guide7 min read

Denied for Solar in Illinois? Federal Law Says They Owe You a Real Reason

Ryan Cook•August 13, 2026•Updated Sep 13, 2026

Most people ask me this one quietly, usually near the end of the conversation, usually after they've already decided they want solar. What credit score do I need?

It's a fair question with an annoying answer: nobody publishes a number. Not the state, not the financing companies, not me. What I can tell you is which door tends to be the most forgiving, what actually gets weighed, and — the part almost nobody in my industry brings up — exactly what a company legally owes you if the answer comes back no.

That last part is worth more than the number you're looking for.

There is no magic number, and be skeptical of anyone who gives you one

The figure floating around the internet is 650. It's a reasonable ballpark. It is not a rule, and I've watched it break in both directions.

Underwriting looks at the whole file. How much of your available credit you're currently using matters a lot. So does how recent any late payments are — a 30-day late from four years ago lands very differently than one from March. Length of history, total debt against income, recent applications: all of it goes in.

When a salesperson tells you the cutoff is exactly 640 or exactly 680, they're describing one company's internal standards on one product on one day. That's not nothing, but it isn't the market.

The three doors have three different standards

This is the practical fork, and it's where most of the confusion lives.

A lease or power purchase agreement is usually the softest credit door of the three. The financing company keeps ownership of the equipment on your roof, which changes what it's underwriting — there's a real asset it retains, rather than a pile of borrowed money. In my experience these applications also start with a soft pull, so the first look at your file costs your score nothing. If you're weighing this against buying, I've broken down the full tradeoff between leasing and owning separately.

A purchase loan is stricter. You're borrowing the full system cost, the lender's collateral position is weaker, and the credit standard reflects that. This is also the path where a hard inquiry is most likely.

Illinois Solar for All doesn't check credit at all. The state's program is income-qualified rather than credit-qualified, and its own materials say it plainly: no credit check required. If your household income is at or below 80% of your Area Median Income, this is the first thing to look at, not the last. The thresholds move by county and household size, and I keep a county-by-county breakdown of the income limits current.

Ask one question before anyone touches your credit

Soft pull or hard pull. That's it. That's the question.

A soft pull lets a company look at your file without leaving an inquiry that scoring models count — it's the same machinery behind the pre-approval mail you throw away. A hard inquiry does get counted, usually costs a few points, and fades over roughly a year.

Neither one is sinister. What matters is that you know which is happening before you hand over a Social Security number. If a rep can't give you a straight answer on that, you've learned something useful about how the rest of the process is going to go.

If you get denied, they can't just say "you didn't qualify"

Here's the part I wish more homeowners knew, because it turns a dead end into a to-do list.

When a company denies your application based on a credit report, the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires it to notify you and to give you specific things: the name, address, and phone number of the credit bureau that supplied the report, a clear statement that the bureau did not make the decision, your right to a free copy of that report within 60 days, and your right to dispute anything in it you believe is wrong. That obligation isn't limited to loans — the law's definition of adverse action covers determinations made in connection with a transaction you initiated, which is what a lease application is.

If the product is a loan, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act stacks more on top. The creditor has 30 days after a completed application to notify you of the action taken. And it must either give you the specific principal reasons for the denial or tell you about your right to request them.

Regulation B, which implements ECOA, closes the obvious loophole. A statement of reasons "must be specific and indicate the principal reason(s) for the adverse action," and the rule says outright that telling you the decision rested on the creditor's internal standards or policies, or that you "failed to achieve a qualifying score," is insufficient.

Read that again if you've ever been brushed off with "you didn't qualify." That answer, by itself, doesn't satisfy the rule.

What to actually do with that letter

Get it in writing. Then treat it as a diagnosis.

Denial reasons are usually concrete and often fixable: utilization too high, a collection you forgot about, too many recent inquiries, insufficient credit history, debt-to-income out of range. A utilization problem can improve in one billing cycle. An error on the report — and they happen — is worth disputing on its own merits, because it's following you into every application, not just this one.

Pull the free report you're entitled to and actually compare it against what the letter says. I've seen the reason on the letter not match the file more than once.

Then, separately: try a different door. A denial on a purchase loan says very little about a lease application, and neither says anything about your Solar for All eligibility.

The number that matters more than your score

While you're sorting credit out, the meter keeps running. Ameren Illinois' summer supply rate sits at 11.326 cents per kWh and ComEd's at 10.399 cents through September 30, and once delivery charges land on top, the all-in cost runs closer to 20 cents in Ameren territory and around 18 cents in ComEd's.

