State solar profile · #26 of 51
Solar in Illinois: mid payback · average sun
Illinois sits in the middle of the payback pack at 14 yr (#20), so irradiance (4.3 kWh/m²/day) and the 4 tracked programs matter more than ranking alone.
- 4.3
- kWh/m²/day irradiance
- 16.5¢
- avg electricity rate
- 14 yr
- payback (#20)
- 4
- incentive programs
EIA Form 860 nameplate strip
Nameplate IL · Illinois score #26/51
Illinois | 28/100 | 14 yr payback | 3.0 GW
- GW 28/100
- IRR #26/51
- STRIP 4.3 kWh
- FORM860 16.5c/kWh
- MW 14 yr
- SCORE 3.0 GW
- RANK 4 programs
- SUN near Wyoming
Stamps derive from this state's NREL irradiance, EIA Form 860 / Electric Power Monthly nameplate, and DSIRE incentive row (score, rank, sun, rate, payback, capacity, programs, peer), not a quote or site assessment. Modeled figures use a typical 6 kW system; your roof, shading, and utility tariff decide the real return. See our disclaimer. Verify with EIA Form 860 → · Read with methodology → · Net-metering guide → · Personalized estimate → · All state rows → · States ranked → · Payback vs U.S. avg (14.2 yr): 0.2 yr faster
Modeled 6 kW payback · Illinois and nearest peers
Shorter bars = faster simple payback on the NREL/EIA model
- KS
Kansas
14 years
- IL
Illinois
14 years
- SC
South Carolina
14 years
- PA
Pennsylvania
14 years
- WI
Wisconsin
14 years
- MD
Maryland
14 years
What this shows Illinois sits at 14 years among nearest payback peers (0.2 yr faster vs the 14.2-yr U.S. average).
Mid-pack 25-year ROI · Illinois
$17,400
system cost
$1,243/yr
modeled savings
14 yr
break-even
+$13,675
25-year net
Mid-band math for Illinois: $17,400 system cost vs $1,243/yr savings. Incentive stacking usually decides the edge case. Run a personalized estimate →
Installed solar capacity in Illinois, 2009–2024
Total solar nameplate capacity in Illinois reported to the EIA, utility-scale and reported distributed systems. The number of reporting facilities grew 215x (1 to 215) between 2009 and 2024, and the average site size grew from 9 MW to 14 MW per site, a shift toward larger utility-scale installations.
Illinois's national sun-vs-payback seat
Irradiance 4.3 kWh/m²/day (below the 4.8 national mean) vs 14-yr payback (mid band vs 14.2-yr mean). Crosshairs mark those means.
Solar & grid details
- Net-metering policy
- full
- Renewable portfolio standard
- Mandatory (50% by 2040)
- Installed cost / watt
- $2.90/W
- Annual production (6 kW)
- 7,534 kWh
- Installed capacity (EIA 2024)
- 3.0 GW
- Notable programs
- Illinois Shines SREC Program, Smart Inverter Rebate
Top incentive programs
4 programs available for Illinois residents
All Illinois solar incentives (4)
IL Solar Property Tax Exemption
Full assessment exemption
Illinois law provides full property tax exemption for solar energy systems.
Net meteringIL Net Metering
Retail rate credit
ComEd and Ameren offer full retail net metering for residential systems up to 40 kW.
RebateComEd Smart Inverter Rebate
Up to $300
ComEd customers receive rebates for upgrading to smart grid-enabled solar inverters.
SREC / renewable creditIllinois Shines (Adjustable Block Program)
$65-$75/REC for 15-year contract
Illinois Shines provides long-term Renewable Energy Credits at fixed prices for 15 years.
Score and payback neighbors for Illinois
Two non-geographic peer sets for Illinois: composite score neighbors and payback-year neighbors (deduped so each row links a distinct comparison).
Similar composite solar score
Nearest nationwide matches on the NREL/EIA/DSIRE blend (28/100 here).
Similar modeled payback
Nearest payback-year peers nationwide (14 yr modeled here).
- South Carolina · 14 yr payback
- Pennsylvania · 14.2 yr payback
- Wisconsin · 14.2 yr payback
- Kansas · 13.7 yr payback
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on published composite scores and modeled 6 kW payback years; rankings above use the same fields but sort the full corpus.
Solar resource from NREL; electricity rates and installed capacity from the U.S. EIA; incentive programs from DSIRE. See our methodology.