Renewable energy certificates, or RECs, are commodities that represent the green attribute associated with energy generated from a renewable resource. RECs from solar energy resources are called solar renewable energy credits, or SRECs.
SRECs and RECs are awarded each time an 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 utility bill savings from 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, varies according to supply and demand. Prices fluctuate and can change dramatically over time.