Against that, a lease rate as low as $0.10 per kWh is worth pricing out — and any figure like that is an estimate until someone has looked at your actual roof, shading, and usage. What a lease gives you is a predictable energy cost: your full rate schedule is written into the contract before you sign, so there are no surprises later. That's a different thing from the utility, whose rates reset without asking you.

If you want to see rough numbers for your own house before any of the credit conversation starts, the savings calculator doesn't ask for a Social Security number or run anything.

What I'd do in your shoes

Check Solar for All eligibility first — it costs nothing to find out and it sidesteps the credit question entirely. If you're over the income line, ask for a soft-pull lease pre-qualification, because it's the softest standard and the cheapest look at your file.

And if you get told no, don't accept a vague no. Ask for the letter. Federal law says there's a real reason in there somewhere, and it's usually smaller than you think.

Questions about which door fits your situation? Call me at (618) 217-2001 or reach out here. I'll tell you honestly if Solar for All is the better path — I'd rather point you to the right program than sell you the wrong one.

I set up solar leases for a living, so read my take on leases with that disclosed. I'm not a credit counselor or an attorney; the rights described here come from federal statute and the regulations that implement it, and your own situation may have wrinkles worth professional advice.

Frequently Asked Questions

There's no single number, and any company quoting you a hard cutoff is describing its own underwriting rather than an industry rule. The figure repeated most often online is around 650, and that's a fair ballpark for many solar financing products, but approvals happen below it and denials happen above it. Lenders weigh the whole file — how much of your available credit you're using, how recent any late payments are, how long your history runs, and how much other debt you carry against your income. A lease or power purchase agreement is generally the more forgiving door, because the financing company keeps ownership of the equipment and usually starts with a soft credit pull that doesn't affect your score. A purchase loan is stricter, since you're borrowing the full system cost. And Illinois Solar for All, the state's income-eligible program, requires no credit check at all.

You get real legal rights the moment the answer is no. If the denial is based on a credit report, the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires the company to tell you that, give you the name, address, and phone number of the credit bureau it used, state plainly that the bureau didn't make the decision, and tell you that you can get a free copy of that report within 60 days and dispute anything inaccurate in it. If the product is a loan, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act adds more: written notice within 30 days of a completed application, plus either the specific principal reasons for the denial or notice of your right to request them. Regulation B is explicit that vague answers don't count — telling you that you failed to achieve a qualifying score, or that you didn't meet internal standards, is insufficient. Ask for the letter, then read it.

Usually not at the first step. Most solar lease and power purchase applications in Illinois begin with a soft credit pull, which shows the financing company your file without leaving a hard inquiry on it, so your score doesn't move. A soft pull is the same mechanism behind the pre-qualification offers that show up in your mailbox. Where it can change is later — a purchase loan, or a lease that moves into final underwriting, may require a hard inquiry, and a hard inquiry typically costs a handful of points temporarily and fades within a year. The practical advice is to ask before anyone runs anything. Say the words: is this a soft pull or a hard pull? A representative who can't answer that clearly is not someone I'd hand a Social Security number to. If you're comparing several quotes, cluster them into a short window.

Often, yes — but the door you use matters more than the score itself. Leases and power purchase agreements tend to be the most accessible path, because the financing company retains ownership of the system, which changes the risk being underwritten and usually means a softer standard than a loan for the same equipment. If your household income is at or below 80% of your Area Median Income, Illinois Solar for All is the stronger option regardless of credit, because the program requires no credit check at all. Community solar is another route worth pricing, since you subscribe to a share of an offsite array instead of financing hardware on your roof, though individual subscription providers set their own terms. What I'd avoid is treating one denial as the final answer. A single company's underwriting isn't the market, and the letter usually names something fixable.

No. Illinois Solar for All, the state's income-eligible solar program, states plainly that no credit check is required to participate. Eligibility runs on household income rather than credit history — you may qualify if your household income is at or below 80% of your Area Median Income, which is calculated by county and household size, so the dollar figure in Cook County looks very different from the one in a rural downstate county. The program is built around no upfront cost, and its published materials describe guaranteed savings for participating households. Participants own the system after six years. Because eligibility is income-based, a low score, a thin file, or a past bankruptcy doesn't disqualify you the way it might with conventional financing. If money has been tight enough that credit is a worry, this is the first program I'd check before looking at any lease or loan.