Indiana solar now pays by the clock. Solar your home uses as it is made saves the full price; power sent to the grid earns well under half of that at AES Indiana. In our per-utility figures a typical owned system pays for itself in about 23 years before incentives at AES Indiana, close to the 25 years panels usually last, and in about 17 to 18 years at NIPSCO and CenterPoint Energy Indiana South. The more solar you use as it is made, the sooner it pays back.
Typical payback, AES IndianaAbout 23 years
By utilityAbout 17 to 23 years
Typical owned 8.34 kW Indiana system at $24,770 cash (EcoGen Solar Cost Index, September 2026), simple payback before incentives from our per-utility figures of October 30, 2026: AES Indiana’s own EIA price with its fixed charge taken out (13.570¢), its 5.433¢ credit, and the 51% of output its solar homes reported sending to the grid. No upkeep or price rises counted. See the math.
- Daytime use: the share of your power used while the sun is up.
- Utility: its export credit (4.0856 cents per kWh to 5.561 cents per kWh at the large utilities) and that rate’s date.
- System size: matched to daytime use, not the whole yearly bill.
2026 rules: new home systems get no 30% federal homeowner credit (IRS), and Indiana’s solar property tax deduction has ended. Since July 1, 2022 at the latest, new systems at the five large utilities earn the lower EDG credit for power they export.
How we checked this guide
Export credits come from utility rate sheets, rules from Indiana law and the state utility commission, prices from the U.S. EIA. Assumed numbers are labelled.
The writer and checker shown above are EcoGen staff. EcoGen is paid when homeowners request quotes, which is explained beside the quote form. Read our editorial standards.
The Indiana question is what time you use power
A kWh (kilowatt-hour) is the unit on your power bill. A kWh your home uses the moment the panels make it replaces power you would have bought. A kWh that leaves the house earns a much smaller credit. So Indiana pays the homes that use their solar by day, move loads into daylight, or store it for the evening. Read each row across.
Daytime use
Worth a closer look
Someone is home by day, or the water heater, pool pump or EV charger can run at midday.
Pause and check
The house sits empty on weekdays, most power is used after dark, and nothing can move.
Check next: your hourly use in the utility portal: the share used from about 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Utility and credit
Worth a closer look
AES Indiana, NIPSCO or CenterPoint Energy, with a dated credit in the quote.
Pause and check
Duke Energy, Indiana Michigan Power, a city utility or an REMC, and no credit in writing.
Check next: the credit per kWh on the proposal and the date of the rate sheet it came from.
System size
Worth a closer look
Sized to what you use by day, and no larger than your yearly use.
Pause and check
Sized to wipe out the whole bill, so much of it goes out at the low credit.
Check next: year-one kWh next to 12 months of bills.
Price, roof and time in home
Worth a closer look
A cash price near the Index’s $24,770 for 8.34 kW ($2.97 per watt), a sound roof and plans to stay.
Pause and check
A dealer fee in the loan, a roof that needs work soon, or a likely move.
Check next: cash and financed prices side by side, the roof’s age and your moving plans.
Ready to get real quotes for your Indiana home?
Quotes are free. Hold each one against the payback math below.
Solar providers that serve your area may contact you, and they pay EcoGen for the introduction. How we make money.
One Indiana system at three utilities
The export credit is what your utility pays, as a bill credit, for each kWh your panels send to the grid. Simple payback is the years your savings take to cover what you paid: net cost divided by yearly savings. Here is the typical Indiana system with AES Indiana’s credit.
- Cash price
- $24,770
- Confirmed incentives
- $0
- Year-one production
- 11,384 kWh
- Used at home / exported
- 48.6% / 51.4%
- AES price, fixed charge out
- $0.13570/kWh
- Export credit
- $0.05433/kWh
- Owner-cost allowance
- Not counted
- Used-at-home value
11,384 × 48.6% × $0.13570$751/yr - Export value
11,384 × 51.4% × $0.05433$318/yr - Yearly savings
$751 + $318$1,069/yr - Simple cash payback
$24,770 ÷ $1,069about 23.2 years
Inputs: the EcoGen Solar Cost Index typical Indiana system (8.34 kW, $24,770 cash, September 2026; 1,365 kWh per kW a year, so about 11,384 kWh in year one) and our per-utility payback figures of October 30, 2026. AES Indiana’s EIA 12-month price is 15.427¢; taking out its $17.00 monthly customer charge, spread over its homes’ average 10,985 kWh a year, leaves 13.570¢ for each kWh used at home. Exports earn 5.433¢ under Rider 16 (effective July 27, 2026). The 51.4% sent to the grid is the share AES Indiana’s solar homes reported to EIA, not a measurement at your meter. The figures count no upkeep and no price rises.
