IQ Group, a Springfield-based project management and consulting company, has expanded into the solar market and moved into the building at 3888 N. Peoria Rd. in Springfield formerly occupied by API Solar.
“We had done a lot of joint projects with API Solar and worked together for many years, but had no legal connection,” said James Tank, president of IQ Group. “Last fall, the owner of API – a dear friend, Chaolin “Harry” Liu – passed away unexpectedly. IQ made the decision to hire the great people from API and take on the solar market in central Illinois,” he said.
Tank founded IQ Group in 2000 and initially focused on technical consulting, later moving into electrical contracting, including managing Carmean Electric for a decade.
“Then we shifted gears and decided to work more on energy development projects,” Tank said. “We worked closely with some utility companies and had also done a lot of projects for API Solar. I had the credentials and availability to fulfill some of the electrical needs on their projects.”
Tank said that IQ Group is the “only local company that can design, engineer, install and fulfill the entire scope of the project needs here locally.”
After the owner’s death, Tank said API Solar was “left in the lurch,” noting that it’s also been a challenging time for the solar industry. However, he said more recent legislation that has locked in funding for solar projects for a 10-year period “should take some of the volatility out of the market. We saw it as a good opportunity to do more solar.”
