Does anyone monetize their solar with SRECs?

Question

Hi there, looking at a commerical solar build out and wondering if anyone has used an SREC platform like Currents or SRECTrade to generate and sell SRECs to improve system ROI.

If you're not familiar, SRECs are a market incentive for going solar and pretty robust market in places like PA, MD, DC, VA.

Curious what others have done when looking at the math.

Ron Shimon · Answer

Hey—interesting thread! I’m not in an SREC state (I’m in California), but I’ve been involved in a few residential rental solar projects, and one ROI lever that often gets overlooked is billing tenants for their solar energy consumption—just like a utility does.

Most landlords or commercial owners either:

1.	Eat the cost of the system and let tenants benefit

2.	Roll it into rent (which has limits)

3.	Or just view solar as a fixed-cost offset

But when you treat solar as its own billable utility, the math gets a lot more interesting. If your system is behind-the-meter and you can track usage per unit (or even per tenant), you can:

•	Charge tenants at a discounted rate vs. grid prices

•	Keep rent and power separate

•	Generate monthly revenue from the solar system itself

That monthly income stream dramatically shortens payback time—especially when layered on top of incentives like ITC and accelerated depreciation.

It requires the right setup (metering + billing), but once it’s in place, solar goes from being just a capex play to an ongoing revenue generator. I’ve seen this work on multifamily, light industrial, and small commercial where the landlord owns the building but tenants pay utilities.

Happy to share how I structured it on my side if it’s helpful!

Scott Mac · Answer

I have not looked in any particular platform nor have I looked at the monetary return on selling electricity.

My main concern with this this is it's a separate asset that has to be attached to the structure.

What happens when you need to have the roof replaced they're going to have to detach that thing.

The other concern I have is service life.

What is the service life on this piece of equipment.

If it has capacitors the service life could be 10 years, or they may have a service life of more than that, but they don't live forever (what about repairs?).

Plus I don't want to be in the electrical selling business, that includes no hookups to recharge electric cars.

All I want to do is provide housing and collect the rent.

It is not the politicality of it all with the global warming stuff, that has nothing to do with it.

I also have no interest in being in the car wash business, or the laundry business, or the AirBnB business, things like that which seem to appeal to a good number of people, but not me.

I like to KISS, and just focus on market rate rentals, 12 to 18 month leases.

And on the commercial build out do you believe this to be an attractive feature to the renters and their customers.

I mean there are many segments of the population that consider this to be part of the global warming (or whatever the politically correct name for this is lately) political football, meaning you may offend some but you may also attract some.

Have you thought of that?

Just my 2 cents.