UI solar roof project delayed due to design error

URBANA, Ill. (AP) - University of Illinois administrators and state officials say a design error has delayed the installation of a solar roof on the school's newest engineering building and will cost more than $1.2 million.

The News-Gazette reports that the university purchased 950 solar panels to install this summer. The project was funded in part by the Student Sustainability Committee and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

School officials say the building opened in 2014 and that the project had been delayed due to the state's budget impasse. Officials have now discovered design deficiencies.

The engineering firm hired to design the new solar array determined that the building's structure wouldn't support it, and modifications would be needed.

The project is expected to wrap up in late 2018 or early 2019.

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Information from: The News-Gazette, http://www.news-gazette.com