Oahu solar permits down 62 percent in May

Permit numbers for solar systems on Oahu continue to fall, dropping 62 percent in May compared with the same month last year.

The city Department of Planning and Permitting issued 163 permits for solar electric systems, according to Marco Mangelsdorf, who compiles the rooftop solar permit data and is president of Hilo-­based ProVision Solar. Some 432 photovoltaic permits were issued in May 2016.

“The Hawaii solar-coaster is on track, or perhaps more metaphorically running off the tracks, for the worst year since 2011 when my staff began tracking this data,” Mangelsdorf said.

Year to date, the number of permits issued for rooftop solar energy systems in Hono­lulu dropped 59.6 percent from the same period last year with 830 systems permitted, according to a recent report released by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Solar permit numbers have been falling since the state Public Utilities Commission ended a popular solar incentive program in 2015.

The program, called net energy metering, or NEM, credited customers the full retail rate for the excess energy sent to the grid. One less lucrative replacement called grid-supply, which has a limit on the number of participants, credits customers about 15 cents a kilowatt-­hour.

Once the limit is hit on grid-supply, the remaining program for customers looking to have a solar system — self-supply — encourages customers to purchase batteries.

Solar systems attached to batteries, because of the additional cost and unfamiliarity of the battery, saw a slow pickup in interest among Hawaii residents — 36 systems have been installed and turned on since 2015.

Industry representatives said an updated city permitting process for systems with batteries might help build momentum.

Mangelsdorf said Oahu hit a record number in May, with 13 permits issued for solar systems connected to batteries.

“Perhaps one small ray penetrating the dark clouds is an increase in the number of PV systems with battery storage being permitted by DPP,” he said.

DPP said its review process should speed up as a result of an online permitting system that was launched in May.

The updated process was a result of solar industry representatives meeting with DPP about the permitting for Tesla Powerwall 2 Home Batteries, one of the home battery systems currently for sale. Since the meeting, two Tesla Powerwall 2 Home Batteries have been installed on Oahu.

“We have a better understanding of what the city needs,” said Colin Yost, principal at RevoluSun. “It should all be more streamlined from this point forward.”