My SRECs have expired. What now?

Those who own solar panels installed between 2010 and late 2018 were eligible to be enrolled in the state’s Solar Renewable Energy Credit (SREC) program and received payments for 10 years based on the amount of solar energy produced. Under this incentive program, the solar array generated one SREC for every 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity it produced. (For example, producing 7,000 kWh of electricity annually would generate 7 SRECs for the year.)  The installer, or an aggregator set up through the installer, would sell these SRECs on the market and (after a cut was taken) would pay the money to the owner. In the past few years, the SRECs have been selling for about $220-$240 each.

After the 10-year SREC period expires, your solar array continues to produce RECs (again, one for each 1,000 kWh of electricity produced), and these can be sold on the Massachusetts Class 1 REC market, but for a much lower value.  Currently (June 2025) the owners are getting about $30 per REC once the aggregator takes its cut, whereas the SRECs were selling for over $200 each. If your SREC aggregator will not report and sell your RECs once the SRECs have expired (which is the case with Astrum Solar), you will have to find a new aggregator.

How to transition to getting your RECs sold on the Class 1 REC market

  1. Estimate what you would earn from your RECs per year. Every 1,000 kWh of electricity produced represents one REC   If the system produces 6,500 kWh per year, for example, this would result in 6 RECs (with 500 kWh being carried over to the next year). Currently, after the aggregator takes its cut, you would get about $30 per REC. So in this case your 6 RECs would earn you about $180 per year.
  2. Find an aggregator who will sell your RECs on the market for you. Technically, an individual could sell RECs, but it would be very difficult. An aggregator sells RECs in bulk, which make them easier to sell.  Below (for informational purposes, not as an endorsement) are 2 companies who sell Massachusetts RECs and are willing to facilitate an aggregation transfer for people whose SREC payments have expired. Check and see what they offer and what cut they take from the sales.
  3. SRECTrade
  4. SolSystems
  5. The process of transitioning to selling RECs can take several months, as various state approvals are necessary. The aggregator will walk you through the process. You will need to give them some information about your system. If you are an Astrum Solar customer, the termination letter you received from Astrum will give the “Solar System Identification Number” (beginning with NON . . .). This is important information to have.
  6. The automatic reporting of your solar production likely will not continue when you have a new aggregator, so be prepared to manually report your solar production each month. This would be done through the Production Tracking System (PTS) account that you already have. There is a 10-day window for reporting. You would check your meter and enter the reading in your PTS account sometime between the last 5 days of the month and the first 5 days of the next. If you miss a month, you can report production in the next reporting period and  the PTS will automatically calculate estimated production over the months with missing data. If you do not want to self report, check with your aggregator. They may be able to suggest a company that will set up automatic reporting of production data for a fee.
  7. Once you get set up with an aggregator, you will have an account where you can keep track of the number of RECs you produce and when they are sold.

Definitions

  • What is a REC?  According to the Mass Clean Energy Center (Mass CEC): “Under the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS), a Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) represents the positive environmental attributes associated with clean energy production. Retail electricity suppliers are required to purchase a certain number of RECs each year to comply with the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS).”
  • What is an SREC? According to the Mass Clean Energy Center (Mass CEC): “A Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC) is a type of REC that is specifically designated for energy output from eligible solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. SRECs have a significantly higher market value than other RECs. To earn SRECs, the production from your solar PV system must be reported to the Production Tracking System (PTS).”
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