Sicklerville, NJ Resident Plans to Pocket $10k in Four Years from His groSolar Solar Power System

Sicklerville, NJ (September 1, 2010)  - Generating solar electricity is now a money making enterprise, says one New Jersey man.  He’s among the thousands of New Jersey homeowners who are cashing in on the electricity produced by rooftop solar power systems.  
Bruce Pollard, who recently installed a 4.5 KW solar power system from groSolar, estimates that on top of his power bill savings, he’ll receive $2,500 additional cash each year just for owning a solar power system in the state of New Jersey. He is earning this extra income by selling the Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) to NJ utilities.

SRECs are tradable certificates that represent the clean energy value of solar electric production, which are then sold or traded to electricity suppliers who are required to show compliance with New Jersey's Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) by investing in clean power sources. An SREC is sold separately from the electric power the system generates, and are generated each month and admistered by the New Jersey SREC Program.  
Pollard, who hired groSolar to install his solar power system on his Sicklerville home one year ago, says that groSolar not only took care of leveraging all of the state and federal tax incentives to reduce his up-front installation costs, but also facilitated his participation in the SREC Program.

“When we first considered solar, we thought it would be a nightmare to wade through all of the paperwork required to get our money back from rebate and incentive programs,” said Pollard.  “groSolar took care of every detail for us, and from our perspective it was a breeze.  We ended up getting about 20% of the cost of our system covered by The New Jersey Solar Grant Program.  We’ve also received more than $6,000 in Federal tax credits this year and expect to get an additional $6,000 next year.”

In addition, Pollard expects to receive $10,000 over the next four years from the sale of his SRECS.  Combined with the rebates he received for installing the system, Pollard anticipates he will recoup his investment in under four years, and he’ll then start earning a profit on SREC sales and utility savings.
“Bruce offers a terrific example of why it’s so important for states to set their own goals for renewable energy production, and why clean energy policy matters,” said Jeff Wolfe, groSolar CEO. “RPS standards set at the state level incentivize clean power production, and make solar a strong and profitable investment for homeowners and business.  It’s not often you can do something that’s good for both the planet and the pocketbook, and that’s essentially what the SREC market provides.”

Homeowners can sell SRECs to power companies each year, or they can pre-sell future SRECs to offset their up front costs of going solar.  

“We’ve seen a huge increase in inquires about solar from New Jersey residents because of this program,” said Gaelan Brown, groSolar VP of Marketing.

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About groSolar
groSolar is North America’s premier distributor, installer and integrator of solar energy solutions for residential and commercial installations. Founded in 1998, groSolar is the largest 100 percent U.S.-owned distributor in the solar industry, and a leading national installation company in North America. The company has offices and warehouses across the US, distributing solar electric and solar hot water systems from offices in VT, NJ, NY, CT, MA, MD, DE, PA, and CA. groSolar integrates components from leading solar manufacturers including Canadian Solar, Zep Solar, Solon, Enphase, SMA, Fronius, UniRac and other quality global suppliers, into simple solar energy solutions for customers that generate clean, reliable energy for decades. groSolar is a mission-driven company dedicated to providing high quality solar energy solutions and whole energy appreciation. groSolar’s venture capital investors include NGP Energy Technology Partners, SJF Ventures, and Calvert Social Investment Fund. grosolar.com