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For anyone interested in the solar energy industry, lately Massachusetts is synonymous with hitting solar energy caps.
With the latest update from the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) last week, here’s the latest on the SREC II program.
Still Space for Systems under 25kW
First and foremost, some good news. According to an email update from the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) on Thursday, February 18th, 67MW still remains under the program cap for projects under 25kW.
So, if you are planning to install a project under 25kW, there is indeed still space for your project, and DOER has posted clarification for procedures and required documentation needed for projects to obtain an Assurance of Qualification. Keep in mind, the remaining 67MW of available capacity under the program cap may run out quickly; we recommend applying as soon as you’re able.
What about Systems over 25kW? Hasn’t the Cap Already Been Hit?
The second part of DOER’s announcement dealt with projects over 25kW. As we have already reported, the cap was met nearly two weeks ago, but not all of the applications submitted may be real contenders. The most recent update by DOER also hints to this possibility.
As it stands, the initial review of applications larger than 25kW is still ongoing. However, an initial review of a significant number of applications has been completed. All incomplete applications have been returned with a description of what needs to be done to fix the issues discovered in the initial review.
These developers have until Thursday, February 25th, to resubmit applications for their projects, and if the applications still are not complete then, they will be rejected. For anyone on the waiting list who has been nervously biting their nails and sitting on the edge of their seatwaiting to see if they will have a chance to be considered, Thursday marks the first chance for moving off or up the list.
After Thursday, the DOER will review all resubmitted applications and then provide an update regarding the SREC II Program’s Cap. Stay tuned for updates.
What Does It All Mean?
In early February, we predicted this “Churn #1” of incomplete applications that were rushed through, but would soon be eliminated. While the exact numbers of this churn will come in after this Thursday, we expect the number of rejected applications to bring the program from drastically “oversubscribed” to nearly “fully subscribed.”
After that first churn, there is potential for a second churn to come in the form of unfinished projects currently holding an Assurance of Qualification under the “pending” category. This means that although they have received an Assurance of Qualification, they may not yet be operating and generating SRECs, so they have not received a State of Qualification. These projects are under a 9-month deadline to reach mechanical completion, and there is a chance not all of them will make it.
In sum, there is still a glimmer of hope for installers and developers:
– Sitting on the >25kW waiting list with a complete application
– Installing solar projects under 25kW or less… What are you waiting for? There are still 67MW that are yours for the taking.
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This article has been published here with permission by the PVbuzz team from the original article written by Lauren Miller and published on SolSystems Blog.
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