Renewable energy certificates, or RECs, are commodities that represent the green attribute associated with energy generated from a renewable resource. RECs from a solar energy resources are called solar renewable energy credits, or SRECs.
SRECs and RECs are awarded each time a energy resource reaches a specific amount of energy production, generally 1,000 kilowatt-hours (1,000kWh or 1MWh).
SRECs are sold separately from the electricity itself, providing another incentive in addition to net metering. Since SRECs are awarded based on the total amount of energy produced by the system, energy consumption does not impact SREC production.
The value of an SREC, like a stock, is variable. Prices fluctuate and can change dramatically over time.