By Solar Expert
July 27, 2026
If you are putting solar on a New Jersey home, the most important paperwork moment is not the permit and it is not the utility interconnection — it is the SuSI registration that gets filed with the NJ Clean Energy Program before a single panel goes up. The Successor Solar Incentive Program, overseen by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) and administered through the NJ Clean Energy Program (NJCEP), is what turns your rooftop array into 15 years of SREC-II revenue. Miss the pre-construction filing and the system is permanently ineligible for those payments — there is no retroactive enrollment.
What it is: SuSI is New Jersey's Successor Solar Incentive Program; it pays one SREC-II per 1,000 kWh of generation for 15 years, governed by NJBPU.
Official sources:
SuSI is New Jersey's Successor Solar Incentive Program, which pays homeowners between $76.50 and $85 per SREC-II for 15 years, with one SREC-II issued for every 1,000 kWh the system produces. The program was established by an NJBPU Board Order on July 28, 2021, replacing legacy SRECs and TRECs and authorizing roughly 3,750 MW of new capacity over the program's lifespan.
Most New Jersey homeowners enroll through the program's ADI (Administratively Determined Incentive) track, which covers residential net-metered systems up to 5 MW. Under ADI, the rate is set administratively rather than through a competitive solicitation — and that rate is locked in at the moment your conditional registration is issued, not when your system turns on. Payments are quarterly for 15 years from the interconnection (PTO) date.
That rate-at-registration rule is why the registration date matters. Residential solar systems registered on or after July 27, 2026 earn $76.50 per SREC-II; systems registered before that date are locked at the prior $85/MWh rate for the full 15 years. If you have a project mid-stream and the registration window straddles a rate change, the day NJCEP accepts your package can swing your lifetime revenue noticeably.
Claim: Your SREC-II rate is set when SuSI registration is accepted, not when the system turns on.
Evidence: NJBPU sets ADI rates by energy-year block, and the rate in effect at the date of conditional registration applies for the full 15-year SREC-II term. Two identical systems built in the same month can receive different lifetime revenue if one was registered before a block change and the other after — which is why filing timing, not construction timing, drives the economics.
The SuSI registration package contains the system's design, the property and owner information, the contractor's credentials, and the utility/permit references — all filed through the ADI online portal before construction begins. Under ADI program guidance, the package must be complete and accepted before any meaningful site work can start; missing items are the most common cause of delay.
Key takeaway: assembling this package is the installer's job, but you should ask for the NJCEP project number in writing once it is issued. That confirmation is your evidence that registration was accepted before crews arrived — which is the single biggest piece of due diligence a New Jersey homeowner can do on a SuSI project.
Claim: An incomplete registration package is the most common reason a NJ SuSI project gets delayed.
Evidence: Per NJ Clean Energy Program ADI guidance, NJCEP cannot issue conditional registration until every item on the ADI Initial Application Checklist is present and verifiable. Missing inverter cut sheets, an unsigned certification form, or a missing utility interconnection reference all push the file back to the installer for resubmission, which restarts the review queue and can shift a project across an energy-year rate boundary.
SuSI registration must happen before construction because the program does not allow retroactive enrollment — if equipment is installed before conditional registration is issued, the system is permanently ineligible for SREC-IIs. This is a hard rule in the program manual, not a soft preference, and there is no appeal process that restores eligibility after the fact.
"Construction" in this context means meaningful site work — mounting hardware on the roof, attaching racking, setting an inverter, or running new conduit. The application phase, the design phase, and the permit-pulling phase do not count as construction. Your installer can pull permits and order materials while the registration is in review; what they cannot do is put steel on the roof.
The conditional registration also serves a second function: it locks the rate that applies at the time of filing. That is why a conscientious New Jersey installer waits for the project number in writing before scheduling install crews — both to preserve eligibility and to preserve the rate the homeowner was promised in their proposal.
Claim: If your installer starts construction before the conditional registration arrives, you lose 15 years of SREC-II revenue with no appeal.
Evidence: Under NJ Clean Energy Program rules, SuSI eligibility is contingent on pre-construction registration; once equipment is installed, the project no longer qualifies for SREC-IIs regardless of intent or how close the registration was to being approved. This is why reputable NJ installers refuse to schedule construction until the project number is in hand — the downside risk is permanent loss of incentive revenue, not a recoverable delay.
