Posts Tagged ‘prepaid srecs’

NJ solar rebate program suspended

Posted May 14th, 2010 by SRECTrade.

This week, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities announced they are suspending their popular solar incentive program. The rebate paid $1.00 per watt to commercial systems upto 50,000 watts and as high as $1.75 to residential systems.

New Jersey’s actions parallel those the cuts to solar incentives in Spain and the reduction of feed-in tariffs (FiT) in Germany. Fixed rebate programs and feed-in tariffs lack a market mechanism and don’t have the feedback mechanism inherent in a REC or SREC trading program. If legislators set the solar incentives too low, they don’t inspire any development. But when legislators set incentives too high, there is a gold rush — developer overwhelm the rebate or FiT programs that was engendering the frenzy.

These dramatic cuts highlight difference between rebates and feed-in tariffs and an SREC program. SRECs prices move according to supply and demand and are not subject to on-again, off-again whim of legislators and have proven to be a stable, long-term incentive that has been very effective stimulating solar development.

In New Jersey, SRECs are now an even bigger determinant of the economics of a project. With clear, transparent long-term contracts, solar investors and developers have clarity in the cash flows associated with solar. And for smaller systems looking to offset the high upfront costs of installation, prepaid SREC contracts are an interesting alternative to rebate programs – the current bids in New Jersey prepaid SRECs equivalent to approx. $2.27 per installed watt.

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SRECTrade announces SREC Forwards Exchange

Posted May 5th, 2010 by SRECTrade.

In 2008, SRECTrade launched the SREC auction as an innovative way to connect sellers directly to buyers in the nascent SREC markets that lacked liquidity and transparency. Since then the auctions have grown substantially, providing publicly available market pricing and fulfilling a missing piece in the SREC program. With the expansion of new SREC markets in adjacent states, SRECTrade is now the leading online platform for anything related to SRECs.

With the launch of the SREC Forwards Exchange, SRECTrade has become a one-stop shop for all participants in the  SREC markets.  The service now includes long-term SREC price discovery and contracts, in addition to the spot transactions available in the auction. The Forwards Exchange will provide a mechanism to match sellers in need of long-term contracts or upfront payments for financing solar projects to parties interested in the return opportunities available in buying and trading forward contracts.

In the Forwards Exchange, sellers and buyers will have two options.  Prepaid Forwards are available to smaller facilities using estimated generation.  These users will be able to sell any strip or individual SREC scheduled to be produced by their facility for an upfront payment from a buyer.  For larger facilities, traditional Forward Contracts are available in the exchange with payment terms on delivery.  Both sellers and buyers entering into the payment-on-delivery forwards will be required to post some form of collateral, whether it be maintaining a margin requirement for buyers or withholding a portion of the SRECs generated for sellers.  Buyers in both markets will own the rights to the SRECs and can choose to hold onto them until maturity or close their positions in the market at any time.

For more information, visit our main website for each market:

Prepaid Forwards – Upfront payments for SRECs

Forward Contracts – Long-term SREC contracts with payment-on-delivery

For questions or comments on the SREC Forwards Exchange, please email forwards@srectrade.com