The common value for photo voltaic panels in Illinois is $35,236 earlier than any federal tax incentives, dropping to a median of $24,665 after they’re utilized. Illinois affords many incentive packages along with federal tax incentives for putting in photo voltaic panels.
Illinois Photo voltaic For All helps low-income households add photo voltaic panels to their roofs, usually for no upfront value. Illinois Shines offers an incentive upfront by buying photo voltaic renewable vitality certificates (SRECs) from photo voltaic panel homeowners. Though the everyday value of photo voltaic installations in Illinois is greater than the nationwide common (see the desk under), these packages typically make photo voltaic panels in Illinois rather more inexpensive and should create a sooner payback fee than in lots of different states.
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Photo voltaic prices in Illinois at a look
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Common value of dwelling photo voltaic system earlier than federal photo voltaic tax credit score |
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Common value of dwelling photo voltaic system after federal photo voltaic tax credit score |
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Supply: EnergySage, a photo voltaic and residential vitality product comparability market. Knowledge is from January 29, 2025. |
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Illinois applied a brand new web metering methodology in January 2025 that reduces the worth of utility credit that utility firms pay householders for his or her further solar energy.
Internet metering is an settlement wherein utility firms give householders credit for the surplus photo voltaic electrical energy they generate and ship to the facility grid. Usually, these credit apply towards the electrical energy invoice that householders generate after they pull electrical energy from the facility grid.
Earlier than 2025, Illinois utility firms supplied householders with web metering credit that have been value the identical quantity as what a house owner paid for electrical energy — one credit score paid for one kilowatt hour. In different phrases, for each kilowatt hour a house owner despatched to the grid, they obtained a free kilowatt hour of electrical energy in return.
The adjustments that took impact in January 2025 cut back how a lot credit score householders get per kilowatt hour of returned electrical energy. Additionally they require householders to pay extra charges on each kilowatt hour, no matter how a lot extra solar energy they produce.
Qualifying photo voltaic vitality methods that requested permission to function earlier than January 1, 2025, can use the unique web metering methodology. Methods that request permission to function after December 31, 2024 qualify just for the brand new web metering methodology.
Illinois photo voltaic tax incentives and rebates
Good inverter rebate
ComEd and Ameren prospects who set up a sensible photo voltaic inverter might qualify for a rebate of $300 per kW for solar energy system and/or battery storage they set up. For instance, a buyer with a ten kW photo voltaic vitality system with a battery that may retailer 5 kW might get a $3,000 rebate for the system and a $1,500 rebate for the battery storage.
Illinois Photo voltaic For All
This program assists householders and renters who meet revenue necessities by eliminating down funds and limiting sure prices and costs for lower-income households all through the lifetime of the system. Households should earn 80% or much less of the realm median revenue to qualify.
Illinois Shines
This program offers householders with discounted prices for buying, leasing or putting in a photo voltaic vitality system. Owners who use solar energy methods qualify for SRECs, that are tied to the quantity of photo voltaic vitality their methods produce.
Contributors conform to switch their SRECs to their chosen photo voltaic distributors for discounted costs at totally different levels of the photo voltaic course of. The distributors then promote these SRECs to utilities.
Illinois photo voltaic property tax exemption
Qualifying residential photo voltaic vitality methods are exempt from Illinois property taxes, which suggests householders who qualify gained’t need to pay extra in property taxes after they add a photo voltaic vitality system to their properties.
Can I get financing for a photo voltaic panel system?
Along with tax incentives and rebates, there are alternatives accessible. Many photo voltaic installers supply financing, however you might also have the ability to finance your photo voltaic funding by way of a dwelling fairness mortgage or dwelling fairness line of credit score (HELOC). These choices might have decrease rates of interest than financing with an installer, future alternatives for refinancing and potential tax advantages.
Dwelling fairness loans and HELOCs are methods to borrow towards the worth of your house, changing fairness into money. With a house fairness mortgage, you obtain a lump-sum fee after which pay it again at a set rate of interest over an agreed time period, usually from 5 to 30 years. HELOCs are extra akin to a bank card, one thing you utilize as wanted. You’ll often have 10 years to attract from the road of credit score, throughout which era you solely need to pay curiosity, and after that you just pay each the principal and curiosity. HELOC rates of interest usually are variable, which means your month-to-month fee may rise or fall over time. And with every of those choices, you are utilizing your house as collateral.
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An alternative choice is a photo voltaic mortgage. Many banks, credit score unions and on-line lenders supply these to fund photo voltaic panels and set up, with quantities usually from $1,000 to $100,000, and annual proportion charges starting from 6% to 36%. They perform like a private mortgage: you obtain a lump sum and repay it in equal month-to-month installments over a set interval, usually two to seven years. And in contrast to with dwelling fairness financing, there isn’t a collateral required for a photo voltaic mortgage. This implies your house or photo voltaic panels aren’t in danger if you happen to miss funds, however you might have to pay late charges.
So, sure, you seemingly can get financing. Should you go this route, examine rates of interest, phrases and costs with any financing package deal {that a} photo voltaic supplier might give you to make sure you get the very best deal.
What’s the common value to put in photo voltaic panels in Illinois?
How lengthy does it take for photo voltaic panels to pay for themselves in Illinois?