Solar questions, answered straight.

Not for homeowners. It ended 31 December 2025. Business-owned systems are a separate rule and still qualify. See the commercial page.

For business-owned systems, yes, under Section 48E. It ended for homeowners on 31 December 2025 under a different section of the code. Placed in service by 31 December 2027.

No. It is a REC purchase program. Eligibility, value and timing depend on your project and the program block it lands in, and nothing is guaranteed until the program approves it.

No. We can show you exactly how the estimate is built and what every assumption depends on. Your accountant confirms whether your entity can realise it.

No. We show every incentive as an estimate with its assumptions written down, and your tax preparer or accountant confirms what your situation can use. Nothing about Illinois Shines is final until the program approves the application.

More complicated, and it turns on who owns the improvement and who holds the tax liability. Worth a conversation before you spend time on it.

Longer than residential, and interconnection is the variable. We'll give you a realistic schedule against the 2027 deadline before you commit.

Yes. That is most of this work.

That's our service path, and we work on systems we didn't install.

Within five business days across our service area. If it is an emergency, say so when you call. An active electrical fault, storm damage or water getting into the house gets triaged differently.

You pay for the diagnostic and you get a written explanation of what is wrong and what it would take. That is worth something even if the answer is bad news.

Ask. Most residential systems do not need one. Commercial systems with revenue-grade metering and production obligations usually do.

Sometimes, depending on where the project sits in the programme. Tell us the situation and we'll tell you honestly what is still possible.

Yes. That is most of this work.

No. You get the report either way.

Most inspections are finished inside the two hours the call fee covers. A large array, or a system nobody can get monitoring access to, takes longer, and we tell you that before we start.

Yes. Tell us the closing date when you call.

Sometimes. If your roof has under about ten years left, it is usually cheaper to replace it before the array goes on than to pay us to take the panels off and put them back later. We will tell you which case you're in.

$275 per panel to remove, $275 per panel to reinstall, and that price includes all-new rails, clamps and attachment hardware. A twelve-panel array is $6,600 in total. Every mounting point we create or reuse carries a twelve-year leak-free workmanship warranty. Detach and reinstall

Yes, and before the roof scope is finalised. Hail cracks cells inside a panel that looks fine from the ground, and the loss shows up in production data rather than in photographs. We document the solar side while the claim is still open. Storm solar check

Braven was founded in 2021, is family-owned, and solar is all we do.

A Designee. Illinois Shines has two roles: the Approved Vendor holds the REC contract with the utility, and the Designee sells and installs the system under that vendor. Braven is Designee D5008 on the state's Find-a-Designee register, and Carbon Solutions SREC LLC is the Approved Vendor on every Illinois Shines application we file.

The Approved Vendor, not Braven. Carbon Solutions SREC LLC (CSG) holds the REC contract with the program and pays you: half within months of switch-on, the rest quarterly over six years, less the program fee shown on your Disclosure Form. The ComEd rebate comes from ComEd by cheque after Permission to Operate. Neither payment runs through us, so neither depends on us staying in business. How Illinois Shines pays

No. We install on-site systems, service them, and take them off and put them back for roof work. Community solar is a subscription to a share of somebody else’s array, and it is a different business.

Yes. Service meters, main panels and utility coordination are in scope. Interior branch circuits and downstream work are quoted separately.