Illinois solar project cuts energy costs—and helps improve air quality

A successful new solar energy installation is helping power the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) headquarters in Illinois—and it also aligns with the college'smission to advance lung health and improve air quality.

By Robin Brunet

The solar power project recently completed for the American College of Chest Physicians (more commonly known as CHEST) in Illinois isn’t just noteworthy for the ingenuity it took to install 560 solar panels on two roofs of this architecturally distinctive facility. It also showcases the use of game-changing solar panels that will generate approximately 341,000 kWh annually, offsetting nearly 30 percent of the facility’s electricity use.

CHEST, located in the community of Glenview, a suburb of Chicago, is where pulmonology, critical care and sleep medicine medical professionals receive the latest in training and resources in their areas of expertise. The 11-year-old building is 48,000 square feet in size and was designed by Perkins + Will architects to incorporate extensive energy and resource-efficient strategies, including solar shading, access to natural light and views and responsible material use. 

Robert Musacchio, CEO of CHEST, says that the solar installation “reflects our continued commitment to social responsibility and to advancing lung health. By lessening our reliance on conventional energy sources, we are addressing one of the leading contributors to air pollution, which is closely linked to respiratory disease.” 

Peter Hardt, President of Hardt Electric, says he was approached in 2024 to become one of six companies vying to be named the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor. He regarded the solar project as a good fit for his company: based in Chicago, Hardt Electric delivers electrical and energy infrastructure solutions across the commercial, industrial, institutional, residential, and communications markets, with a focus on sustainability and health, as well as building a cleaner future for communities.

“We gave a presentation to the college outlining our experience with solar installations, and by the end of it, they were on board,” Hardt recalls.

“This was followed by presenting the college with an initial budget concept based on a project assessment, and after the contract was signed we undertook a technical survey to give us a clear idea of how the solar array would connect and tie into the grid.”

During the early conceptual stages of the project, Hardt brought Maxeon Solar Technologies on board to leverage that company’s 40 years of solar energy leadership and over 2,000 granted patents for its innovative and sustainably-made solar panels used by residential, commercial, and power plant customers.

In addition to reducing carbon and helping to reduce energy costs, the solar power project lessens harmful pollutants that contribute to asthma and other respiratory conditions, directly supporting CHEST’s mission to advance lung health and improve air quality for the Chicagoland community.

“The silicon-based Maxeon solar panel was always our panel of choice for the CHEST project, for a variety of reasons,” Hardt says. “It’s an industry best in terms of performance, plus it comes with a 40-year warranty instead of the industry standard of 12 years, when installed by a qualified contractor.”

The warranty is the outcome of Maxeon’s intensive research and development into creating its unique solar cell, which captures more sun in low light conditions, producing more energy earlier in the morning, on cloudy days, and later in the evening.

The cells are manufactured in the Philippines and the panels are assembled in Mexico, and they maintain their power advantage over time with what is said to be the industry’s lowest warranted degradation rate.

Michael Hynes, Business Development Manager at Maxeon, frequently displays his solar cell beside a conventional cell and encourages people to manipulate both cells in order to illustrate the resiliency of the Maxeon solution. Invariably, all it takes is the slightest of pressure to crack the conventional cell into multiple shards, whereas it takes far more effort to break the Maxeon cell—which bends considerably, then only cracks instead of shattering into multiple pieces.

“Standard solar cells are so fragile that even a good wind can cause micro cracks, which negatively impact performance,” Hynes says. So, they considered the weaknesses inherent in standard solar cells, and created a solid copper back sheet for the Maxeon solar cell.

“Standard solar cells are also connected cell to cell by tiny strips of metallic ribboning, whereas we have a triple redundant cell-to-cell connector, which also acts as an expansion joint. We also make our panels using the highest impact resistant glass and heavy-duty frames.

	The CHEST solar installation makes big-time financial sense. With incentives including the 30 percent Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) and Illinois Shines Program benefits, CHEST will see significant long-term savings, including a payback period of 6.8 years and lifetime (30 year) energy savings of $1.75 million.

