Is solar worth it in Illinois in 2026?

How Illinois pays for your solar power

Net billing (exports credited below retail). New customers of ComEd, Ameren and MidAmerican (interconnected from Jan 1, 2025) get supply-only credits for exported power, below the full retail rate paid before.

In the calculator, 40% of your solar output is used at home at the retail price and the rest is exported at about 35% of retail (our default for this kind of rule), so each solar kWh is worth 61% of the retail price on average. Change it if your utility pays more or less. Method

State or utility incentive	What it is worth
Illinois Shines REC payments (small distributed generation, up to 25 kW)	2026-27 price for systems up to 10 kW: $80.77 per REC (ComEd area), $70.37 per REC (Ameren and MidAmerican areas); 50% paid at energization, the rest over 6 years
Illinois Shines $20/REC adder for customer-owned systems that do not claim a federal tax credit	+$20 per REC, 2026-27 program year
ComEd Distributed Generation Rebate	$300 per kW of solar and $300 per kWh of paired battery for residential customers

How exports are credited

Illinois changed its net metering rules on January 1, 2025. The change comes from the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA). Before that date, ComEd, Ameren and MidAmerican credited excess solar power at the full retail rate. Since January 1, 2025, new residential and small commercial customers of those three utilities receive “supply-only” credits, according to Illinois Shines. The credit is based on the electricity supply rate, not on the full bill.

ComEd’s own FAQ spells out the difference. For new net metering customers, credits offset the Supply section of the bill. Customers who interconnected by December 31, 2024 keep full retail net metering for the life of the system, with credits that offset Supply, Delivery and Taxes and Fees. The cutoff required all documents to reach the utility by 5 p.m. CPT on December 31, 2024, after Illinois Shines extended the deadline from December 13. ComEd says credits for customers who joined on January 1, 2025 or later do not expire.

Rural cooperatives and municipal utilities are not covered by this rule. Illinois Shines notes they may limit net metering or credit exports in a way that is not “substantially comparable” to net metering, so customers of those utilities should ask their utility directly.

State incentives in 2026

Illinois Shines. The state program pays for the renewable energy credits (RECs) a system produces. Small distributed generation covers systems up to 25 kW. For the program year that started June 1, 2026, the published price for a system up to 10 kW is $80.77 per REC in the ComEd area and $70.37 per REC in the Ameren and MidAmerican areas. Illinois Shines says the incentive is the expected RECs over the contract (15 or 20 years) multiplied by the REC price. Under the schedule that began June 1, 2026, 50% is paid at energization and the rest is spread evenly over 6 years.

For 2026-27 there is also a $20 per REC adder for customer-owned small systems whose owner does not take a federal tax credit. That adder exists because the federal residential credit ended for systems installed after 2025.

ComEd Distributed Generation Rebate. ComEd’s rebate terms list $300 per kW of solar and $300 per kWh of paired battery capacity for residential customers. The storage rebate requires the customer to take supply under ComEd’s hourly pricing rate (Rate BESH) for the life of the battery. The terms document is dated 2024, so confirm the current rebate with ComEd before signing a contract. How the rebate combines with Illinois Shines payments was not verified.

What it means for payback

Supply-only credits are worth less than the full retail credits that earlier Illinois customers received, so payback depends more on how much solar power the household uses as it is produced. A battery shifts more production into the home. Illinois Shines itself expects the change to increase battery installations alongside solar. The REC payments and the rebate offset part of the upfront cost, and the REC price and payment schedule change each program year.

Other rules worth knowing

Most Illinois Shines projects need prevailing wage compliance, but residential distributed generation installations are exempt from that requirement. ComEd’s rebate applies only to systems interconnected after August 11, 2022 through a smart inverter that the utility can adjust for grid support.

This page was not able to confirm the Ameren rebate terms or any state income tax credit.

Berkeley Lab does not publish a Illinois median from enough systems, so the calculator starts from the U.S. median of $3.60/W. Put your own quote in.