Nautilus Solar Energy is relocating its corporate headquarters from New Jersey to Chicago, ahead of projections that place Illinois as the company’s fastest-growing market.
The community solar provider is moving into 200 N. La Salle St. on July 1, according to Chief Financial Officer Camelia Miu. Nautilus was previously headquartered in Summit, New Jersey, though its employees worked remotely.
The relocation, announced Tuesday, gives Nautilus the opportunity to marry its fastest-growing market with its headquarter operations, Miu said. Nautilus plans to remain a remote-first company, with the Chicago headquarters serving as a regional hub for project development, finance and subscriber management.
“Illinois has a really, really great community solar program and that is our bread and butter,” Miu said. “Since a lot of our business is here, it makes sense to have a headquarters office located in the city. I think Chicago provides [a] very good central location for everyone throughout the country to travel.”
Nautilus bills itself as one of the nation’s largest community solar companies. Community solar is an alternative to solar panel ownership, and it’s typically used by renters. A business or household can subscribe to a community solar provider and receive solar credits, which give them discounts on their electric bill. The power from projects built by community solar providers, like Nautilus, flows into the local power grid and is then distributed to community solar subscribers.
“Community solar programs are a great way for anybody to be able to subscribe to green energy,” Miu said.
Nautilus will occupy 3,600 square feet of office space, and it has about five to six Chicago employees. That headcount is expected to grow organically, Miu said, and the company plans to continue hiring for positions that are both remote and hybrid. One of Nautilus’ latest hires is based in Chicago, according to Miu.
Illinois’ community solar program started after the passage of the Illinois Future Energy Jobs Act, or FEJA. Illinois is considered an early entrant into the community solar space, Miu said, and has a “very established program.”
Nautilus has has nine projects under construction in Illinois, according to Miu, totaling about 65 megawatts of community solar power. It also has more than 35 projects across the state in different stages of development, totaling more than 200 megawatts of power. The company’s projects are in ComEd and Ameren territory.
One megawatt of power in the program serves anywhere between 400 and 1,000 households a year, according to Miu.
“Our subscriber base is going to grow significantly in the state,” she said.
Nautilus says it plans to add 29 megawatts of solar energy to the local grid this summer, including 10 megawatts dedicated to low-income households. Over the next year, the solar company is expecting to add more than 100 megawatts of additional capacity across the state.
“Community solar continues to play a critical role in meeting the country’s growing energy needs, and Illinois, along with several of its neighboring states, is at the center of that momentum,” Nautilus’ CEO Jeffrey Cheng said in a news release.