What is a
SREC?
SREC stands for Solar Renewable Energy Certificate and
is a tradable certificate that represents all the clean energy
benefits of electricity generated from your solar electric system.
A SREC can be sold or traded separately from the power. It is
issued once a solar facility has generated 1,000 kWh, through
either estimated or actual metered production, and can be listed
on the bulletin board on this Website.
What is the New Jersey SREC Program?
The New Jersey SREC Program provides a means for SRECs
to be created and verified on your behalf. It also facilitates
the sale of SRECs to electric suppliers that are required
to invest in solar energy under New Jersey's Renewable Portfolio
Standards (RPS). The RPS requires electricity suppliers to
get a minimum of 0.16% of the electricity they sell in reporting
year 2009 from solar systems in New Jersey. This requirement
increases each year, so that a total of 2300 MW of solar electricity
will be required by 2021. All New Jersey electric suppliers
are required to use the SREC Program to show compliance with
this part of the State's renewable portfolio standard.
How do I get started in the Program?
Go to the Solar
Renewable Energy Certificate website and click
on the link "Open An Account". Fill out an attestation
form, which can be found on the "Background
Information" page of the website, and send it in. Once
these two items are completed, the SREC Program Administrator
will connect your facility to the account. You will receive
an email from them indicating that your facility has been
connected.
How are SRECs generated and sold?
Once you have registered and established an account on
the SREC website, SRECs will be generated each month and deposited
in your account. For solar generators smaller than 10 kW,
an engineering estimate will be used to calculate the monthly
SREC generation. For solar electric systems that are equal
to or larger than 10 kW, the SREC website will allow you to
upload your monthly meter readings and/or production information
into the site. Once SRECs are in your account, you can use
an electronic bulletin board on the SREC website to let others
know you have SRECs for sale. Interested buyers can also make
a request to buy SRECs through the bulletin board. Buyers
and sellers can then contact each other offline and execute
a sale. Once a sale is made, the seller will use the website
to transfer SRECs to the buyer. Electricity suppliers will
also use the website to retire SRECs that have been used to
meet their RPS requirements.
Who buys New Jersey SRECs?
SRECs can be bought by electricity suppliers, renewable
energy marketers, private businesses and individuals interested
in supporting the development of solar energy. A list of interested
aggregators and brokers is available on the SREC Website.
Additionally, the website will list the weighted average price
for SRECs, updated periodically to inform buyers and sellers
of the latest pricing.
How much are SRECs sold for now?
The price of SRECs will fluctuate. If a supplier of retail
electricity in New Jersey does not purchase a sufficient quantity
of SRECs to meet their RPS requirements, they must pay the
Solar Alternative Compliance Payment set at $711 per MWh (or
SREC) for Energy Reporting Year 2009. Therefore, due to transaction
costs for suppliers to obtain SRECs, the Office of Clean Energy
estimates the range for SREC trading to be between $300 to
$611 per MWh. The SREC Pricing page of the New Jersey Clean
Energy Program Website has the latest publicly available SREC
pricing information. See current pricing
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