ComEd Solar Rebates: What Illinois Businesses Qualify For

1 · The basics

What the ComEd rebate actually is

ComEd's commercial solar and storage rebate pays a flat $250 per kW (DC) of installed solar, plus $250 per kWh of paired battery storage. No formulas, no sliding scale: straight dollars per unit installed. It's a one-time payment, not a monthly credit, paid out after your system clears ComEd's interconnection approval. It sits on top of, not instead of, the federal and state incentives covered in our full incentives guide.

2 · Eligibility

Who qualifies

• Commercial customers inside ComEd's service territory (Chicago and the surrounding suburbs; Ameren-territory businesses use a different REC value stack instead).
• A smart inverter and a system under 5 MW, sized to offset your own load rather than purely export power.
• Owner-occupied buildings get the cleanest path to the full incentive stack, since one entity claims the rebate, the federal credit, and the depreciation without a landlord/tenant split to negotiate.

3 · The math

Worked example: a 100 kW commercial system

Take a 100 kW (DC) rooftop array on a warehouse or manufacturing building:

• ComEd solar rebate: 100 kW × $250/kW = $25,000, paid after interconnection approval.
• Add battery storage: every kWh of paired storage adds another $250/kWh on top of that: the total depends on the storage size you choose.
• That $25,000 stacks with your 30% federal 48E credit, Illinois Shines REC payments, and 100% bonus depreciation. We don't re-run that full math here: see the complete stacked example for a 100 kW system in our Illinois Commercial Solar Incentives 2026 guide.
• Across the full stack, a typical Chicagoland commercial project like this can see incentives cover 70%+ of system cost, with a 3–7 year typical payback.

This example covers ComEd's piece of the stack only. If you're comparing building types (warehouse vs. cold storage vs. office), see our guide to Illinois commercial solar for businesses.

4 · The process

How to claim it: we carry the paperwork

The ComEd rebate application, interconnection filing, smart-inverter documentation, and load-offset verification are bundled into your project, not left for you to chase down separately. We also manage FEOC-compliant equipment sourcing as part of the same process, so a sourcing misstep doesn't put your separate 48E credit at risk. You sign, we file.

5 · The deadline

Why the clock matters

The ComEd rebate itself is a straightforward utility program, but almost every business claiming it is also racing the bigger deadline: the 30% federal 48E credit requires your system placed in service, energized and running, by December 31, 2027. There's no phase-down after that; it's a cliff, not a slope. Because the ComEd rebate, the 48E credit, and Illinois Shines RECs are usually filed as one project, the practical deadline that matters is the 2027 one.

Sources, official program documents: ComEd: Commercial Solar & Storage Rebate Program · Illinois Power Agency: Illinois Shines · IRS Notice 2025-42 (Section 48E beginning-of-construction rules). Not tax advice: confirm your position with your CPA.

Still have questions?

ComEd rebate FAQ