Solar installations in Cook County, IL
34,924 recorded installations in Cook County, Illinois — capacity, prices and the installers doing the work.
At a glance
Cook County, Illinois has 34,924 recorded solar installations totalling 862.3 MW of capacity — the highest count among the 102 Illinois counties with records, and 30% of the state total. That is about 1.5% of the county's 2,270,349 housing units, against 2.1% statewide.
Dataset updated . Sources: LBNL Tracking the Sun + city permit records + state programs + USGS/EIA utility-scale.
Severe-weather exposure: solar sites here have been matched to an average of 3.8 hail (1.1 severe) and 3.8 high-wind NOAA storm events — a regional inspection/maintenance signal (proximity, not confirmed damage).
Search every recorded installation in Cook County by installer, size, date and equipment.
Search sites →Independent check:Stanford's DeepSolar detected about 8,508 solar arrays here from 2018 satellite imagery — our recorded data covers roughly 410% of that. A yardstick, not dated records.
Most active
Top installers in Cook County
| # | Installer | Installs here |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | HOLMES, WELLS L | 832 |
| 2 | LARSEN, COLEMAN D | 427 |
| 3 | ESKANDANIAN, PAYMON | 386 |
| 4 | WARD, JON P | 376 |
| 5 | AL HARASH, MOHAMED T | 197 |
| 6 | BROWN, JASON R | 139 |
| 7 | ADAMS, JAMES ADRIAN | 132 |
| 8 | HAJIHASHEMI, ALI | 106 |
| 9 | ZOMORODIAN, MEHDI | 77 |
| 10 | BASSAM, ASA | 65 |
Growth
Installations by year
How does Cook County compare with the rest of Illinois?
The median recorded system in Cook County is 7.54 kW, about 16% below the state median of 8.97 kW. 48% of installations here are third-party owned (lease or power-purchase agreement), compared with 43% across Illinois. 1,675 systems (5%) of the county's records include battery storage, against 4% statewide. By share of housing units with a recorded system, Cook County ranks 71st of 102 Illinois counties with at least 10 installations. Fewer than 30 systems here report an installed price, so no county price median is published.
How has solar adoption changed in Cook County?
The earliest recorded installation in Cook County dates to 2006. The busiest year on record is 2023, with 6,758 installations. 2025 has 6,571 recorded installations so far. The county's cumulative total rose from 6,275 at the end of 2020 to 34,924 today. Recent years fill in as state programs and permit offices report, so the latest counts are provisional.
Who installs solar in Cook County?
HOLMES, WELLS L has the most recorded installations in Cook County (832). Other active installers here include LARSEN, COLEMAN D, ESKANDANIAN, PAYMON and WARD, JON P. Installers based anywhere in Illinois are listed in the state installer directory.
Frequently asked questions
How many homes have solar in Cook County?
PanelCensus records 34,924 solar installations in Cook County, Illinois (862.3 MW of capacity) — about 1.5% of the county's 2,270,349 housing units (U.S. Census ACS). Coverage depends on Illinois's public reporting, so the true total is likely higher.
Who installs solar in Cook County?
The most active recorded installers in Cook County are HOLMES, WELLS L (832), LARSEN, COLEMAN D (427) and ESKANDANIAN, PAYMON (386).
How much of the solar in Cook County is leased?
16,592 recorded installations (48%) in Cook County are third-party owned — a lease or power-purchase agreement, compared with 43% across Illinois.
How big is a typical solar system in Cook County?
The median recorded system in Cook County is 7.5 kW, against 9 kW for Illinois as a whole.
More solar data near Cook County
- Solar in Illinois· 115,105 installations
- Solar installers in Illinois
- Solar in Will County· 8,058 installations
- Solar in DuPage County· 7,202 installations
- Solar in Lake County· 6,386 installations
- Solar in Kane County· 4,407 installations
- Solar in Winnebago County· 3,862 installations
- Solar in McHenry County· 3,484 installations
County assignment is derived from installation ZIP codes via the Census 2020 ZCTA↔county crosswalk (primary county by land-area overlap) — approximate at county boundaries. Market penetration = recorded installations ÷ housing units (U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year, Table B25001); it undercounts where dataset coverage is partial. See methodology.
About this data
Source: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Tracking the Sun, merged with city permit records, state incentive programs and the USGS U.S. Large-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Database / EIA-860 plant registers, as published October 10, 2026 — PanelCensus refreshes it as each source publishes new records. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.
Cite as: PanelCensus, “Solar installations in Cook County, Illinois”, https://panelcensus.com/solar/illinois/cook-county (data as of October 10, 2026).