Now the same system at the two other large utilities in our figures. Each uses its own price, export credit and reported export share.
| Utility | Export credit | Export value | Yearly savings | Simple payback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AES Indiana | $0.05433/kWh | $318 | $1,069 | about 23.2 years |
| NIPSCO | $0.04969/kWh | $328 | $1,352 | about 18.3 years |
| CenterPoint Energy Indiana South | $0.05561/kWh | $325 | $1,435 | about 17.3 years |
Higher prices at NIPSCO and CenterPoint make each kWh used at home worth more there. At AES Indiana, each kWh that leaves the house instead of running your home gives up about 8¢: 13.570¢ saved against 5.433¢ earned. Duke Energy Indiana and Indiana Michigan Power have no figure yet. Our Indiana figure, about 20.1 years, covers AES Indiana, NIPSCO and CenterPoint Energy Indiana South, 36% of Indiana homes, weighted by home counts (EIA-861, 2024).
Run your own Indiana numbers
The tool starts with the AES Indiana case above. Enter your quote, your utility’s credit and your share used at home, then press Calculate. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
Example result
about 23.2 years
simple cash payback
- Used-at-home value
- $751/yr
- Export value
- $318/yr
- Owner costs
- −$0/yr
- Yearly savings
- $1,069/yr
- Net cost
- $24,770
Starts with the AES Indiana case. Raise the share used at home to see what timing is worth. Flat first-year values with no upkeep; rates and panel wear will change it.
How instant netting splits your solar
Indiana law, Indiana Code 8-1-40, calls the power you send out excess distributed generation, or EDG. Each large utility credits it at 1.25 times its average wholesale price from the year before. That is far below your bill price.
AES Indiana, NIPSCO and CenterPoint Energy count power in and out separately as it happens; Duke Energy Indiana nets it in 30 minutes blocks. Noon exports do not cancel power bought at night. In easy numbers: 100 kWh used at home saves about $16.90 at the Indiana average price. The same 100 kWh sent out earns $5.43 at AES Indiana.
Used at home: 5,534 kWh. Each one replaces power you would have bought, so it saves your price ($0.13570 at AES Indiana, fixed charge out).
Sent to the grid: 5,850 kWh. These earn whatever your utility pays for exports ($0.05433 here). That can be far less.
| Utility | Credit per kWh sent out | In force since |
|---|---|---|
| CenterPoint Energy Indiana South | 5.561 cents per kWh | March 1, 2026 |
| AES Indiana | 5.4325 cents per kWh | July 27, 2026 |
| NIPSCO | 4.9685 cents per kWh | April 1, 2026 |
| Duke Energy Indiana | 4.0856 cents per kWh | Still in force on October 19, 2026; a filed 5.5143 cents is still pending |
| Indiana Michigan Power | 5.466 cents per kWh | The March 2026 billing month (Rider EDG, read October 19, 2026) |
Credits reset at least yearly. Unused credit carries forward on your bill but is lost when you close the account. Homes on net metering by December 31, 2017 keep it until July 1, 2047; those that joined later, before it closed, keep it until July 1, 2032.
Get quotes that model your daytime use
Ask each installer what share of the power your home will use as it is made, and how they know.
Solar providers that serve your area may contact you, and they pay EcoGen for the introduction. How we make money.
Moving your use into daylight, and where a battery fits
Measure first. If your utility portal shows hourly use, divide what you use from about 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. by your total. That is close to the share a right-sized system will use at home.
Shift for free. Timers on the water heater, pool pump and dishwasher, and midday EV charging, move use into solar hours. At AES Indiana, every 1,000 kWh you use at home instead of exporting is worth about $81 a year. Then size the system to that pattern; AES Indiana caps a home system at your average yearly use.
Price a battery on its own line. It moves noon power into the evening, gaining about 8¢ per kWh at AES Indiana, minus storage losses. Its cost divided by the yearly value of the kWh it moves has to fit inside its warranty life.
Buying, borrowing or leasing in Indiana
| Option | Who owns the panels | Upfront | Ongoing | Check before signing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | You | Full price | None to a lender. | The credit and share used at home the quote assumes. |
| Loan | You | Often $0 | Loan payment, plus your remaining utility bill. | Cash vs financed price. A dealer fee adds years. |
| Lease or PPA | Solar company | Often $0 | A monthly payment or a price per kWh. | AES Indiana’s export rule covers systems the customer owns and runs. Ask in writing how exports are credited. |
For loan terms, see our solar financing guide. A quote that subtracts the property tax deduction (ended from January 1, 2025) or the federal credit is out of date.
What to find in an Indiana solar proposal
A proposal that never asks when you use power is a brochure, not a payback estimate.
- Credit rate and date. The export credit per kWh the quote used, and the rate sheet date it came from.
