The free-solar pitch still working Indiana’s doors was written for a state that no longer exists. It assumes exported power earns retail value, and Indiana closed retail net metering, which means every “the savings cover the payment” promise now depends on how much of the system’s output you personally consume as it is produced. No Indiana program gives panels away. What is on offer are contracts whose fine print was priced for the old rules.
The pitch did not update when the export rules did. Your audit has to.
Test a $0-down pitch against current Indiana rules
The Old Pitch vs 2026 Indiana
| The pitch still assumes | The 2026 Indiana reality |
|---|---|
| Every kilowatt-hour is worth retail | Only self-consumed power avoids retail; exports earn a rate below it |
| Bigger systems mean bigger savings | Surplus beyond your daytime use earns an export rate well below retail, reset each year by your utility |
| Annual production times rate equals savings | Load shape decides value; noon production against an 8pm household mostly exports |
| The federal credit sweetens the deal | $0 for purchased systems whose installation is completed after December 31, 2025 |
The numbers those rows turn on: NIPSCO credits excess distributed generation at about 3.8¢ per kilowatt-hour (tariff rate $0.038333, effective March 31, 2025), AES Indiana pays about 3.9¢, and Indiana’s statewide average residential price sits at 16.58¢ per kilowatt-hour, a statewide average for context rather than any utility’s price. The export rate is redetermined annually from the prior-year average hourly wholesale price, so the gap between what you pay and what exports earn is structural, not a bad year.
The export mechanics live in our guide to Indiana solar incentives, and the go/no-go decision in whether solar is worth it in Indiana. This page is about the contracts wearing the word free.
The Three Structures, Priced Against the Wrong Rules
- Lease: a monthly payment on a system whose sizing probably came from the old math. Most leases and PPAs raise that payment every year, often 2 to 3%, so ask for the escalator rate and the year-25 payment in writing before you sign. Ask what self-consumption share the model assumed and how it derived that from your usage.
- PPA: you buy every kilowatt-hour the system makes, including the ones that export at the low rate. A per-kilowatt-hour price that ignores the export split is mispriced by design.
- $0-down loan: you own the system, the dealer fee, and the sizing decision. Get the cash price beside the financed total; what solar costs in Indiana is the benchmark.
A battery changes this calculus more in Indiana than in most states, because it converts export-rate production into retail-rate self-consumption. Which is exactly why it should be priced as its own line with its own arithmetic, not buried in a payment.
You Likely Will Not Qualify If
- You expect a government program. Indiana runs no residential giveaway; claims of one are marketing.
- Your evenings are your usage. Without storage, an evening-heavy household exports the cheap hours and buys the expensive ones, with a payment on top.
- The quote’s savings need the old net metering. Ask directly which export rate the model uses; a blank stare is your answer.
- Your roof is on borrowed time. No contract structure fixes a bad roof underneath it.
The Indiana Ten-Minute Audit
- What is the annual escalator, and what is the payment in the final contract year?
- Which export rate did the model use, from which utility, and what self-consumption share did it assume?
- How was that share derived from my actual usage pattern?
- What is the cash price of the identical system?
- If a battery is included, what is its own line price and its own payback logic?
- Who backs the workmanship warranty in year twelve, and from where? Our Indiana installer rankings test exactly this.
Test the Pitch Against My Load Shape
Under Indiana’s export rules, when you use power decides what solar is worth. Enter your ZIP code and put any $0-down offer against your actual usage before the contract does.
See the post-net-metering math for your ZIP
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Indiana has no free panel program, and its export rules make careless $0-down deals weaker than in most states. Offers of free solar are leases, power purchase agreements, or loans.
Not a statewide one. “No cost” means the upfront cost moved into a payment stream. Any genuine assistance runs through specific utilities or community programs and is verified with them directly.
Indiana closed retail-rate net metering to new residential customers; exported power now earns a rate below retail. That single change is why old-style free-solar pitches mislead here.
It helps more here than almost anywhere: storage converts low-value exports into retail-value self-consumption. It still has to clear its own arithmetic as a separate line item, not vanish into a bundle.
The company that owns the system. The federal residential credit ended for purchased systems whose installation is completed after December 31, 2025; business-side treatment follows the owner and helps you only if the payment shows it.
It names your utility’s export rate, derives self-consumption from your real usage, sizes to consumption rather than the roof, prices any battery separately, and shows the cash price beside the payments. Five items, one page, no exceptions.
References & Research Sources
EcoGen America reviewed Indiana regulatory resources on excess distributed generation, utility materials, and federal tax guidance for this article. Sources were accessed August 5, 2026, unless another publication, release, effective, or update date is listed below.
- Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC). Net Metering and Excess Distributed Generation Resources. State regulatory resource covering the move away from retail-rate net metering and current export compensation. Accessed August 5, 2026.
- Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor (OUCC). Residential Solar Consumer Resources. State consumer resource covering rooftop solar economics under current rules. Accessed August 5, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS). FAQs for Modification of Sections 25C, 25D, 25E, 30C, 30D, 45L, 45W and 179D under Public Law 119-21. Federal guidance confirming termination of the residential clean energy credit for installations completed after December 31, 2025, and business-side treatment relevant to third-party ownership. Accessed August 5, 2026.
