Do solar panels really save money? Our 18-month update on Sunrun solar panel savings shows the highs, lows, and what we’ve actually paid so far.
Ever since we had our solar panel system installed in April 2024, one of the most common questions I get is, “Do solar panels really save you money?” Honestly, it comes up all the time, whether in my inbox, on Instagram, or from neighbors walking by the house. I get it. Solar panels can feel a little too good to be true. Free energy from the sun? Lower electricity bills? It almost sounds like a scam.
Now that we are a year and a half in, I finally have enough data (and a big stack of ComEd bills) to share a real answer. This is not the glossy brochure version that a solar installer hands you. It is our actual experience as a family of four in Chicago. I will walk you through what our monthly electricity bills look like, when the solar savings feel noticeable, and the times when it has not made much financial sense.
So let’s dig into our 18 month update on solar panel savings. Here is the good, the bad, and everything in between.
Why We Chose Solar in the First Place
Like most families, we are always looking for ways to be more eco-friendly and to lower our energy costs. The idea of powering our home with the sun’s energy felt exciting and responsible. Our kids are growing up hearing about climate change, fossil fuels, and protecting the planet, and we wanted to model what it looks like to take small steps in the right direction.
There were also practical reasons. Electricity costs in Illinois have been climbing, and we knew that our utility bills were only going to get more unpredictable. When a Sunrun representative came to our neighborhood and explained their leasing program, we were curious. Leasing meant no upfront costs, no huge initial investment, and the company would handle the solar panel installation, maintenance, and monitoring. All we had to do was agree to a monthly payment.
Buying a solar energy system outright would have unlocked more financial incentives – like the federal tax credit – but the cost of the system was around $30,000. Since we were not ready to make that kind of upfront investment, the lease felt like the right fit.
If you buy a solar panel system, you may qualify for the federal solar tax credit, also called the Residential Clean Energy Credit. It lets you deduct 30% of the total system cost from your federal income taxes. Sadly, this credit is scheduled to expire at the end of 2025.
How Solar Panel Savings Actually Work
Here is the simple version. Your solar panels produce electricity in kilowatt hours (kWh). If you make more than you use, the extra flows back to the grid and you earn net metering credits. If you need more than your panels are making, you pull from the grid as usual, and the credits help offset your bill.
Because we lease, we do not get the federal tax credit or other upfront incentives. Instead, we pay Sunrun a fixed monthly fee (around $70) that covers installation, monitoring, and maintenance. The idea is that lower ComEd bills, plus that steady Sunrun payment, will add up to savings. In reality, some months we see a benefit and other months we do not.
Our Real Numbers: 18 Months of Data
This is the part everyone wants to know about – the bills. I went through every ComEd statement from the past year and a half and compared them to what we would have paid without solar, using the actual supply rates from each month. That matters, because ComEd’s electricity rates have jumped from around 6.9¢/kWh in 2024 to about 10¢/kWh in 2025. Even though each kilowatt hour of solar is worth more now, the lease fee has still tipped the balance.
- Spring: Our best months. Panels covered a big chunk of our usage, and we saved about $25–30.
- Summer: Mixed. In 2024,
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