New Jersey’s commitment to renewable energy and a thriving solar market have earned praise from the industry as a whole and even earned the top spot on Solar Power Rocks’ annual rankings for 2018. However, that reputation could be in jeopardy of taking a pretty significant hit soon.
What Is a Solar Renewable Energy Certificate?
Among New Jersey’s numerous solar incentives, Solar Renewable Energy Certificate, or SRECs for short, was arguably the most popular. This incentive encouraged people to switch to solar and for energy companies to reward people who did. New Jersey’s extremely aggressive renewable energy mandates and legislation require that utility companies produce a certain percentage of the energy they sell from solar generated sources. What better way to obtain that energy than by buying it from solar panel-owning homeowners?
Hence, the SREC program was born. Homeowners who switched to solar earned one SREC for each megawatt of energy their solar energy system generated. Each SREC was worth about $200 to homeowners, and homeowners could earn up to six per year, for a total of $1,200. If you claim the maximum amount for each of the first 10 years you own your system, that’s a rebate of $12,000!
How Much Longer Do You Have to Participate in This Program?
However, the program doesn’t have long left. Once the state hits 5.1 percent of its energy coming from solar sources, the program will end. As of September, New Jersey currently gets around four percent of its energy from solar sources, and some estimates say it could reach that 5.1 percent mark in as little as a year.
Despite being such a small state, New Jersey is continually one of the leaders in the country in solar energy production, and produces the fifth-highest amount of solar energy in the country, out of all 50 states! Even if the 5.1 percent mark were not to be hit over the next year or so, the program still has an expiration date: the end of 2021. However, waiting until then means you’ll still more than likely miss out on taking advantage of this program.
How Does the Program Work?
- When you sign up, you’ll get a new electric meter called a “revenue-grade meter,” which the utility company will install in your house.
- You’ll also be invited to sign up for the program with the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection, the group that manages the electricity market in our area.
- The PJM, for short, will track your energy production, and award you one SREC for every megawatt of energy you produce. You can then take this SREC and transfer it to one of several different aggregators who then sell them in bundles to the utility company.
- Once the transfer completes, you’ll receive a check from the aggregator.
How to Take Advantage of SRECs Now!
Even though the program may “end” soon, those who are in the program will still receive the full 10-year benefit period. Instead of disappearing completely, the program will simply close to new applicants. That means now’s the time to sign up and take advantage of this program when switching to solar.
Don’t wait! Take advantage of this program now by switching to clean, renewable solar energy. Call SunPower by Sea Bright Solar at (732) 253-4052 and speak with our New Jersey solar installation experts today.
