Comments on: Another post about New Jersey Solar and SRECs in general (and TRECs) http://solarpowerrocks.com/srec/another-post-about-new-jersey-solar-and-srecs-in-general-and-trecs/ The best source for nationwide solar power rebates, tax credits, and incentives Mon, 21 May 2012 20:32:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Danny http://solarpowerrocks.com/srec/another-post-about-new-jersey-solar-and-srecs-in-general-and-trecs/comment-page-1/#comment-14166 Danny Thu, 17 Feb 2011 18:33:11 +0000 http://solarpowerrocks.com/?p=3848#comment-14166 Are SREC's guatanteed? I live in NJ and am considering installing a solar system and the vendor is stating the the SREC is guaranteed for 15 years. Is it possible that this can go away in 2 or 5 years? That will totally throw off the payback period and cost effectiveness. Are SREC’s guatanteed?
I live in NJ and am considering installing a solar system and the vendor is stating the the SREC is guaranteed for 15 years. Is it possible that this can go away in 2 or 5 years? That will totally throw off the payback period and cost effectiveness.

]]> By: Brad Bowery http://solarpowerrocks.com/srec/another-post-about-new-jersey-solar-and-srecs-in-general-and-trecs/comment-page-1/#comment-3292 Brad Bowery Thu, 01 Apr 2010 21:40:19 +0000 http://solarpowerrocks.com/?p=3848#comment-3292 Hello Dave, Well said! There are a few things that I can add to what you have written on SRECs. Before doing so, in the interest of full disclosure, our firm, SRECTrade, is building that elusive, transparent open-market you alluded to in your post - one state at time. First, WREGIS is one of several regional tracking platforms. Other platforms include NE-GIS in Massachusetts, NC-RETS in North Carolina and PJM GATS in the Mid-Atlantic. They are all similar since the technology behind them was built by the same company, APX out of San Jose, CA. Second, I'll add that it is important that readers not only pay attention to their own state's SREC markets, but also to state markets around them. Every state has different rules regarding out-of-state SRECs. For example, there's a corner of Illinois, Michigan and Indiana that are eligible to sell SRECs into Pennsylvania where prices are well over $200 per MWh/SREC - I bet there aren't too many people there who know that. You may get an Aggregator approaching you with what might seems like a great deal for your SRECs in Kentucky only to find out he's making a 4X profit on them in Ohio. Finally, to comment on long-term contracts with Aggregators, not all Aggregators are speculating. The good ones will have contracts with buyers on the other side and that is an important distinction. You don't want to get caught up in a contract with a speculating Aggregator who goes bankrupt when the market price drops below his or her expectations. While there is no doubt that spot transactions for SRECs are risky as prices will fluctuate, the reality is that there is also a lot of uncertainty on the upside. We often hear from solar owners who locked into 5+ year contracts at $150/SREC with Aggregators in the early years of the New Jersey SREC program only to watch the SREC values go up to $700. If you check the state's trading statistics, there are still people getting only $150 an SREC in New Jersey! So the risk is on both sides of the equation. With that said, the Aggregators provide a valuable service to the solar community and there are plenty of great ones out there. I think it is important to find one you trust. In the meantime, feel free to give that "open market" a try! You have a great website! Thank you for your efforts. Hello Dave,

Well said! There are a few things that I can add to what you have written on SRECs. Before doing so, in the interest of full disclosure, our firm, SRECTrade, is building that elusive, transparent open-market you alluded to in your post – one state at time.

First, WREGIS is one of several regional tracking platforms. Other platforms include NE-GIS in Massachusetts, NC-RETS in North Carolina and PJM GATS in the Mid-Atlantic. They are all similar since the technology behind them was built by the same company, APX out of San Jose, CA.

Second, I’ll add that it is important that readers not only pay attention to their own state’s SREC markets, but also to state markets around them. Every state has different rules regarding out-of-state SRECs. For example, there’s a corner of Illinois, Michigan and Indiana that are eligible to sell SRECs into Pennsylvania where prices are well over $200 per MWh/SREC – I bet there aren’t too many people there who know that. You may get an Aggregator approaching you with what might seems like a great deal for your SRECs in Kentucky only to find out he’s making a 4X profit on them in Ohio.

Finally, to comment on long-term contracts with Aggregators, not all Aggregators are speculating. The good ones will have contracts with buyers on the other side and that is an important distinction. You don’t want to get caught up in a contract with a speculating Aggregator who goes bankrupt when the market price drops below his or her expectations. While there is no doubt that spot transactions for SRECs are risky as prices will fluctuate, the reality is that there is also a lot of uncertainty on the upside. We often hear from solar owners who locked into 5+ year contracts at $150/SREC with Aggregators in the early years of the New Jersey SREC program only to watch the SREC values go up to $700. If you check the state’s trading statistics, there are still people getting only $150 an SREC in New Jersey! So the risk is on both sides of the equation. With that said, the Aggregators provide a valuable service to the solar community and there are plenty of great ones out there. I think it is important to find one you trust. In the meantime, feel free to give that “open market” a try!

You have a great website! Thank you for your efforts.

]]> By: Tor a.k.a. "Solar Fred" http://solarpowerrocks.com/srec/another-post-about-new-jersey-solar-and-srecs-in-general-and-trecs/comment-page-1/#comment-3267 Tor a.k.a. "Solar Fred" Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:00:34 +0000 http://solarpowerrocks.com/?p=3848#comment-3267 Nice one, Dave. Great, useful, info. Nice one, Dave. Great, useful, info.

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