Not only can a rooftop solar array reduce or even eliminate your monthly utility bill, but solar panels can also actually earn a cash payout.
Depending on the state you live in, net metering can build credits from sunny months that can be used during winter months or rainy days.
Here in New Hampshire, if you are lucky enough to have surplus energy at the end of the year, the utility has to cash you out in the form of a check so you don’t just keep building up endless credits. In New Hampshire, this occurs in March, right after the dark winter months.
But there is another way to earn cash from your solar panels in states that support an SREC marketplace.
REC/SREC defined
REC stands for Renewable Energy Certificate and SREC means Solar Renewable Energy Certificate. (In Pennsylvania, an SREC is called an AEC.)
Renewable Energy Certificates reflect the green attributes that are associated with the production of electricity from renewable sources. This is separate from the actual electricity that is generated from a renewable source like solar or wind power. A REC/SREC is created for each 1,000 kwH of electricity generated from the renewable facility.
RECs are used in both compliance and voluntary markets. A compliance market is one where the state requires electric utilities to have a set amount of electricity come from renewable sources. In a voluntary market, companies or individuals buy RECs to support renewable energy projects without a formal requirement. Many companies buy the RECs for the ability to market themselves as a green company.
What is a SREC/REC?
A REC is a unit of energy produced by alternative energy sources that can offset a utility’s requirement to produce alternative energy.
SRECs are awarded for every 1 megawatt produced by your solar array regardless if you used the power or sent some back to the grid. Each 1-megawatt unit of energy produced is
SREC or RECs are sold through aggregators who bundle up individual solar producers’ RECs to sell to utilities.
In NH, Gov. Sununu vetoed a bill back in 2019 so in effect the utilities can now count unregistered solar producers towards their REC requirements which depresses the value. But NH RECs can be sold to the MA market. So the more New Hampshire solar array owners who register, the more valuable the SRECs will become.
How I easily set up selling my REC/SRECs
I don’t know why my solar installer didn’t tell me about selling my SRECs when they installed my solar, it seems like it would be another selling point. Perhaps they don’t want to confuse the customer, as it is, a solar installation can be confusing at first with all of the new lingo.
Even researching the REC market I found myself lost in the weeds thinking the process was more difficult than it turned out to be. Here is how it worked for me:
- My installer installed the solar array which includes Enphase microinverters and an Enphase Gateway.
- I contacted Knollwood Energy to serve as my aggregator. They work with small solar electricity generators such as homeowners and bundle the SRECs together for sale on the marketplace. My contract was for approximately $27 per REC for two years and then the contract auto-renews after that for $5 minimum per REC or 93% of the REC, whichever is higher.
- Knollwood Energy takes care of the certification process and just needed my billing address and the physical address of the solar array and my installer’s contact info.
- The installer let Enphase know that I wanted to sell my RECs and Enphase asked me to give permission to a third-party monitoring service called PowerDash.
BTW: Granite State Solar is a great company and I recommend them for solar installations in New Hampshire. They have won The Best Solar Installer in New Hampshire award five times in a row. If you end up going with Granite State Solar, please tell them I recommended them. – EDWARD FIELDING
Current SREC Market
Only a handful of states have a REC market and politics can change the value of a REC from $350 to $7 if the government policy changes.
PA Customers – Prices have stabilized off of the earlier covid lows to just around $40/srec.
NJ Customers – SREC prices have been a little softer due to an expected decrease in electric demand, but prices continue in a relatively stable range. Prices are currently around the mid $220s.
OH Customers – The legislature in Ohio passed and the Governor signed a bill that removed the solar carve out from the states Renewable Portfolio Standard and lowered the overall renewable goals. Prices in Ohio are now approximately $7.
MD Customers – Starting in 2022, the state compliance payment drops, so we are seeing MD prices down to the upper $50s.
Customers in MA, NH, RI, VT, ME
SRECs are created quarterly but with a 3 1/2 month delay. The portal is updated when the SRECs are minted and again with the sale price when payments are processed.
Production from first quarter (January – March) SRECs are minted July 15th
Production from second quarter (April – June) SRECs are minted October 15th
Production from third quarter (July – September) SRECs are minted January 15th
Production from the fourth quarter (October – December) SRECs are minted April 15th
MA SREC CUSTOMERS
Please be aware that SREC 1 customers are beginning to age out of the 40 quarter/10 year SREC program. As long as production continues to be reported, RECs will still be created but at the Class 1 REC rate (which is approx $27/REC). If you received a drastically reduced payment then what you previously had been, then your account has transitioned.
2022 Third Quarter SRECs
SRECs from production July – September 2022 minted on January 15, 2023. You should expect payment no later than February 15th.
SREC 1
The Q2, 2022 sale price will be approx $330-$340. We are selling all SRECs. ACH payments will be processed by January 10th. Check payments should be received by January 30.
If your system interconnected between January 1, 2010 – April 25, 2014, you are most likely in SREC 1. If your system interconnected after April 25, 2014, see SREC 2.
SREC 2
The Q3, 2022 SREC 2 sale price is $281. We are selling all SRECs. ACH payments will be processed by November 10th. If you receive payment by check, you should receive payment by January 30th.
NH, RI, ME, VT and MA REC (including old SREC 1 systems and new MA systems) Customers: Second quarter 2022 RECs were minted on July 15th, 2022. ACH payments will be processed by February 5th. If you receive payment by check, you should receive payment by February 30th.
NH Customers
NH PUC approves systems based on the date they receive the REC application in their office not on the date your system is interconnected. Any production prior to the application date does not count toward RECs.