Why does this matter?
Illinois Shines requires solar projects to follow specific documentation and submission requirements. The Illinois Shines integration helps you manage these requirements directly in SubcontractorHub instead of handling them through separate tools or manual processes.
By connecting your Illinois Shines account and configuring your vendors, finance partners, warranties, and required forms, you can generate documents with the right project information already populated. This helps reduce manual data entry, avoid missing information, and keep proposals ready for government submission.
What will you need?
Before setting up Illinois Shines, make sure you have:
Illinois Shines API token for your organization
Environment you want to connect to
Vendor ID for each applicable vendor
Default finance partner information, if applicable
Legal business names and other required organization details
Default warranty information
Required vendor-specific information, such as fees, utility rates, and other required fields
Access to the Document Manager to configure your Illinois Shines forms
Tip: If you work with multiple vendors, have each vendor's information ready before adding them. Each vendor will have its own Illinois Shines form.
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1: From the main menu, click “Manage Integrations” and click “Integrations” from the dropdown.
Step 2: Click “E-sign” on the integrations list.
Step 3: Locate IL Shine and click “Connect”.
Step 4: Fill out all important information including API token, environment, and vendor ID. Each vendor ID is specific to its organization. Select default vendor partners and other vendor partners from the dropdown. Click “Verify and Connect”.
Note: You can add multiple vendors by clicking “Add Vendor”. Each vendor will have their individual form. Hence, the number of forms created will be equal to the number of vendors added.
Real-life scenario
A solar company works with multiple Illinois Shines-approved vendors and sells both cash and financed projects.
The company connects Illinois Shines to SubcontractorHub and adds each vendor using its organization-specific vendor ID. The team then completes the required forms for each vendor, including details such as fees, utility rates, finance partners, legal names, and warranties.
When a sales rep creates a proposal, the configured Illinois Shines information can be used to populate the required document along with project information from the proposal.
For example, details such as the installer name, approved vendor, project owner, and contact information can be pulled from the proposal and configured Illinois Shines forms. Once the document is complete, the organization can send it to the government for approval.
This gives the sales and operations teams one connected workflow instead of manually preparing the same information in multiple places.
Pro tip
Complete your vendor forms before creating proposals.
Some Illinois Shines vendor forms have many required fields. Make sure every required field is completed, including vendor fees, utility rates, finance details, warranties, and legal information.
If you have multiple vendors, review each vendor's form separately. A vendor cannot be used in a proposal until its required information has been completed.
Troubleshooting
I can't connect Illinois Shines
Check that your API token, environment, and vendor ID are correct. The vendor ID must match the organization and vendor you are connecting.
My vendor is not available in the proposal
Make sure the vendor has been added under the Illinois Shines integration and that its required form has been completely filled out.
The Illinois Shines document is missing information
Check both sources of information:
Proposal data: Customer, project, installer, and other project details
Illinois Shines forms: Vendor, legal, finance, warranty, fee, utility, and other configured information
If information is missing from the proposal, make sure it has been configured in the appropriate Illinois Shines form.
I added a new vendor but cannot use it
Each vendor has its own form. Go back to the Illinois Shines integrations page, add a new vendor, and configure it within the document manager before using it in a proposal.
I work with multiple vendors
Use Add Vendor to add each vendor separately. Each vendor will have an individual form, so make sure the correct vendor ID and required information are entered for each one.