Williamsville Public Library and Museum seeing pay off of switching to solar panels

WILLIAMSVILLE, Ill. (WAND) - In fall 2024, the Williamsville Public Library and Museum installed solar panels on its roof. The panels have cut thousands of dollars from the building's power bills.

"I sat down with the library museum board, and we just crunched some numbers, and we looked at how much our power bills were, how much money we could save with solar," said Natalie Albers, director of the Williamsville Public Library and Museum. "We looked at the state and federal incentives, net metering with Ameren, and when we looked at all of that, we just thought, we can't not do solar."

The project was supported through a combination of grants and incentive programs. In total, the library only paid $2,000 for the project. In the first year of installation, the library saved $4,000 on power.

“When you look at $4,000 a year, when you're on a tight budget, that does make a big difference,” she said. “So for us, instead of sending money for our power bills, we're able to divert it to things like programing and services for our patrons, like our summer reading program.”

Albers said in total, the library has a $60,000 operating budget. Her goal is to use it as responsibly as possible, especially when it comes to serving taxpayers well.

WindSolarUSA, a local company, installed the panels at the library. Founder Michelle Know said recent law changes have helped make solar more accessible for nonprofits.

“It’s the federal tax credit that was not available for nonprofit and it got extended to nonprofits through a program called Direct Pay or Collective Pay,” Knox said. “So in essence, that allows nonprofit entities to be able to take that same 30% that for-profit entities had enjoyed forever.”

Knox has seen several villages and cities in central Illinois pursue solar as a way to cut costs.

The Williamsville Public Library and Museum has a link on its website that shows how much solar energy they've created. Since the solar panels were installed, they've generated 29 MWh of power and saved 20,000 Kg of CO₂. You can view the website here.