Trustees at the University of Illinois have approved a $15.5 million project to build a 20.5-acre solar farm to help power the Urbana-Champaign campus.
The Champaign News-Gazette reports that the solar-power facility will be built on land now used by the College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences.
The university says the solar farm is slated to begin producing power by next fall. It’s eventually expected to supply about 2 percent of the electricity used on campus.
For the first 10 years, the university will buy power from Phoenix Solar Inc., which will build and operate the facility. After that, the university will own the solar farm.
