Tired of seeing their sales decline because of a lengthy approval process for rooftop photovoltaic systems, Hawaii’s solar companies are turning to other products and services to make up for lost revenue.

The offerings include solar water heaters, house fans, natural lighting solutions, electric vehicle charging stations, home automation and security, pool pumps and batteries.

Since September 2013, Hawaiian Electric Co. has required solar companies to get HECO’s approval before installing systems, saying the safety of the electrical grid, utility workers and customers was at risk if too much power was generated in any one area.

The number of solar systems sold plummeted following the rule change. Last year 6,554 rooftop solar systems were given building permits on Oahu, down from 13,303 in 2013 and 16,715 in 2012. The total value of the permits last year was $201 million, a drop of more than half from $454 million the year before.

The decline in rooftop solar installations has hit Hawaii’s 90 solar companies hard.

"Being so reliant on the utility approvals makes it hard for us to grow our business and have a sense of security knowing when things will be approved. How do we plan two, three, five years down the road?" said Eric Carlson, principal at Hono­­lulu-based RevoluSun. "We’re going away from (being) just your solar contractor to a much more whole-home approach. The main points for us are lighting, natural lighting, air quality, water efficiency, smart home technology and security."

"We’ll always offer PV as our main core business, but those other areas are what we’re including to our lineup of products," Carlson said. "This is how we diversify and not rely on HECO anymore for a large portion of our revenues."

KumuKit, another Hono­lulu-based residential solar company, is also looking to use its solar-panel background to springboard into an energy-efficiency business for homes.

The company will be offering an energy controller to provide monitoring for home energy use, PV production and individual appliance use. Energy storage will also be offered to connect with the PV system, said Chris DeBone, managing partner at Hawaii Energy Connection, an affiliate of Kumu­Kit.

DeBone described a home where energy efficiency is managed through the touch of a tablet.

"The Smart Energy Management controller allows the homeowner to monitor and optimize energy usage," DeBone said. "With individual appliance control and (battery) options, homeowners will now get the additional benefits of emergency battery backup power."

Solar companies are moving ahead with plans to diversify their offerings despite HECO’s assurances that it will begin approving rooftop solar systems at a faster pace this year. HECO said it will approve by April almost all of the rooftop solar systems that were on its waiting list as of the end of October.

Still, "it’s way too tough to have all your eggs in the HECO basket," said Christian Adams, president of Bonterra Solar, another Hono­lulu solar contractor.

Bonterra Solar is branching off to the mainland and adding batteries to grow business.

"We are expanding into Cali­for­nia. We are looking into batteries and possible other things we can offer to diversify," Adams said. "We are definitely looking into that because last year was really tough. We can’t have that happen again in a prolonged situation."

Offering solar systems with batteries is likely to become the most common new direction for Hono­lulu companies stymied by HECO’s rule.

Solar systems with batteries don’t need to send excess power back into the grid, which could solve HECO’s concerns about technical problems that can occur in neighborhoods with high numbers of solar systems connected to the grid. Batteries can be used with solar power to create "nonexport" systems. With the help of the attached battery, these PV systems keep the extra energy a renewable solar system produces during daylight hours for use at night or when it is cloudy.

HECO supports the use of batteries. The utility said Monday it will soon begin a pilot program to test different types of battery technology.

"With this technology we are able to help improve the integration of PV on circuits where you already have really high levels of PV," said Darren Pai, HECO spokes­man.

SolarCity, a San Mateo, Calif.-based solar company that collaborated with HECO to investigate the technical concerns that led to the backlog of solar installations, will be one of the companies working with the utility as it offers battery storage pilot programs.

"We are also working with HECO to explore the potential of customers with solar and battery storage to provide benefits to the broader grid, such as these systems’ ability to support grid stability if one of HECO’s big generators were to experience an unexpected outage," said Jon Yoshi­mura, director of policy and electricity markets at SolarCity.

American Electric Co., a Wai­pahu solar company, said it will offer batteries with its PV systems this year.

"We expect electricity storage to come of age in 2015 and will be prepared to offer products and services in that category," said Bob Sumpf, general manager of American Electric.

By selling batteries, smart energy systems, solar fans and other products, the solar industry hopes to regain some of the ground it lost with HECO’s rule change.

"Our motto or mantra for the year," said RevoluSun’s Carlson, "is we’re not waiting for HECO and neither should the public." 

ALTERNATIVE SOURCES

Some solar industry leaders in Hawaii will begin offering customers batteries and smart home products, which give customers the ability to control basic home functions with phones, tablets or computers.

>> RevoluSun: The company will be adding sunlights, solar water heaters, house fans and electric vehicle charging stations, a security system, pool pumps, batteries as well as home automation or smart home technology. 

>> Hawaii Energy Connection: The firm’s Kumu­Kit, the company’s residential business, will be adding home automation technology including a smart energy management controller that allows customers to monitor home energy use including PV production, and individual appliances. The solar company will also offer batteries to connect with PV systems. 

>> Bonterra Solar Services: The local solar contracting company  will be adding batteries to its offering and is looking into expanding its business to Cali­for­nia.

>> SolarCity: The San Mateo, Calif.-based Solar City will offer batteries to Hawaii customers.

>> American Electric: It will be adding batteries to its business.

ROOFTOP SOLAR INSTALLATION PERMITS

The solar industry has experienced a significant drop in permits over the past year. Hawaii Energy Connection, SolarCity, RevoluSun and Bonterra Solar Services are four solar companies in Hawaii that saw a decline in pulled permits.