Ryan Dillon, senior commissioning and maintenance engineer for Sol Systems, leads a tour of the company’s Prairie Creek Solar farm. The company took members of its four Morgan County partner groups on a tour Tuesday of the solar panel farm north of Jacksonville.
Representatives of a solar power company providing funding for four Morgan County groups invited members of each to tour the place generating that financial backing.
Solar power company Sol Systems led its Morgan County partner groups on a tour Tuesday of its Prairie Creek Solar installation. A handful of members from Jacksonville Promise, Faith in Place, Morgan County 4-H and Lincoln Land Community College got an up-close look at the farm just outside of Jacksonville.
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Members of the groups got to see some of the more than 60,000 panels that make up the farm, which began operating in 2023. The farm generates 37 megawatts of power, enough for about 7,500 homes. The tour touched on how the farm generates power and the upkeep needed for such an installation.
Brendan Conley, senior associate with Sol Systems, pets Remi, a Great Pyrenees that works on the grounds of the company’s Prairie Creek Solar farm. Remi protects the 160 St. Croix sheep who graze on the solar panel farm’s grounds from predators.
A few four-legged guests also made an appearance during the tour. Participants were able to see a few of the 160 St. Croix sheep that keep the solar farm's grass trimmed and a Great Pyrenees dog named Remi that protects the sheep from predators.
Grazer Scott Robinson said using sheep instead of a mower helps maintain the health of the grounds, which will help if the grounds are converted back to farmland at some point.
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"It'll regenerate the soil," Robinson said. "It'll increase the organic matter. It'll make it into better farm ground, if that's what happens at the end of the lease."
Sol Systems donates some of its profits from the farm to its partner groups; in 2024, the company gave its partner groups in the county a total of $200,000. Senior Director of Community Impact Adaora Ifebigh said Sol Systems' Morgan County program is the first of its kind among the company's Illinois solar installations.
Sol Systems previously has given back to communities in which it has built installations through volunteer work and philanthropy, Ifebigh said. The company planned to continue that trend with Prairie Creek Solar from the beginning, but development of the solar farm allowed it to test the "how" of that mission, she said.
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"When we now had the opportunity to have large-scale projects like that, we said, 'Wait a minute, there is a way we can build that impact into the project itself,'" she said.
Jacksonville Promise co-founder Charles Sheaff (left) pets a sheep held by Sol Systems grazer Scott Robinson on the grounds of the company’s Prairie Creek Solar farm. The solar panel farm has about 160 St. Croix sheep on its grounds to help trim the grass.
Sol Systems partners with agencies based on a community's specific needs rather than a specific agenda, Ifebigh said.
"We don't do a top-down approach," she said. "We don't tell them what to do. It comes from the grassroots. What do they want to do? What benefits the community?"
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Members of the four partner groups utilized their share of the $200,000 for a variety of purposes. Doug Hoy, program director for industrial maintenance and electrical at LLCC, said the school used the money to buy servo motors for study and to fund scholarships for advanced manufacturing students. Sol System's funding has been "tremendously" helpful, he said.
"You need a good, viable workforce to keep getting these manufacturers in and we're utilizing their money to help impact that," Hoy said.
Faith in Place energy building director Cindy Shepherd said the non-profit uses Sol System's funding to carry out energy audits for Morgan County churches so they can learn where they can save money on their electricity bills. Working with Sol Systems has been "great," she said, with Faith in Place being able to help 10 congregations perform what normally is a "kind of costly" audit.
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"I'm excited to see rural communities begin to benefit from the clean energy transition," Shepherd said.
Ben Singson became a reporter for the Journal-Courier in 2022, joining after graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia. The Lindenhurst native previously reported for KBIA, an NPR affiliate radio station, in college.
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