Insights

Commercial Solar

Commercial solar pays for one reason: the incentives. A 30% federal credit, depreciation against real tax liability, and in some cases a grant or an assessment-based financing structure are what turn a six-figure roof project into a deal that closes. Which of those a particular business can actually capture depends on facts about that business, and most of them are knowable before anyone climbs on the roof.

What is not knowable is the future. Every proposal a building owner receives assumes their electricity rate climbs three or four percent a year, forever, and that single assumption does more work in shortening the payback than the hardware does. We do not make it. The work in this section computes what the tax code and your own bill already say, holds your rate flat, and names every figure we refused to guess at.

7 articlesUpdated JUL 30 2026

Explore the topic

01ComEd Interconnection: Will Your Commercial Solar Project Clear It?Interconnection decides whether a commercial solar project happens at all, and which ComEd review level you land in is set by your export and nameplate size before anyone designs anything. What the levels are, and what they cost you in time.Read02Does Your Solar or Battery Need ComEd Rider POG?Rider POG governs generating facilities operating in parallel with ComEd's system. Whether it applies to your project, and whether a battery that never exports triggers anything at all, follows from what the rider is actually written about.Read03Commercial Solar Payback Calculator: Incentives, Honestly StackedCalculate commercial solar payback with the incentives stacked honestly: the 30% federal tax credit, MACRS depreciation against the tax you can actually offset, real typical-year production for your address, and your electricity rate held flat. Free, no signup, nothing sold.Read04Is Your Electricity Supply Charge the Part Worth Attacking?The supply charge is the part of your electricity bill you can shop, and the only part solar offsets. It is also often the smaller half on a commercial account. Which half is actually worth attacking depends on your own bill.Read05Which Illinois Commercial Solar Incentives Can You Actually Capture?Commercial solar in Illinois pays because of what you can stack: the federal credit, depreciation, the state REC program, and in some cases a grant. Which of them you can actually use depends on facts about your business, not about your roof.Read06Does Illinois Net Metering Still Make Commercial Solar Pay?Illinois moved to supply-only net metering in 2025. Exports now credit at the supply rate instead of full retail, and they never touch your demand charge. Here is what that does to a commercial solar payback, and what it does not.Read07kW vs kWh: Which One Is Actually Costing You Money?kW is how fast you draw power; kWh is how much you used. On a commercial bill they are charged separately, and cutting one does not cut the other. Which of the two is driving your bill is a question your own meter data answers.Read