Free Solar Panels in Indiana: Why the Zero-Down Math Changed (2026)

The free-solar pitch still working Indiana’s doors was written for a state that no longer exists. It assumes every kilowatt-hour (kWh, the unit on your bill) your panels send to the grid is worth what you pay for power. Indiana closed that deal, called net metering, to new systems no later than July 1, 2022. Now a “the savings cover the payment” promise depends on how much of the panels’ power you use at the moment it is made.

The pitch did not update when the export rules did. Your audit has to. This page is about the offers wearing the word free.

The Old Pitch vs 2026 Indiana

The gap in one example: 100 kWh used at home avoids about $16.58 at the Indiana average price. The same 100 kWh sent out earns $5.43 at AES Indiana, $11.15 less. The credit is 1.25 times the utility’s average wholesale price from the year before (Indiana Code 8-1-40), so the gap is built in. Full rules: our guide to Indiana solar incentives.

Is Any Indiana Solar Actually Free?

Not from the state. Two efforts carry the “Solar for All” name, and neither is a giveaway you can sign up for today.

• Solar Opportunities Indiana is the federal Solar for All grant, led by the Indiana Community Action Association. It received an EPA termination letter on August 7, 2025. Federal courts ruled the termination unlawful in September 2026, and EPA was weighing an appeal as of October 1. On October 5, 2026, its site still showed the notice and no way for a household to apply.
• Indiana Solar for All is a small nonprofit project of the Center for Sustainable Living. It gives grants on a sliding scale to homeowners who “pay” with 80 hours of volunteer work on installations. Its 2026 application window ran February 20 to March 15, 2026, so it is closed until the next round.

Zero-Down Solar in Indiana: The Credit Follows the Owner

Elsewhere, “free” solar is usually a lease (a company owns the panels on your roof and charges a monthly fee) or a power purchase agreement (PPA: the company sells you the panels’ power at a price per kWh). Indiana’s export credit is written for a generator “owned and operated by Customer”, in the words of the AES Indiana and CenterPoint Energy rate sheets. That leaves a loan as the zero-down route that fits the rules.

Lease or PPA? In Indiana there is nothing to compare. A July 2025 count built on DSIRE data listed Indiana among the states with no home lease or PPA offers, and Palmetto, a lease company named in that report, said it had none here. Compare loan rates and lifetime cost in our solar financing guide.

A battery changes the math more in Indiana than in most states, because it turns low-credit exports into power you use in the evening at the retail price. That is exactly why it should be priced as its own line with its own payback, not buried in a monthly payment.

NIPSCO, AES Indiana, Duke, CenterPoint or I&M: The Rate Your Payment Meets

Indiana’s five investor-owned utilities each set their own export credit and reset it at least once a year. Your meter counts power in and power out on separate channels, so noon exports do not cancel evening use. Duke Energy Indiana counts in blocks of 30 minutes; the others count as it happens.

Homes that joined net metering before it closed keep it until July 1, 2032, or until July 1, 2047 if enrolled by December 31, 2017. Make any company name your utility, the export rate it modeled and that rate’s date, in writing.

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 home exports the cheap hours and buys the expensive ones, with a payment on top.
• The savings need the old net metering. Ask which export rate the model used. A blank stare is your answer.
• Your roof is on borrowed time. No contract fixes a bad roof underneath it.

The Indiana Ten-Minute Audit

1. Who owns the system on day one?

   If the answer is not you, ask how the utility will credit its exports, and get the utility’s answer, not the seller’s.

2. Which export rate did the model use, from which utility, and dated when?

   A quote that values exports at your bill price uses rules that closed.

3. What share of the power will your home use as it is made?

   It should come from your actual usage, not the roof size.

4. What is the cash price of the same system?

   Compare it with what solar costs in Indiana (a typical 7.92 kW system is about $24,235).

5. Does the quote subtract any tax break?

   Neither the federal home credit nor the Indiana property tax deduction is available for a new system.

6. If a battery is included, what is its own price and payback?

   Then ask who backs the workmanship warranty in year twelve.

More Indiana Solar Guides

• Indiana solar incentivesExport credits by utility and what has ended
• Cost of solar in IndianaThe cash price to hold a loan quote against
• Is solar worth it in Indiana?The go or no-go math under export credits
• Indiana solar companiesInstallers working in the state
• Free solar panels in the USHow zero-down offers work in other states

Frequently Asked Questions