State incentives and net metering
Illinois Shines (Adjustable Block Program)
The program provides incentives for qualified solar projects, including on-site distributed generation and community solar, through the purchase of renewable energy credits by Illinois utilities. Incentives are paid to participating Approved Vendors and may be passed on to customers as savings, per the program site. A separate program, Illinois Solar for All, serves income-eligible households.
IllinoisRenewable energy creditsAdjustable Block ProgramApproved Vendors
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Full record for this entry
| Program name | Illinois Shines (Adjustable Block Program) |
|---|---|
| State | Illinois |
| Program type | Renewable energy credit payments |
| Administering body | Illinois Power Agency; Energy Solutions is the program administrator, per the Illinois Shines program site |
| Status as the source states it | Illinois Shines is the brand name of the Adjustable Block Program, a state-administered program for new solar photovoltaic systems, per the program site. The Illinois Power Agency announced on July 2, 2026 that Energy Solutions would serve as Joint Program Administrator for Illinois Shines and Illinois Solar for All. The 2026-27 Program Year opened on June 1, 2026, with 308.01 MW of uncontracted capacity reallocated from the 2025-26 Program Year, per the program site; blocks remain open until their capacity is exhausted. |
| What it covers | The program provides incentives for qualified solar projects, including on-site distributed generation and community solar, through the purchase of renewable energy credits by Illinois utilities. Incentives are paid to participating Approved Vendors and may be passed on to customers as savings, per the program site. A separate program, Illinois Solar for All, serves income-eligible households. |
| Incentive amount note | No per-home dollar amount is recorded here. Incentive values follow the program renewable energy credit pricing for the project category and are paid to the Approved Vendor, so no single household figure is published in this entry. |
| Tags | Illinois, Renewable energy credits, Adjustable Block Program, Approved Vendors |
| Official source | Illinois Shines official program site (Illinois Power Agency program) |
| Checked date | 2026-11-01 |
Source note: Illinois Shines program site read on 2026-10-15 and re-read on 2026-10-18, including the program updates on the 2026-27 Program Year opening and the uncontracted capacity reallocation. The administrator was confirmed against the Illinois Power Agency announcement of July 2, 2026. This replaces the 2021 program brochure used as the source in the first version of this entry, which named a former administrator. Re-checked on 2026-10-22. Profile sections were added on 2026-10-26 from the official source above and the official pages cited in the text; every figure is attributed where it appears. Program terms change. Confirm the current status, eligibility and value for your address in the source above and in your utility tariff before you sign anything.
About this program: how it works
The incentive is a REC purchase, not a rebate
Illinois Shines is the brand name of the Adjustable Block Program, administered for the Illinois Power Agency, with Energy Solutions as administrator for 2026-27. The program site states it incentivizes qualified projects, including distributed generation and community solar, through utility purchases of Renewable Energy Credits, or RECs. Per the guidebook, payments are made for RECs generated over a project's first 15 years, through contracts between utilities and Approved Vendors. One REC represents one megawatt-hour, and REC quantity is calculated from inverter size, an approved capacity factor, and the term. Value is the estimated REC count times the price for its group, category, and size.
Blocks, groups, and 2026-27 REC pricing
The guidebook defines a block as a pre-established amount of capacity for a project type at an administratively set REC price, and states Public Act 102-0662 changed the cascading approach to an annual block. One annual block opens on or around June 1; when capacity fills, applications waitlist until the next Program Year or until capacity frees up. For 2026-27 initial capacity is 1,000 MW: Small and Large Distributed Generation each 18 percent, Traditional Community Solar 26 percent, Public Schools 11 percent, Equity Eligible Contractor 22 percent, plus 308.01 MW reallocated from 2025-26 per this record.
Group A covers Ameren Illinois, MidAmerican, Mt. Carmel, and MISO area cooperatives and municipal utilities; Group B covers ComEd and PJM area ones. For 2026-27, Small Distributed Generation of 0 to 10 kW AC is $70.37 per REC in Group A and $80.77 in Group B, and over 10 to 25 kW AC is $60.92 and $79.21. A $20 per REC adder for customer-owned Small Distributed Generation in 2026-27 offsets, per the program, the loss of the federal tax credit.
Approved Vendors receive the payment
Money does not flow to the homeowner. The program site states incentives are paid to Approved Vendors, and may be passed on as savings. Only an Approved Vendor can submit a project, hold the REC contract, and invoice, so the vendor contract decides how much reaches the household.
Timing changed for small systems. Under the 2026 REC Contract, Small Distributed Generation receives 50 percent at energization, with the remainder ratably over the subsequent 6 years, instead of 100 percent at energization under earlier contracts. Applications not Part I verified by May 14, 2026 receive the 2026 contract, so a quote promising full value immediately describes the older schedule.
Illinois Solar for All and net metering
Program materials state Illinois Solar for All is state-administered, separate from Illinois Shines, for income-eligible customers, nonprofits, and public facilities, and customers may participate in either program, but not both.
Shines does not replace the bill credit for exports. The guidebook defines net metering as a tariff provision crediting a bill for production exported to the grid, and applications require net metering approval where applicable. The streams are separate: REC price in the guidebook, net metering terms in the utility tariff.
Compare the quotes this program affects
An incentive only counts when it is named, in writing, in a quote. Line up the quotes you collect in the quote comparison worksheet and check each installer in the national installers directory.