The SuSI acceptance letter — formally a "notice of conditional registration" — confirms NJCEP has reviewed the package, assigned a unique project number, and authorized construction to begin under SuSI rules. It is the green light that turns a paperwork-stage project into one that can put crews on the roof.
What conditional registration grants:
What it does NOT grant:
Treat the acceptance letter as a milestone, not a finish line. It clears the way for construction and locks your rate, but the SREC-II revenue clock does not start ticking until the system is interconnected and NJCEP has issued the NJ Certification Number.
Claim: The acceptance letter is permission to build, not permission to get paid.
Evidence: Under the four-step SuSI process documented by the NJ Clean Energy Program, conditional registration is step one. SREC-IIs are not issued until the post-construction packet is reviewed and the NJ Certification Number is granted, after which the homeowner must register the system in PJM-GATS and open a payment account through InClime. The project number on the acceptance letter is not enough on its own to trigger any payment.
After PTO, the homeowner (or installer on the homeowner's behalf) submits the post-construction packet to NJCEP, then the homeowner personally opens accounts in PJM-GATS and at the InClime payment portal so SREC-IIs can be issued and paid. The installer can hand off — but two of the final accounts can only be opened by the system owner.
Key takeaway: the homeowner's two new logins are PJM-GATS and solarincentivesnj.com. Until both exist and are linked, no SREC-II payments flow — even if the system has been generating clean power for months.
Claim: The homeowner cannot fully delegate the post-PTO setup to the installer.
Evidence: PJM-GATS generator accounts and the InClime payment portal both require the system owner's identity, signature, and (in InClime's case) bank account credentials. Installers can guide and pre-fill, but the actual account creation and payment authorization steps are the homeowner's to complete — which is why a good installer walks the homeowner through both sign-ups rather than disappearing after PTO.
SREC-II payments begin once the system is generating, meter readings are entered into PJM-GATS, and the InClime payment account is active — typically within four to six months of PTO for the first deposit. Plan accordingly: the gap is normal, and the cycle smooths out once the first payment lands.
The mechanics drive the timing:
One detail that surprises homeowners: the 15-year SREC-II clock starts at interconnection (the PTO date), not at registration. So the months between conditional registration and PTO do not count against your incentive window — but they do count against your wallet, which is why projects with clean registration packages and quick utility interconnections get to revenue faster.
Claim: Most homeowners should not expect their first SREC-II payment until roughly four to six months after PTO.
Evidence: Quarterly aggregation under the InClime / SREC-II administrator means the first full quarter of generation must close before any payment cycle even begins. Then GATS certificate creation (about seven business days after meter data entry) and the utility invoicing cycle add another 6 to 8 weeks before funds arrive. This is not a delay or a backlog — it is how the SREC-II payment cycle is designed to work, and it becomes a steady rhythm once the first payment lands.
The installer files the registration package, builds the system, and submits the post-construction packet — the SuSI program manager (NJCEP) reviews packages, issues the project number and the NJ Certification Number, while InClime handles the payment account and PJM-GATS handles certificate creation. Each role has a narrow scope, and SREC-II revenue depends on all four parties doing their part.
| Step | Who Files / Owns It | Document or Output |
|---|---|---|
| SuSI registration package | Installer | ADI Initial Registration submission |
| Conditional registration (acceptance letter) | NJCEP issues | NJCEP project number |
| Construction, commissioning, inspections | Installer | Approved permits + final inspection |
| Utility interconnection (PTO) | Utility issues | Permission to Operate letter |
| Post-construction (final as-built) packet | Installer files | As-built submission to NJCEP |
| NJ Certification Number | NJCEP issues | Approval letter authorizing SREC-IIs |
| PJM-GATS generator account | Homeowner opens | GATS Unit ID |
| InClime payment account | Homeowner opens | solarincentivesnj.com login + linked bank account |
| SREC-II certificate creation | PJM-GATS | Monthly certificates from meter data |
| SREC-II payments | InClime processes | Quarterly deposits for 15 years |
Key takeaway: the homeowner sits out the first four steps but personally owns the last two — opening the GATS generator account and opening the InClime payment account. A good installer hands off to those final steps; a poor one disappears after PTO and leaves the homeowner to figure it out alone.
