Summit Energy Solutions

Learn about rooftop solar

The rooftop solar landscape changed substantially between 2024 and 2026. The federal residential credit ended Dec 31, 2025. Illinois rewrote its export billing structure. Several long-running industry-wide sales practices got hit with state attorney general indictments. This section walks through what is actually true right now for Illinois homeowners, with primary-source citations and a verification date on every page.

Start here · 6 min read
How rooftop solar actually works
Plain-English walkthrough — panels, inverter, the grid, what shows up on your bill. Read this before anyone pitches you.

Cities

Each city page covers typical install cost, real production estimates, BBB-rated installers serving that ZIP, and the honest "is it worth it" read.

Lake Zurich
Lake County, IL
Schaumburg
Cook County, IL
Wheaton
DuPage County, IL
Aurora
Kane County, IL
Joliet
Will County, IL
More Chicago suburbs
See the IL hub

Topics

Sourced guides on the federal, state, and sales-practice changes that move Illinois homeowner math. Each one cites the underlying source and shows when it was last verified.

The federal solar credit in 2026
What changed when the One Big Beautiful Bill ended the residential clean energy credit on December 31, 2025.
Illinois solar buyback rates after January 2025
Smart Solar Billing replaced full-rate export credits. What the per-kWh value actually is now for ComEd and Ameren customers.
How to read a solar quote
The questions to ask, the line items that hide dealer fees, and the gotchas that show up after signing.
What your salesperson won't say
Patterns documented by the CFPB, the FTC, and multiple state attorneys general. What to listen for.
Is the Illinois 25% solar tax credit real?
A widely-published affiliate claim about an Illinois state income tax credit. What primary sources show.

How we work

We treat this site like a public utility, not a marketing funnel. Every claim has a citation, every page has a verification date, and where sources disagree we say so. See the methodology page for source hierarchy and what we won't publish without confirmation.

How we research and verify →