Can Rental Property Solar Earn Carbon Credits?
Yes, sort of. SRECs are the real market. Voluntary carbon is mostly noise. Here's how to actually monetize the environmental attributes.
SRECs (real money)
Solar Renewable Energy Certificates trade in state-run markets — mainly NJ, MA, MD, DC, PA, OH, IL. A 400 kW multifamily system in New Jersey can produce $8K–$14K/year of SREC revenue on top of energy sales.
RECs (small money)
Voluntary REC markets pay $1–$3/MWh. On a typical rooftop, this is $500–$2K/year — meaningful but not transformative.
Voluntary carbon (mostly noise)
Rooftop solar rarely qualifies for high-integrity voluntary carbon credits because of additionality concerns. Don't build a business case on it.
Structure
If your state has an SREC market, negotiate SREC ownership into the PPA. Some PPA providers keep the SRECs by default — worth pushing back on for meaningful upside.
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