Whether you own your solar projects or the projects are owned by a third-party, your organization may have the opportunity to capitalize on an additional revenue opportunity from these existing systems. When properly managed, each megawatt hour of solar energy production can generate a Renewable Energy Certificate (REC). These RECs can then be sold to buyers in California’s unbundled REC market (RECs sold separately from the energy itself), such as commercial enterprises with sustainability goals and electric utilities with Renewable Portfolio Standards.

Based on recent transactions, negotiated on behalf of clients in our Asset Management Services program, TerraVerde has seen an increase of more than 40% in REC valuation. This increase is consistent with trend of increased, statewide sustainability standards and incentive programs for deploying renewable energy technologies. Depending on the size of your portfolio, solar REC sales could represent a recurring revenue opportunity of hundreds of thousands of dollars for your team.

For RECs to be properly managed, and to secure the strongest revenue possible, the following elements will be required:

• Each solar facility will need to be properly registered with WREGIS, the regional independent tracking system
• Additional certifications such as CEC RPS Eligibility may be required to attract the strongest offers
• Agency reporting services will need to be established with the appropriate monitoring service provider
• Ongoing monitoring of system performance and REC reporting will be essential to ensure optimal program performance

There are implications for selling RECs. As outlined in the Federal Trade Commission’s Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims,once RECs are sold, the former REC owner can no longer claim that it uses that clean energy. “If a marketer generates renewable electricity but sells renewable energy certificates for all of that electricity, it would be deceptive for the marketer to represent, directly or by implication, that it uses renewable energy.” (16 CFR part 260 (revised), Section 260.15 (d)). The Environmental Protection Agency providers further guidance, including examples of acceptable and unacceptable claims in their online resource Solar Power Use Claims.

At TerraVerde Energy, our Asset Management team partners with public agencies & commercial enterprises to deliver peak financial performance from distributed solar and battery portfolios. Our dedicated, experienced team actively monitors these systems daily, responds immediately to performance issues, manages power provider performance, and provides detailed performance reports. We optimize the performance and management of these systems so that your team can realize maximum savings with minimal time and resource investment. Using our Utility Billing Engine, we are able to produce what each line item of your electric utility bills would have been for a given period, had your energy systems not been deployed. This enables us to answer with unparalleled accuracy how much our clients are actually saving from their energy systems.

For a free guide on the claim implications of selling your solar RECs or to learn more about TerraVerde’s asset management program, write to us at hello@terraverde.energy.