Solar Panels in Rockford, IL: 2026 Cost, ComEd Net Metering & Savings

Rockford and the bill

Rockford is ComEd, not an Iowa municipal utility and not Alliant. The state line is close. The bill is Illinois. Rockford gets more snow than Chicago's core and the same ComEd framework. Production models should show winter months. Steep roofs help. The economic case is still the ComEd supply credit plus any contracted Illinois Shines amount, not a fantasy of desert output. The 2025 EIA residential average for Illinois was 17.67 cents per kWh. That statewide figure is what our calculator uses. It is not the ComEd tariff. A rounded solar resource for this metro is about 4.2 peak sun hours a day.

Export credits and any SREC or REC

ComEd is the usual utility for Rockford. New residential ComEd customers are on supply-only net metering: energy you import can be netted against supply, and delivery charges still apply to grid electricity. Illinois Shines is separate. For the program year starting June 1, 2026, distributed generation up to 10 kW in ComEd territory (Group B) is priced at about $80.77 per REC. Projects approved on or after that date get 50 percent of the REC payment at energization and the remainder over six years. You see the money only to the extent the approved vendor's disclosure passes it through. This is not an eligibility finding.

Roofs, climate, permits, and HOAs

Older housing and mid-century ranches. Some roofs are near replacement. Do the roof first if the shingles are failing. A Rockford permit comes from the local building department, not from ComEd. An HOA can add its own review. This page does not quote a IL permit fee or an approval, because both depend on the address. Ask for snow losses in the model. Name ComEd. If the price depends on Illinois Shines, ask to see the disclosure form.

Estimated cost range

Estimated cost range for Rockford, labeled as an estimate and not a local quote: Berkeley Lab's August 2026 update put 2025 host-owned residential systems at about $3.60 per watt before incentives, about $3.00 per watt in the cash subset, and about $4.50 per watt in the loan subset. The median size in that set was 7.7 kW. Rockford is about 4.2 peak sun hours a day, against about 4.2 statewide. The federal residential credit under 26 U.S.C. § 25D ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025. The IRS treats that expenditure as made when the original installation is completed.

• Cash

  $3.00/W

  $23,100

  Subset classified as cash

• Middle published case

  $3.60/W

  $27,720

  All host-owned systems

• Loan

  $4.50/W

  $34,650

  Financed subset, before interest

Before incentives. A loan price here excludes interest. The federal residential credit under section 25D ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025. Berkeley Lab, U.S. Distributed Solar and Storage, August 2026 data update.