What Illinois Shines pays for a home system
The payment is the credit price multiplied by the credits your system is expected to make over its 15 or 20 year contract. A bigger system makes more credits, and so earns more.
Home system 10 kW or smaller
$70.37 in Group A, which is the Ameren Illinois and MidAmerican area. $80.77 in Group B, which is the ComEd area. A system of 10 to 25 kW pays $60.92 in Group A and $79.21 in Group B.
Customer-owned adder
Extra $20 per credit if you own the system (not a lease or power purchase agreement) and do not claim a federal credit. This runs through the 2026-27 year.
Illinois Solar for All
A separate state program for income-eligible households, with required bill savings and little or no cost up front. The site lists no dollar amount.
Illinois Shines pays each year's price to the installer or vendor you sign with. It is that company that must pass the value on to you, and its contract should say how.
How the payment is made
For contracts approved on or after June 1, 2026, Illinois Shines pays 50 percent of the credit value when your system is switched on, and the rest in equal parts over the next six years. The old schedule paid everything at once. Your vendor may pay you in a lump sum, in parts, or fold it into your price. Read the disclosure form your vendor must give you. It now has a field that asks the vendor to explain how any promised payment is passed on.
An example with plain numbers
We cannot give you your payment, because it depends on what your roof will produce. The state expects the system's output when it approves the project. As a simple illustration, 10 credits at $80.77 would be $807.70, and the $20 adder would add $200. That is only arithmetic to show how the price works. Ask your vendor for the number of credits in your contract.
Group A and Group B
The state splits Illinois into two groups. Group A covers the service areas of Ameren Illinois, MidAmerican, Mt. Carmel Public Utility, and electric cooperatives and city utilities in the MISO grid region. Group B covers ComEd and cooperatives and city utilities in the PJM grid region. We read this in the 2025-26 program guidebook, since the 2026-27 guidebook was not read. Naperville has its own city electric company, so ask which group applies to your address before you sign.
The federal credit is gone
The federal tax credit for home solar ended for spending after December 31, 2025. That is why Illinois added the $20 adder for customer-owned systems. The adder only applies if you do not take a federal credit, which is no longer possible for a new system, so confirm with your vendor how the contract handles it.
Net metering and the grid
We did not read the current Illinois net metering rules for 2026, so we do not state how much your utility pays for extra power. Ask your vendor to show you the bill credit rules in writing and to model your yearly savings with them.
How to get the incentive
- Find out whether you are in Ameren Illinois's area (Group A) or ComEd's area (Group B) by looking at your electric bill.
- Ask for quotes only from Illinois Shines Approved Vendors. Illinois Solar for All has its own vendor list for lower-income homes.
- Ask each vendor how many credits your contract will have and how it will pass the money to you.
- Let the vendor submit the application and handle the paperwork with the utility.
- Keep the contract, the disclosure form and the energization date.
Our pages for Illinois Shines customers
Guides
- Illinois solar rebate guide
- Illinois rebate hub
- Naperville rebates
- Ameren Illinois rebates
- ComEd rebates
Common questions
Is Illinois Shines a rebate?
Not exactly. It buys the renewable energy credits your system makes, and your vendor passes the value on to you. How and when you are paid is in your contract.
How much will I get?
That depends on how much power your roof will make. The price is $70.37 or $80.77 per credit for systems of 10 kW or less in 2026-27, plus $20 per credit if you own the system.
Which group am I in?
Group A covers the Ameren Illinois and MidAmerican areas. Group B covers the ComEd area.
Is the federal solar credit still available?
No. It ended for spending after December 31, 2025.
Can I lease my system and still get the incentive?
The $20 customer-owned adder does not apply to a lease or power purchase agreement. Ask your vendor whether a lease is offered and how the incentive is passed on.
By Sam Menard. Sources, last read October 6, 2026: Illinois Shines Small Distributed Generation, Illinois Shines 2026-27 REC prices, Illinois Shines program guidebook 2025-26, Illinois Solar for All. All rebate programs →