Illinois · SREC / renewable credit
Illinois Shines (Adjustable Block Program)
Lets residential solar owners in Illinois sell credits for the power their system generates -- see the market rate, eligibility, and payback impact below.
- $65-$75/REC for 15-y…
- stated benefit
- Residential
- eligible customers
- 14 yr
- Illinois baseline payback
- 4
- other Illinois programs
What it means
In Illinois, a 6 kW system already pays back in about 14 years on ~$1,243/year of modeled savings, and the Illinois Shines (Adjustable Block Program) stacks on top of that, on top of any federal credit.
- $65-$75/REC fo…
- stated benefit
- 14 yr
- baseline payback (pre-incentive)
- 5
- Illinois programs that stack
- full
- net-metering policy
Payback and savings are modeled from public NREL/EIA data; the program benefit is summarized from DSIRE and may change.
Program description
Illinois Shines provides long-term Renewable Energy Credits at fixed prices for 15 years.
Program at a glance
- Program type
- SREC / renewable credit
- Eligible customers
- Residential
- Stated benefit
- $65-$75/REC for 15-year contract
- State electricity rate
- 16.5¢/kWh
- Illinois solar score
- 28/100
How Illinois compares to the U.S. average
Why this incentive matters more (or less) here - Illinois's solar fundamentals against the national average.
Source: NREL irradiance and U.S. EIA rates; payback modeled by PlainSolarData. Bars are scaled to the larger of the two values per metric.
Solar's trajectory in Illinois
The market this incentive operates in: total installed solar capacity in Illinois reported to the EIA.
Illinois's solar incentive stack
How this srec / renewable credit sits among Illinois's 4 tracked programs, by type
- Tax exemption
Tax exemption
1 programs
- Net metering
Net metering
1 programs
- Rebate
Rebate
1 programs
- SREC
SREC
1 programs
What this shows Of Illinois's 4 tracked incentive types, 1 are SREC/renewable-credit programs -- an ongoing revenue stream from generation, distinct from the state's other stacked incentive types.
How this incentive fits Illinois's solar picture
The Illinois Shines (Adjustable Block Program) lets Illinois solar owners sell renewable energy credits generated by their system, tracked as a solar incentive in DSIRE. Eligibility is scoped to residential customers, with a stated benefit of $65-$75/REC for 15-year contract. DSIRE lists no scheduled sunset, though enabling legislation and appropriations can still be revised year to year.
That baseline is slower than most states, which raises the stakes for every incentive on the table. Illinois averages 4.3 kWh/m²/day of usable sunlight and residential rates of 16.5¢/kWh, producing an estimated 7,534 kWh/year and $1,243 of annual utility offset on a typical 6 kW system costing $17,400. That baseline already implies a 14-year simple payback and a 25-year modeled net of roughly $13,675 before this incentive - every dollar this srec / renewable credit delivers compresses that payback further.
A handful of other levers are worth checking alongside this one. Illinois has 5 solar incentive programs indexed in DSIRE, including adjacent options like IL Solar Property Tax Exemption, IL Net Metering, ComEd Smart Inverter Rebate. The state's net-metering policy is classified as full, which governs how excess generation is credited and often decides whether a given program is worth claiming for a specific household.
Your next step
- See Illinois's full solar profile, score, irradiance, rates, payback, and every program you can claim. Illinois solar data
- Run the savings calculator with your real bill to see how this incentive changes your own payback. ROI calculator
- Understand how SREC income works before you count on it. SRECs explained
Estimates here are modeled from public data and are not financial advice; confirm program terms and your own eligibility before relying on a dollar figure.
Other Illinois incentives
Frequently asked questions
What is the Illinois Shines (Adjustable Block Program)?
How does the Illinois Shines (Adjustable Block Program) work?
Who is eligible for the Illinois Shines (Adjustable Block Program)?
How does this incentive affect solar ROI in Illinois?
Are there other solar incentives in Illinois?
Incentive data from the DSIRE (Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency); state solar economics from NREL and the U.S. EIA. See our methodology.