If the idea of getting a solar quote has felt like more of a commitment than you are ready for, you are in good company. Most people have a handful of questions long before they have a decision, and there isn’t always an obvious place to take them.
So here is a simple option. There is a solar company in Evanston you can walk into, sit down in, and ask whatever you have been wondering about, over a coffee, with no appointment.
The Windfree Solar Cafe at 517 Dempster Street is a working coffee shop in Evanston. It is also the front room of Windfree Solar, an Illinois solar company that has been installing solar panels across Chicago and the North Shore since 2009. Plenty of people come in for the coffee and never mention their roof. Plenty come in with a list of questions about solar panels, ComEd net metering and Illinois solar incentives. Both are fine.
Summary
- The Windfree Solar Cafe is at 517 Dempster Street, Evanston, IL 60201, open Tuesday through Saturday from 8am to 9pm and Sunday from 10am to 5pm, closed Mondays.
- No appointment needed, and no obligation to go any further than a conversation.
- Good things to ask about: whether solar panels suit your roof, how ComEd net metering works, what Illinois Shines pays for, and what a solar estimate actually involves.
- Most common solar questions have general answers, and those are covered below.
- Anything that depends on your specific roof, your usage and your utility account is worth asking a person.
- Windfree does not give tax advice. For anything touching your return, speak to your tax advisor.
Table of Contents
- Common Solar Questions People Bring Into the Cafe
- Why a Solar Estimate Needs Your Actual Roof
- About Windfree Solar, an Illinois Solar Company Since 2009
- Visit the Windfree Solar Cafe in Evanston
Common Solar Questions People Bring Into the Cafe
These come up in almost every conversation, so it is worth having the general answers before you go anywhere near a solar estimate.
One caveat before you read on. These are general answers, and solar is specific to the building it sits on. Treat what follows as the shape of an answer rather than the answer for your house. Anything that turns on your roof, your electricity usage or your utility account can change it, and none of this is a substitute for having somebody look at the actual property.
Will solar panels even work on my roof?
It depends on three things: which way the roof faces, how steep it is, and how much shade falls on it. South facing is the classic ideal for solar panels in Chicago and the suburbs, but east and west facing roofs produce well too. Shade is usually the bigger factor, and it is the one people underestimate, because a tree that looks harmless in March can sit right across the array in July. That is why any honest answer starts with looking at the actual roof rather than the address.
Should I replace my roof before installing solar panels?
If your roof is within about five to seven years of needing replacement, yes, and it is much cheaper to know that now. Solar panels have to come off and go back on if the roof is redone underneath them, which is a cost nobody wants to discover later. Ask this question early, before anything else.
What happens to the power I do not use?
Evanston and most of Chicago are ComEd territory, and the mechanism is ComEd net metering. Power your system produces that you are not using at that moment goes out to the grid, and you get credit for it applied against what you draw back later. It is what makes a solar system useful on a bright afternoon when nobody is home. The mechanics are laid out in understanding ComEd net metering.
What is Illinois Shines, and what is an SREC?
Illinois Shines is the state program that pays for the renewable energy a qualifying system generates, and it is the largest of the Illinois solar incentives available to a homeowner. An SREC, a Solar Renewable Energy Credit, represents one megawatt-hour of solar production, and the program buys them. Whether a particular system qualifies, and how the payments are structured, depends on the program rules in force when you apply. Windfree Solar is an Approved Vendor under the program, and the rules themselves are published at illinoisshines.com.
Do solar panels keep working when the power goes out?
Not on their own, and this surprises almost everybody. A standard grid connected solar system shuts down during an outage. That is deliberate and it is a safety rule: it stops your panels from pushing power onto lines that ComEd crews are working on. If you want power during an outage, that takes battery storage, which is a separate decision with its own cost and its own sizing questions. Worth asking about specifically if keeping the lights on matters to you.
What maintenance do solar panels need?
Very little day to day. Solar panels have no moving parts. Rain handles most of the cleaning in this climate. What matters more over the life of a system is monitoring, so you notice if production drops, and knowing who you call when something needs attention in year twelve.
How long does a solar installation take from start to finish?
Longer than the installation itself, which is the part that surprises people. There is design, then permitting with your municipality, then interconnection with ComEd, then inspection, and finally permission to operate, which is the point at which the system is actually allowed to turn on. The panels going up is a small part of that timeline. Ask for the sequence and where the waiting happens.
Who is actually going to be on my roof?
A completely fair question to ask any solar company. Windfree works with small contractor crews for the installation itself, the people who want to focus on the on-site work rather than carrying sales, engineering, permitting, procurement, interconnection and inspection. Windfree carries all of that, so one party stays accountable for the project from design through to the day it turns on.
What happens to the solar panels if I sell the house?
This depends on how the system was paid for, and it is worth understanding before you commit rather than at closing. Bring it up in the conversation, because the answer is different for an owned system than for a leased one.
Why a Solar Estimate Needs Your Actual Roof
Some questions genuinely cannot be answered in an article, and it is better to say so than to pretend otherwise.
What a solar system costs, and what it produces, depend on size, panel and inverter selection, roof complexity and condition, sun exposure and shading, your utility territory, and whether battery storage is part of it. A statewide average per watt is an average of houses that are not yours, so it would not tell you much about solar panel cost for your own building.
Nobody is going to hand you a price for your house over a coffee, because nobody has seen the roof yet. What you can get in one visit is the mechanism: which Illinois solar incentives apply to a building like yours, how they are actually paid, and what the sequence looks like. The number comes after a proper site assessment, and that is a separate conversation you can book whenever you feel ready for it.
If it helps to bring things, the useful ones are your address, a rough idea of your electricity usage, and the age of your roof. And on anything touching your taxes, the standing answer does not move: check with your tax advisor. We do not give tax advice.
About Windfree Solar, an Illinois Solar Company Since 2009
Windfree has been installing solar since 2009, more than 1,200 systems across Illinois and the Midwest, in both ComEd and Ameren territories. It is a Certified Minority Owned Business and an Equity Eligible Contractor, which matters for the labor rules attached to some Illinois incentive programs.
It is also a Solar Insure certified provider, in partnership with Solar Insure and underwritten via Zurich Insurance Group, which backs qualifying systems with a 30-year warranty covering both equipment and labor. Not every installer is eligible for that certification, and it is the kind of thing that stops being abstract about a decade in, when something needs a service call. The details are on the Windfree warranty page.
If you are comparing solar companies in Illinois, and you should, the questions worth asking are set out in how to choose a solar company in Illinois. Bring that list into the cafe and use it on us.
Visit the Windfree Solar Cafe in Evanston
The Windfree Solar Cafe is at 517 Dempster Street, Evanston, IL 60201.
- Monday: closed
- Tuesday: 8am to 9pm
- Wednesday: 8am to 9pm
- Thursday: 8am to 9pm
- Friday: 8am to 9pm
- Saturday: 8am to 9pm
- Sunday: 10am to 5pm
Evenings tend to be quieter than mid mornings if you want a longer conversation. You can read more about the space on the Windfree Solar Cafe page, or call 312-588-6953 first if you would rather check who is in before making the trip.
Come in with one question or with a list. Bring the ComEd bill that annoyed you last month, or the neighbour who has been arguing with you about whether any of this works. And if you get to the end of the conversation and want somebody to come out and look at the roof properly, that is easy to arrange from there. If you would rather start by email instead, reach out to our team and we will pick it up.
