Illinois Solar Energy Association - Renewable Energy Credit Aggregation Program

Summary

The Illinois Solar Energy Association offers the Renewable Energy Credit Aggregation Program (RECAP) to Illinois solar photovoltaic (PV) system owners, providing them with an opportunity to receive payment for their solar renewable energy credits (SRECs*). The program was created in 2008 to provide an additional revenue stream for small PV system owners and to support Illinois solar development.

RECAP is a partnership with Community Energy, Inc (CEI). The SRECs are used to supply the solar portion the City of Naperville Renewable Energy Program. This partnership is the first market example of SREC transactions within Illinois.

Production incentives are limited to solar photovoltaics. To be eligible for RECAP, solar PV systems must be located in Illinois, be legally grid connected. In addition, production must be tracked on a monthly or quarterly basis. Participants must be members of the Illinois Solar Energy Association, either as regular members for residential accounts, or business members for commercial accounts. They can join online at www.illinoissolar.org.

RECAP is an annual program and requires a yearly application. Applications will be assigned a randomly generated number for determining who gets funding. Applicants will be notified of how much (if any) of their SRECs will be purchased via the formal application process.

*Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have two outputs – electricity and solar renewable energy certificates (SRECs). For every 1000 kWh (1 MWh) of solar electricity generated, one SREC is issued. SRECs are tradeable, non-tangible pollution abatement rights.