Illinois solar rebates and tax credits calculator

Summary of Illinois solar incentives 2023

Solar can make you a lot of money in Illinois. Yes, we said "make!" Even though electricity prices are relatively low, the state gets enough sun that solar power can save you big money from day one.

Home solar panels are cheaper than ever before. Combine the low prices with the 30% federal solar tax credit and the Illinois Shines incentive program, and a solar panel system can pay itself back quickly and give you free power for years to come! 

It's a great investment to go solar as a homeowner here. Take a good look at our rundown of Illinois solar power incentives below.

Federal solar investment tax credit

The federal solar investment tax credit will have the biggest impact on the cost you will face to go solar in Illinois

If you install your photovoltaic system before the end of 2032, the federal tax credit is 30% of the cost of your solar panel system. This is 30% off the entire cost of the system including equipment, labor, and permitting.

Example: If your solar energy system costs $20,000, your federal solar tax credit would be $20,000 x 30% = $6,000.

The federal tax credit falls to 26% starting in 2033.

Net energy metering in Illinois

With net metering in some states, you get full retail rate credit for the amount of electricity you send back into the grid with your solar panels.

With net metering in place, your utility must track your renewable energy production and consumption during each monthly billing cycle. Any surplus energy is carried over as a credit onto your future bills. Net metering is required to be available under Illinois law unless a cooperative or municipal cooperation supplies your electricity. So far, so good.

Illinois’ net metering policy would be just about perfect if those credits hung around indefinitely, but they don’t. At the end of every annual period, all remaining credits expire and revert back to the utility without compensation. This means that you need to make sure your solar system isn’t so big that you generate more electricity in a year than you use, not that you would want to anyway.

You may select an annual period that ends with the last day of either their April or October billing period, so at least you have some flexibility to maximize your credit usage.

Illinois solar rebates

Illinois does not offer any direct cash rebates for solar panels, but does offer an excellent solar program called "Illinois Shines" that pays solar system installers a lump sum based on the expected value of the energy the systems they build will produce over time. 

The Illinois Shines adjustable block grant program

The Illinois Shines adjustable block solar grant program can provide a bunch of cash when you go solar. The program provides up-front payments in exchange for the solar enewable energy credits (SRECs) a solar system is expected to generate in its first 15 years of operation.

To participate in the program, a solar system owner must sign a contract with an Approved Vendor (generally a solar installer), who will either reduce the up-front cost of the system based on the SREC value, or pay the system owner after the program makes its payment to the Approved Vendor. 

SREC values vary based on groups defined by geographic location and utility.

• SREC values for people in Group A are $78.51 for systems sized up to 10 kW and $66.39 for systems sized between 10 and 25 kW. Group A includes all customers served by Ameren Illinois, MidAmerican, Mt. Carmel Public Utility, or rural electric cooperatives and municipal utilities located in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) territory.
• SREC values for people in Group B are $82.22 for systems sized up to 10 kW and $71.89 for systems sized between 10 and 25 kW. Group B includes all customers served by ComEd or rural electric cooperatives and municipal utilities located in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland Interconnection (PJM) territory

Payment examples

The average-sized solar system in Illinois (6.4 kW) is expected to generate around 122 SRECs in 15 years. With an average payment of $82.22 per SREC in ComEd territory, the program payment would equal an estimated $10,030.84. That's over half the estimated $19,200 cost to install the system. 

That same 6.4-kW solar system in Ameren territory would earn $78.51 per SREC, and the program payment would equal an estimated $9,578.22.

Advantageous property tax treatment

Illinois has a property tax incentive to encourage solar power use. When you register your solar system with the chief county assessment officer, your solar equipment will be valued at no more than the value that would be given to a conventional energy system. That’s not as clear-cut as the 100% property tax exemption we’ve seen in a lot of states, but money saved is money saved, right?

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