- Share used at home. The percent of solar you will use as it is made, and the data behind it.
- Size against your use. Year-one kWh next to a year of bills. Your utility caps the size at your average yearly use.
- No ended incentives. No federal credit and no property tax deduction subtracted from the price.
- Cash and financed prices. Both totals side by side, with any dealer fee shown.
- Connection paperwork. Who files the application, proof of liability insurance and the electrician’s sign-off.
Compare Indiana solar quotes
Ask each installer for the share of power you will use at home and the dated export credit behind it. Enter your ZIP code to request quotes from solar providers that serve your area.
How EcoGen is paid
EcoGen America does not sell or install solar. When you request quotes, we pass your request to solar providers serving your area, and they pay us for the introduction. Providers can include installers, solar marketplaces and lead exchanges, and more than one may contact you. You never pay us.
More Indiana solar guides
- Indiana solar guide: utilities, incentives and installers in one place
- Indiana solar companies: compare local installers before you request quotes
- Indiana solar incentives: the export credit by utility, and what has ended
- What solar costs in Indiana
- Free solar panels in Indiana: what a zero-down offer means
- Are solar panels worth it? The national guide and payback calculator
All 51 state guides
Indiana solar questions, answered
Are solar panels worth it in Indiana?
They can be, mostly for homes that use much of their power by day. In our per-utility figures a typical owned system takes about 23 years before incentives at AES Indiana, close to the 25 years panels usually last, and about 17 to 18 years at NIPSCO and CenterPoint Energy Indiana South. Daytime use, utility and price decide the rest.
Is solar worth it in Indiana without net metering?
It can be. Net metering closed to new systems no later than July 1, 2022. Today power you use as it is made still saves the full price, while power you export earns 4.0856 cents per kWh to 5.561 cents per kWh at the large utilities. The share used at home now matters most.
Does solar make sense in Indiana for a 9-to-5 household?
Often only with changes. An empty house at midday sends much of its solar out at the low credit. Running the water heater, dishwasher or EV charger at midday raises the share you use at home. At AES Indiana, each 1,000 kWh moved that way is worth about $81 a year.
What are the pros and cons of solar panels in Indiana?
Pros: every kWh you use as it is made saves your full price, and unused credit carries forward on your bill. Cons: exports earn about a third of the price at AES Indiana, there is no state rebate, the property tax deduction ended, and the federal homeowner credit ended for systems finished after December 31, 2025.
Is a battery worth it in Indiana?
It has a stronger case here than in a full-credit state, because each kWh it moves from export to evening use gains about 8¢ at AES Indiana. Price it on its own line: its cost against the yearly value of the kWh it moves, minus storage losses, within its warranty life.
How long does solar take to pay off in Indiana?
In our per-utility figures, simple payback before incentives for a typical 8.34 kW system at $24,770 is about 23.2 years at AES Indiana, with exports at its credit and 51% of the power sent to the grid, as its solar homes reported. It is 18.3 years at NIPSCO and 17.3 years at CenterPoint Energy Indiana South. Our Indiana figure, about 20.1 years, covers these three utilities, 36% of Indiana homes, weighted by home counts (EIA-861, 2024).
Sources, method and corrections
The example uses the EcoGen Solar Cost Index typical Indiana system (September 2026) and our per-utility payback figures of October 30, 2026: each utility’s EIA 12-month price (September 2025 to August 2026) with its fixed monthly charge taken out, its filed export credit and the export share its solar homes reported to EIA. The figures count no upkeep and no price rises. Simple payback uses flat first-year values. The calculator runs in your browser and sends nothing.
Spotted an error? Tell us through our corrections and feedback process.
- AES Indiana: Standard Contract Rider No. 16, Excess Distributed Generation (read October 5, 2026)
- NIPSCO: Rider 689, Excess Distributed Generation (checked October 1, 2026)
- CenterPoint Energy Indiana South: Tariff for Electric Service, Rider EDG (checked October 1, 2026)
- Duke Energy Indiana: annual Excess Distributed Generation rate update, calendar year 2025 (read October 6, 2026)
- Indiana Michigan Power: compliance filing, Excess Distributed Generation Rider (read October 6, 2026)
- Indiana Michigan Power: Indiana tariff book, Rider EDG Second Revised Sheet No. 41.8 (5.466 cents from the March 2026 billing month, read October 19, 2026)
- Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission: net metering resource page
- Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission: Indiana Code 8-1-40
- Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission: General Administrative Order 2017-2
- Indiana Department of Local Government Finance: memo on deductions, June 12, 2025
- U.S. EIA: average residential electricity price by state (September 2025 to August 2026)
- IRS: Residential Clean Energy Credit
- EcoGen Solar Cost Index, September 2026: what solar costs in Indiana