Claim: No single party in the SuSI workflow can deliver SREC-II payments alone — the homeowner is one of four required participants.
Evidence: The NJ Clean Energy Program documents SuSI as a four-step process distributed across the installer, NJCEP, the homeowner, and the InClime/PJM-GATS payment-and-tracking pair. The installer cannot open a homeowner's bank-linked InClime account; NJCEP cannot create SREC-II certificates; PJM-GATS cannot issue NJ Certification Numbers. The chain only completes if each party performs its narrow role, which is why the role split is worth understanding before signing an installation contract.
Yes. New Jersey's SuSI program does not allow retroactive enrollment. The conditional registration (the "acceptance letter") must be issued by the NJ Clean Energy Program before any meaningful construction begins. If panels go up before the project number arrives, the system is permanently ineligible for SREC-II payments — there is no appeal process.
Most ADI-track residential applications receive a conditional registration within a few weeks of submission, assuming the package is complete. Incomplete packages — missing cut sheets, an unsigned certification form, or a missing utility interconnection reference — are the most common cause of delay. Your installer should give you the NJCEP project number in writing once it is issued.
No, they are two different numbers issued at two different stages. The project number comes with the conditional registration before construction. The NJ Certification Number comes after PTO, once NJCEP reviews the post-construction packet and approves the as-built system. You need the NJ Certification Number — not the project number — to open your PJM-GATS generator account and start receiving SREC-II payments.
Payments come from InClime, which operates the Solar Incentives NJ payment portal under contract with the NJ Clean Energy Program. After your system is generating, PJM-GATS creates SREC-II certificates from your meter readings and the certificates flow through InClime, which issues quarterly payments to the bank account you set up at solarincentivesnj.com.
Plan on roughly four to six months after PTO for the first deposit. The reason is timing, not bureaucracy: SREC-II payments are quarterly, so the first full quarter of generation must close, then PJM-GATS certificate creation (about seven business days after meter data entry) and the utility invoicing cycle add another 6 to 8 weeks. After the first payment lands, the cycle becomes a steady rhythm.
No. SuSI is a New Jersey state program administered by the NJ Clean Energy Program under NJBPU oversight. The federal Section 25D residential clean energy credit was repealed in 2025, but that change has nothing to do with SREC-II payments. New Jersey homeowners with rooftop solar continue to earn SREC-IIs for 15 years from interconnection at the rate locked in at registration.
Claim: The federal credit repeal and SuSI eligibility are independent — losing one does not change the other.
Evidence: Section 25D is a federal IRS provision; SuSI is a New Jersey program established by NJBPU Board Order under the state's Clean Energy Act and Solar Act. The two programs are governed by different statutes, administered by different agencies, and funded through different mechanisms, so a federal change cannot retroactively alter a state SREC-II contract once a project is registered.
Powerlutions files SuSI registrations for every solar project we install in New Jersey, waits for the conditional registration in writing before scheduling construction, and walks homeowners through their PJM-GATS and InClime payment setup after PTO. We treat the registration package as a single deliverable — not a checklist split across emails — so the file lands at NJCEP complete on the first submission, which is the single biggest factor in how fast a project gets its project number.
If you have already signed with another installer, ask them three questions before crews show up: Has the SuSI registration been filed? Do you have the NJCEP project number in writing? Is my system registered under the rate I was quoted? If you cannot get a clean answer to all three, pause the project — there is no retroactive way to fix a missed registration once construction starts.
Talk to Powerlutions before you sign with anyone. Email info@powerlutions.com or call 732-987-3939 for a quote and SuSI registration walk-through tailored to your address, your utility, and the energy-year rate that applies to your project.
Claim: The fastest way to protect SuSI eligibility is to make registration the first contractual milestone, not the last.
Evidence: Because pre-construction registration is a hard eligibility gate under NJBPU's SuSI rules and the rate is locked at filing date, sequencing the contract so that NJCEP acceptance precedes any roof work eliminates the two largest risks in a NJ solar project — losing 15 years of SREC-II revenue and missing a higher rate block. Powerlutions builds that sequence into every install, which is why our New Jersey homeowners reach PTO with their incentive intact.
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