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 about a third of that at AES Indiana. In our example a typical owned system at AES Indiana’s credit does not pay for itself within the 25 years panels usually last. If every kWh counted at the full price, it would take about 15 years. The more solar you use as it is made, the closer you get to 15.
Typical payback, AES Indiana creditMore than 25 years
Today’s credit or full priceAbout 15 to more than 25 years
Typical owned 8.34 kW Indiana system at $24,770 cash (EcoGen Solar Cost Index, September 2026), no incentives, 16.94¢ EIA average price, AES Indiana credit. Our assumptions: 40% used at home as it is made, $250 a year in owner costs. See the math.
- Daytime use: the share of your power used while the sun is up.
- Utility: its export credit (3.639 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.
One Indiana system, priced two ways
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
- 40% / 60%
- Average price (EIA, 12 months)
- $0.1694/kWh
- Export credit
- $0.054325/kWh
- Owner-cost allowance
- $250/yr
- Used-at-home value
11,384 × 40% × $0.1694$771/yr - Export value
11,384 × 60% × $0.054325$371/yr - Yearly savings after owner costs
$771 + $371 − $250$892/yr - Simple cash payback
$24,770 ÷ $892about 27.8 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 AES Indiana’s export credit of 5.4325 cents per kWh (effective July 27, 2026). The 16.94¢ EIA average includes fixed charges, so the rate you avoid is likely a little lower. Our assumptions: 40% of the solar power used at home as it is made and 60% sent to the grid, and $250 a year in owner costs ($30 per kW, including a reserve for a new inverter). The 40/60 split is a planning assumption based on home-use research, not a measured Indiana average.
Now count every solar kWh at the full price, as if the home used all of its solar as it was made. Net metering paid this before it closed. No new system gets it; it is the ceiling better timing moves you toward.
| Scenario | Export credit | Export value | Yearly savings | Simple payback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Today’s rule: exports at AES’s credit | $0.054325/kWh | $371 | $892 | about 27.8 years |
| Every kWh at the full price | $0.1694/kWh | $1,157 | $1,678 | about 14.8 years |
The gap between the two lines is the cost of the clock. Each kWh that leaves the house instead of running your home gives up about 11.5¢ at AES Indiana.
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 27.8 years
simple cash payback
- Used-at-home value
- $771/yr
- Export value
- $371/yr
- Owner costs
- −$250/yr
- Yearly savings
- $892/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; 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 $16.94 at the Indiana average price. The same 100 kWh sent out earns $5.43 at AES Indiana.
Used at home: 4,554 kWh. Each one replaces power you would have bought, so it saves the full variable rate ($0.1694 here).
Sent to the grid: 6,830 kWh. These earn whatever your utility pays for exports ($0.054325 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 | Last approved rate, read October 6, 2026; a filed 5.5143 cents is still pending |
| Indiana Michigan Power | 3.639 cents per kWh | Last approved rate, read October 6, 2026; a filed 5.466 cents is still pending |
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 $115 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 about 11.5¢ 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 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 example a typical owned system takes about 28 years with AES Indiana’s export credit, longer than panels usually last, and about 15 if every kWh counted at the full price. 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 3.639 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 $115 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 about 11.5¢ 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 example, about 28 years for a typical 8.34 kW system at $24,770, with 40% of the power used at home as it is made and exports at AES Indiana’s credit. That is longer than the 25 years panels usually last. If every kWh counted at the full price, it would take about 15 years.
Sources, method and corrections
The example uses the EcoGen Solar Cost Index typical Indiana system (September 2026), the EIA average price and AES Indiana’s filed export credit. Our assumptions, not measured values: 40% of the solar power used at home as it is made and 60% sent to the grid, and $250 a year in owner costs ($30 per kW, including a reserve for a new inverter). The second case counts every kWh at the full price, as if all solar were used as it was made. 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 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 (August 2025 to July 2026)
- IRS: Residential Clean Energy Credit
- EcoGen Solar Cost Index, September 2026: what solar costs in Indiana
