yet be included in the ILCS database, but they are found on this site as Public Acts soon after they become law. For information concerning the relationship between statutes and Public Acts, refer to the Guide.

Because the statute database is maintained primarily for legislative drafting purposes, statutory changes are sometimes included in the statute database before they take effect. If the source note at the end of a Section of the statutes includes a Public Act that has not yet taken effect, the version of the law that is currently in effect may have already been removed from the database and you should refer to that Public Act to see the changes made to the current law.

REVENUE
(35 ILCS 200/) Property Tax Code.

35 ILCS 200/Art. 10 Div. 1

 
    (35 ILCS 200/Art. 10 Div. 1 heading)
Division 1. Solar energy systems

35 ILCS 200/10-5

    (35 ILCS 200/10-5)
    Sec. 10-5. Solar energy systems; definitions. It is the policy of this State that the use of solar energy systems should be encouraged because they conserve nonrenewable resources, reduce pollution and promote the health and well-being of the people of this State, and should be valued in relation to these benefits.
    (a) "Solar energy" means radiant energy received from the sun at wave lengths suitable for heat transfer, photosynthetic use, or photovoltaic use.
    (b) "Solar collector" means
        (1) An assembly, structure, or design, including
    
passive elements, used for gathering, concentrating, or absorbing direct and indirect solar energy, specially designed for holding a substantial amount of useful thermal energy and to transfer that energy to a gas, solid, or liquid or to use that energy directly; or
        (2) A mechanism that absorbs solar energy and
    
converts it into electricity; or
        (3) A mechanism or process used for gathering solar
    
energy through wind or thermal gradients; or
        (4) A component used to transfer thermal energy to a
    
gas, solid, or liquid, or to convert it into electricity.
    (c) "Solar storage mechanism" means equipment or elements (such as piping and transfer mechanisms, containers, heat exchangers, or controls thereof, and gases, solids, liquids, or combinations thereof) that are utilized for storing solar energy, gathered by a solar collector, for subsequent use.
    (d) "Solar energy system" means
        (1)(A) A complete assembly, structure, or design of
    
solar collector, or a solar storage mechanism, which uses solar energy for generating electricity that is primarily consumed on the property on which the solar energy system resides, or for heating or cooling gases, solids, liquids, or other materials for the primary benefit of the property on which the solar energy system resides;
        (B) The design, materials, or elements of a system
    
and its maintenance, operation, and labor components, and the necessary components, if any, of supplemental conventional energy systems designed or constructed to interface with a solar energy system;
        (C) Any legal, financial, or institutional orders,
    
certificates, or mechanisms, including easements, leases, and agreements, required to ensure continued access to solar energy, its source, or its use in a solar energy system, and including monitoring and educational elements of a demonstration project; or
        (D) Photovoltaic electricity generation systems
    
subject to power purchase agreements or leases for solar energy between a third-party owner, an operator, or both, and an end user of electricity, where such systems are located on the end user of electricity's side of the electric meter and which primarily are used to offset the electricity load of the end user behind whose electric meter the system is connected. A system primarily is used to offset the electricity load of the end user of electricity if the system is estimated to produce 110% or fewer kilowatt-hours of electricity than consumed by the end user of electricity at such meter in the last 12 full months prior to the system being placed in service.
        (2) "Solar energy system" does not include:
            (A) Distribution equipment that is equally usable
        
in a conventional energy system except for those components of the equipment that are necessary for meeting the requirements of efficient solar energy utilization;
            (B) Components of a solar energy system that
        
serve structural, insulating, protective, shading, aesthetic, or other non-solar energy utilization purposes, as defined in the regulations of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity; or
            (C) A commercial solar energy system, as defined
        
by this Code, in counties with fewer than 3,000,000 inhabitants.
        (3) The solar energy system shall conform to the
    
standards for those systems established by regulation of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
(Source: P.A. 102-662, eff. 9-15-21.)

35 ILCS 200/10-10

    (35 ILCS 200/10-10)
    Sec. 10-10. Valuation of solar energy systems. When a solar energy system has been installed in improvements on any property, the owner of that property is entitled to claim, by filing with the chief county assessment officer, an alternate valuation of those improvements. When a claim for alternate valuation is filed, the chief county assessment officer shall ascertain the value of the improvements as if equipped with a conventional heating or cooling system and the value of the improvements as equipped with the solar energy system. So long as the solar energy system is used in total or part as the means of utilizing solar energy improvements, the alternate valuation computed as the lesser of the two values ascertained under this paragraph shall be applied. When the solar energy system so valued ceases to be used as the means of heating or cooling those improvements, the owner of that property shall within 30 days notify the chief county assessment officer in writing by certified mail.
(Source: P.A. 80-430; 88-455.)