Solar power to the people: A social, spiritual benefit

In 2012 my family installed solar panels on the roof of our home. That decision transformed us. The whole family became energy-conscious as we monitored our electrical usage before and after the photovoltaic (PV) modules were installed.

We felt empowered: happy to control our own energy; happy to know we’re doing our bit to fight climate change and slow the sea level rise that’s assaulting our beaches. The joy is so palpable that, as my 8-year-old daughter Zaffron puts it, "Because of PV I get to eat dessert!"

The benefits aren’t just emotional. There’s been a significant financial impact. In 2011 we bought a Nissan Leaf, which we charge with electricity we generate on our roof. Between the $60 a month we no longer spend on gas and the $250 a month we no longer hand to Hawaiian Electric Co., we save more than $3,600 a year, which covers the cost of after-school and summer camp for Zaffron and her sister, Lulu.

But "going solar" was more than a financial decision: it was a spiritual one.The rooftop solar revolution is a bottom-up social movement that’s challenging the power structure in this state. This is about ordinary people taking a stand and taking a risk — investing their hard-earned money in a new technology attached to their roofs. The benefits of sustainability, of self-sufficiency, of reaping the bounty of nature, are supremely Hawaiian values.

That’s why my business partner and I decided to install a rooftop solar system on our church. You might call it an act of worship: a celebration of God’s copious gifts — free energy for all.

We believe every family should be able to join this immensely popular movement — nine out of 10 voters believe households and businesses should be encouraged to go solar. We’re delighted the Legislature enacted a program that allows the less affluent to install solar and pay off the cost on their HECO bill and it’s time the Public Utilities Commission issued the enabling regulations to put the program into effect.

The Hawaiian Electric companies are resisting this bill and creating obstacles to rooftop solar in general. They’ve raised safety concerns, which are hard to assess because they keep moving the goalposts on how much solar they can "safely" handle. Besides, no one disputes that a modern grid could handle more solar: HECO should have invested in such a grid long ago.

Recently HECO’s been using an argument about social equity: this from the company that pays its CEO $6.8 million a year! Bottom line: The elites are resisting the popular will. That’s why this fight is about who exercises power and our community values.

Solar households this year will probably reduce HECO’s oil bill by more than $100 million. That money stays in the local economy instead of going into the coffers of overseas oil corporations; it boosts local businesses and creates local jobs. Before HECO’s crackdown in September, more than 3,000 people worked in the PV business statewide. Some are now losing their jobs, thanks to HECO.

Then there’s the excess electricity we rooftop solar households deliver to our nonsolar neighbors. Not only does this reduce the load on the entire system, but HECO gets to charge those neighbors for that electricity. We contribute to reduced, avoided and deferred costs for everyone. That doesn’t even take into account the good we’re doing the planet — the aspiration that our children may yet be able to escape a world devastated by climate change.

House Bill 1943 currently before the Legislature would require HECO to rapidly modernize its grid so more people can install rooftop solar. I urge you to call or write your representatives to support it.