“Simply put, our cells are not susceptible to mircocracks like standard efficiency cells—and even if a Maxeon solar cell were to crack, it would still produce power. All of this enables us to offer a 40-year warranty, and it also results in us typically having to take back only 70 panels per million issued, which is unheard of in our industry.”

Procuring the solar panels that would withstand the test of time was vital to CHEST, but in order to convert all of the solar power into usable electricity Hardt enlisted APSystems to provide advanced micro-inverter technology. Specifically, the QT2 483 phase micro-inverter takes DC direct current directly from the sun and transports it right into the micro-inverter for instant conversion into AC generated power.

“This technology individually monitors and maximizes power generation for each module in the solar array, boosting system efficiency by up to 20 percent,” Hardt says.

Each APSystems plug and play micro-inverter handles multiple PV modules, thus lowering logistics, installation and balance-of-system costs. The micro-inverters are also engineered to comply with NEC code requirements for rapid shutdown, adding safety features during installation and for the end-user.

A major challenge in the actual installation of the CHEST solar power system occurred during the technical survey of the project, when Hardt’s team carefully evaluated roof angles, shading, and load capacity in order to maximize solar exposure while maintaining roof integrity.

The team learned that the two metal deck roofs (upper and lower) of the CHEST facility didn’t have the dead load capacity to support a conventional racking system. “Although the facility in general was over-engineered, value engineering resulted in the decision to sacrifice dead lift capacity for the sake of reducing structural steel,” Hardt says. “It’s not an uncommon way to reduce construction budgets, and the building remained completely sound—but it did compel us to come up with an alternative way of putting panels on the roof instead of employing a ballast system.”

The The CHEST building is 48,000 square feet in size and was designed by Perkins + Will architects to incorporate extensive energy and resource-efficient strategies, including solar shading, access to natural light and views and responsible material use. And, of course, the building now includes solar power.

To overcome this challenge, Hardt hired a roofing subcontractor to install 300 OMG Roofing Products anchors to support the upper roof of CHEST. “Essentially, each anchor uses a long, extended screw that penetrates the roof’s insulation into the metal base and is thermally welded,” Hardt says, adding that since crews were working on a white roof, eye protection and hardhats were necessary for safety.

This infrastructure provided the support needed for the 560 panels on the upper and lower roof, while maintaining the structural integrity of the system and minimizing waste. “The roof work was done during summer, so we took extra steps to protect installers from heat, dehydration, and provided access to shelter.”

Much of the staging was carried out as required, utilizing drop zones in specific areas of the roof (semi-trucks had relatively easy access to the facility for deliveries).

Hardt and the roofing firm coordinated with CHEST to establish “blackout days” for noise, ensuring that building occupants would not be disrupted by the crews working above them.

The project was completed on schedule, and Hardt points out that success cannot be attributed just to a single factor. “Instead, it involves strong customer engagement and collaboration; a well-coordinated team; efforts to eliminate as many unknowns as possible; an emphasis on teamwork, from material handling to the design team; and finally, the customer’s cooperation and flexibility in meeting project needs.

“We benefitted from all that, and we were proud to deliver an energy solution that supports CHEST’s mission.”

The ability of the CHEST solar system to generate 341,000 kWh annually translates into avoiding about 242 metric tons of CO2 emissions each year—the equivalent of taking 54 cars off the road, eliminating the burning of 27,000 gallons of gasoline, or planting 4,000 tree seedlings and growing them for a decade. Beyond reducing carbon, this shift lessens harmful pollutants that contribute to asthma and other respiratory conditions, directly supporting CHEST’s mission to advance lung health and improve air quality for the Chicagoland community.

The solar installation also makes financial sense. With incentives including the 30 percent Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) and Illinois Shines Program benefits, CHEST will see significant long-term savings: a payback period of 6.8 years; an 11.6 percent internal rate of return; an energy savings in the first year of just over $38,000, and lifetime (30 year) energy savings of $1.75 million.

Hardt points out that as climate change continues to impact public health, partnerships between mission-driven organizations and forward-thinking contractors are critical: “The CHEST solar project is a powerful example of how renewable energy can advance both environmental responsibility and economic efficiency.”

Q1 2026