Prices have steadily declined for Pennsylvania SRECs over the years given a tremendous oversupply in the market combined with a relatively modest Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS).
Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard
- Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS) requires that 18% of the state’s electricity be sourced from renewable energy by 2021, with a 0.5% carve-out specifically for solar energy. 8% of the electricity must be supplied by Tier I resources and 10% must be supplied by Tier II resources.
- The Solar Alternative Compliance Payment (SACP) is 200% of the average market price of SRECs sold during the reporting period within the service region of PJM-GATS.
- SRECs up to three years old can be sold in the Pennsylvania market. Therefore, customers who have registered their system on their own or through an aggregator will still be able to sell their SRECs, provided they were minted in the last three years.
- For more details on Pennsylvania’s regulations, see the Pennsylvania AEPS website.
Registration Guidelines
- Customers must submit copy of their signed interconnection agreement, a signed Sol Systems contract, and photos of the array and meter before we can register the system. Sol Systems must be able to count each solar panel in the array photo for the picture to be accepted by regulatory agencies.
- Upon receipt of all documentation, Sol Systems will register a customer’s solar energy system with the Pennsylvania Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS) staff and the Generation Attribute Tracking System (GATS), the regulatory body that mints SRECs.
- Sol Systems does not charge a registration fee.
- The registration process with both the PA AEPS and GATS may take up to 4 months.
- In Pennsylvania, SREC eligibility begins on the date that the system is registered with the AEPS.
- Systems interconnected on or after May 18th, 2017 must report their generation from an inverter or dedicated meter.
- Only photovoltaic systems are eligible for SRECs in the Pennsylvania market. Solar thermal systems and other renewable facilities are not eligible.
- Please note that Sol Systems only works with customers whose installer has an existing relationship with our company. To find out if your installer works with Sol Systems, please contact your installation company.
Payment Timeline
Sol Systems makes payments to Sol Annuity, Sol Brokerage, Sol Combo, and Sol Profit Share customers on a quarterly basis per the following schedule.
| Generation Quarter | SREC Payment |
|---|---|
| Q1: January, February, and March | May |
| Q2: April, May, and June | August |
| Q3: July, August, and September | November |
| Q4: October, November, and December | February |
For example, on the last business day in May, Sol Systems will issue payments to customers whose energy production passes a 1000 kWh threshold in Quarter 1 (January-March) and their SREC has sold.
Sol Systems customers can receive their payment via paper check or direct deposit.