A ribbon-cutting ceremony officially introduced the Windfree Solar Cafe to Evanston on Oct. 7. Serving up coffee alongside customized solar energy quotes for the costs of installation, Windfree Solar Cafe is the nation’s first “solar cafe,” according to a Windfree Solar press release.
Someday, the hope is that customers will come in for coffee and then be able to use the cafe’s resources to learn about solar energy, Windfree Solar CEO Eric Heineman said.
But the new business does not have its food and beverage licenses yet.
For customers interested in consultations, Heineman said it will be helpful to know how much their energy bill is, since a system is sized based on that bill. Salespeople will be in the cafe during its operating hours and can help design proposals and create contracts that customers can sign immediately, Heineman said.
“We just want to create a community space and a home for the enviros and activists,” Heineman said.
Evanston resident and environmental activist Rachel Rosner said that she hopes those with the resources to install solar will be compelled by the cafe, especially if they are already there for coffee.
Customers of the company’s solar panel installation services will get free drip coffee for life at the cafe, according to the release.
The cafe is owned by Heineman, COO Chris Lamas and Executive Vice President of Residential Construction Adam Perri. It will sell pre-made food from local businesses and beverages to customers once its food and beverage licenses are approved.
Located at 517 Dempster Street, the solar cafe is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The company has been around since 2009 and previously had a retail location in Wicker Park, selling various services related to solar panels. With the opening of the cafe, Windfree Solar is moving back to its original business model in “a fun way that was less intimidating for the solar client to ask a lot of questions,” Heineman said.
“There’s usually a million questions when you’re going solar, so it’s easier for you to talk to either a barista that knows about solar or one of our salespeople,” he said.
Climate Action Evanston Executive Director Jack Jordan (Weinberg ’22) said the technical details involved in understanding solar can act as a barrier to people interested, so he thought the cafe was a “great idea.”
He added that he has seen the need for more accessible ways to educate people about renewable energy and energy efficiency technical support in Evanston.
“I think it’s a really innovative and practical approach to have a dedicated venue for learning about solar,” Jordan said.
The mission of the Windfree Solar Cafe was inspired by the success of the company’s solar education webinar series, Kilowatts and Coffee.
The passage of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act spurred the solar cafe’s opening, Heineman said. The bill ends federal residential clean energy tax credits at the end of the year, so Heineman wanted the cafe to open as soon as possible to help people switch to solar before then, he said.
After the One Big Beautiful Bill was signed into law in July, Windfree Solar’s sales tripled in August, the release stated. The company has done about 50 installations in Evanston already, Heineman said.
According to the press release, Evanston has strong clean energy and climate policies, making it an ideal location for the cafe. The city’s 2018 Climate Action and Resilience Plan aims to achieve 100% renewable energy for all Evanston properties by 2030, and the Healthy Buildings Ordinance passed in March will require buildings 20,000 square feet or larger to use 100% renewable energy by 2050.
Oak Park, where Windfree Solar has also installed panels, has a similar ordinance to the Healthy Buildings Ordinance. So, if the cafe is successful, the company would look to open another cafe in Oak Park, Heineman said.
“Having these strong local ordinances that help move people in the right direction, that’s the places we want,” Heineman said.
The cafe aims to build community with after-hours events such as book signings and local musician performances. Heineman and his wife also plan to create a library with sustainability-related books.
As a local activist, Jordan said that he sees a possibility for Climate Action Evanston to have coaches in the cafe on a regular basis in the future, though he has not discussed it with the cafe yet. The cafe’s model is similar to solutions that the group has implemented to make climate solutions more accessible, such as monthly sessions at the public library and public information at farmers markets, he added.
Evanston resident Hal Sprague has been involved in environmental work for decades. Formerly an environmental lawyer, Sprague is now the community engagement manager at Trajectory Energy Partners, a Chicago-based solar development company.
Sprague said one of the most significant contributors to Evanston’s footprint comes from buildings, especially those heated with natural gas. The first step of the solution needs to be getting all homes off of natural gas, he said.
“We need all the help we can get,” Sprague said. “We need to convert all of these homes into electricity and have that electricity be renewable.”
For Jordan, this work is “more important now than it ever has been.”
He added that solar energy is becoming increasingly affordable, and Windfree Solar Cafe will provide a “concrete place” where people can go for information about it.
“It’s really important for people to have a physical place to go and talk with an expert about how they can make a difference,” Jordan said.
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