ComEd · Illinois

How ComEd credits home solar

What your reps need to know about ComEd before the appointment: how exports are credited, the size limits, and the steps to connect, checked against its own tariffs and the state rules.

Each appointment goes to one company
Only sits count, approved disputes get a replacement
Market facts checked September 26, 2026

The rules

What happens to the solar power a home sends to the grid

ComEd, an energy delivery company that does not own power plants, says it serves about 9.3 million people in more than 400 communities across 26 counties of northern Illinois, nearly 70 percent of the state's population.

Parallel Operation of Retail Customer Generating Facilities with Net Metering

How ComEd credits exports

ComEd credits home solar under its net metering tariff, Rider POGNM, and for customers who interconnected on or after January 1, 2025, extra power sent to the grid earns credits that offset charges in the Supply section of the bill but not the Delivery or Taxes and Fees sections.
Illinois law defines those supply charges as the energy, capacity, transmission and purchased energy adjustment values, and a customer buying fixed price supply from ComEd chooses a one for one kilowatt hour credit or a monetary credit when applying.
Homes on ComEd's hourly pricing get a monetary credit valued at the price of power in the hours the excess is produced, homes on its time of use rate are credited by rate period, and homes that buy supply from a retail electric supplier, including through a municipal aggregation program, get the supply credit from that supplier, which ComEd tells them to ask about.
ComEd says net metering credits for customers who interconnected on January 1, 2025 or later do not expire.
Systems that received permission to operate before January 1, 2025 keep legacy status, with full retail rate credits against the Supply, Delivery and Taxes and Fees sections for the life of the system, which ComEd defines as 30 years, and later owners of the home inherit that status.
ComEd also runs the Distributed Generation Rebate under Rider DG REBATE, and ComEd says a legacy customer who takes that rebate for the solar system gives up full retail rate net metering.

The rule behind it

Illinois Public Utilities Act, net electricity metering, 220 ILCS 5/16-107.5

The program

Parallel Operation of Retail Customer Generating Facilities with Net Metering, Rider POGNM

Recent changes

Under the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, full retail rate net metering closed to new ComEd customers on January 1, 2025, so systems that received permission to operate after that date earn supply credits only. After the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, Public Act 104-0458, was signed January 8, 2026 and took effect June 1, 2026, ComEd revised Rider POGNM effective September 14, 2026, requiring time based supply for homes with a battery interconnected on or after June 1, 2026 and making standalone batteries and vehicle storage systems eligible for compensation starting January 1, 2027.

Before a home connects

Limits, and the steps to get connected

Limits and eligibility

Neither Rider POGNM nor Illinois law sets a fixed kilowatt cap for a home system; the system must be intended primarily to offset the customer's own current or future electricity use, and ComEd says it should be sized to meet some or all of those needs.
Illinois law lets future electricity use include a reasonable approximation of the yearly load of 2 electric vehicles and, for homes without electric heat, the added electric load from switching heating fuels, with the utility's approximations subject to review by the Illinois Commerce Commission.
Level 1 expedited interconnection review under the Illinois Commerce Commission's rules covers lab certified, inverter based systems with an export capacity of 25 kW or less and a nameplate capacity of 50 kW or less, and a system whose export is not limited must be 25 kW nameplate or smaller to qualify.
Net metering is available whether a home buys its supply from ComEd or from a retail electric supplier, because Illinois law has ComEd process and approve all net metering applications in its territory and ComEd keeps net metering in place if the customer later switches suppliers.

How a home gets connected

The homeowner or installer files ComEd's interconnection application online at interconnect.comed.com, and selecting net metering as the intent of generation makes it a combined interconnection and net metering application, so no separate net metering filing is typically needed.
ComEd first checks that the application is complete and the review fee is paid, then performs the technical review for its level, and for a Level 1 request Illinois rules allow 7 business days to confirm the request is complete and 15 business days after that to finish the screens.
ComEd recommends not buying or building anything until the review is complete and conditional approval is granted, and the customer is responsible for the permits and electrical inspections that the local permitting authority requires.
After installation, the customer submits the Certificate of Completion with photos of the inverter nameplates, proof of the local electrical inspection and as built drawings, and ComEd may require a witness test first, which it always requires for equipment that is not lab certified.
Net metering starts once ComEd signs the Certificate of Completion granting permission to operate and a smart meter that records power both to and from the grid is in place, with ComEd exchanging the meter if the home does not already have a smart meter.

Federal tax credit

The residential solar credit (section 25D) ended for systems completed after 2025. What that means in 2026.

Questions

Common questions about ComEd and solar

Does ComEd still offer full retail net metering for new solar customers?

No. ComEd says customers who interconnected on or after January 1, 2025 get net metering credits that offset charges in the Supply section of the bill, not the Delivery or Taxes and Fees sections. Homes whose systems received permission to operate before January 1, 2025 keep full retail rate net metering, which ComEd calls legacy status, for the life of the system, which ComEd defines as 30 years, and later owners of the home inherit it.

Do ComEd net metering credits expire?

For customers who interconnected on January 1, 2025 or later, ComEd says net metering credits, whether kilowatt hour or monetary, do not expire. The exception is legacy customers on fixed price supply with kilowatt hour credits, whose credits reset each year in April or October as chosen on their Net Metering Election Form. The rider effective September 14, 2026 lets a customer elect to have ComEd pay out a net credit balance created by monetary credits, and ComEd says that until it automates this, a customer whose total monthly bill is negative may call to request a check.

Can I add a battery and still get ComEd net metering?

Yes, but under the Rider POGNM revision effective September 14, 2026, a customer with a battery interconnected on or after June 1, 2026 must take supply under a time based product and stay on it to remain eligible for net metering. Those products are ComEd's hourly pricing rate, its time of use pricing rate, or a time of use product from a retail electric supplier. The rider also says standalone batteries charged only from the grid and vehicle storage systems do not become eligible for compensation under it until January 1, 2027.

Is there still a federal tax credit for home solar?

The federal residential clean energy credit, section 25D, ended for home solar expenditures made after December 31, 2025, under the law signed July 4, 2025. The IRS treats the expenditure as made when installation is completed, so a system completed in 2026 does not qualify even if it was paid for earlier.

Questions from solar companies and reps

What am I buying?

Preset appointments with homeowners in your territory who agreed to a solar consultation. We confirm they own the home and that every decision maker on the title will be there, book a time that fits your calendar, and send you the details.

What counts as a sit?

A sit means the owner of the home is there, every decision maker on the title is there, and the visit happens at the booked time or a new time the homeowner and your team agree on. If one does not sit, your team has 48 hours after the visit time to dispute it with a reason. An approved dispute earns a replacement appointment, never a cash refund.

Are the appointments exclusive?

Yes. Each appointment goes to one company only and is never sold twice.

Sources (checked September 26, 2026)

Tariffs and programs change, so confirm current terms with ComEd.

What your reps will get asked

Is the federal solar tax credit still available in 2026?No, not for a home solar system completed in 2026.Can an HOA stop you from installing solar panels?Illinois: State law limits HOA bans Do solar panels raise your property taxes?Illinois: Exemption in state law