Oahu’s rooftop solar industry returned to growth in the past two months after two years of declines.
"The drought has broken, and the rain has started to fall," said Marco Mangelsdorf, who tracks rooftop solar permits and is president of Hilo-based ProVision Solar. "It comes as a very welcome relief to Oahu PV (photovoltaic) businesses."
The number of rooftop photovoltaic permits issued in April by the City and County of Honolulu was up 28 percent from the same month last year. The city issued 742 permits in April, up from 577 in April 2014, Mangelsdorf said Monday.
"Despite all the continued carping by some in the industry," the increase in permits is most likely due to Hawaiian Electric Co. approving more systems, Mangelsdorf said. The utility is "going to where no utility on the mainland has gone before as far as circuit penetration levels of solar PV. "
HECO has said 12 percent of its customers on Oahu have rooftop solar, far more than any mainland utility.
Mangelsdorf reported last month that 610 PV permits were issued on Oahu in March. Monday he revised that number to 664, making March the first month solar permits issued went up year-over-year after 23 months of declines.
The Oahu utility has been busy approving solar systems since promising last year to clear a backlog of 2,749 systems waiting for HECO approval in October.
HECO said in an April 2 filing with the Public Utilities Commission that as of the end of March, it had approved 2,543 of the pending Oahu applications.
The solar industry took a hit when HECO announced in 2013 that all rooftop solar systems needed HECO approval before being connected to the grid. Applications started piling up after HECO was slow to approve systems in areas that already had a large number of rooftop systems. HECO said the delay was due to concerns about safety and the stability of the grid if more solar was added in those areas.
HECO said it is working on technical solutions to issues that have stalled approvals in the past.
"We know how important an option rooftop PV is for our customers, and we’re continuing to perform the necessary technical reviews and process rooftop solar applications as quickly as possible," Darren Pai, HECO spokesman, said in an email Monday. "We’re also working on technical solutions and upgrades so more customers can get the benefits of rooftop PV in a way that ensures safe, reliable electric service."
Despite the number of permits issued in April, representatives of the solar industry said they do not see the increase turning the industry around.
"We were very happy to see that the queue was cleared, and businesses had some work to keep them going," said Leslie Cole-Brooks, executive director of the Hawaii Solar Energy Association. "But we are still on a long ride on the ‘solar-coaster.’ With the exception of the work that has come from clearing the queue, interconnection will continue to be limited until we have updated interconnection rules in place or see massive grid defection."
Roy Skaggs, project developer at Alternate Energy, said he was not hopeful about future months, noting that customers in areas with high numbers of solar connections to the grid are waiting for approval, similar to those who had pending applications in October.
"While it is good news to see permits up for the first time in two years, it is not something to get too excited about," Skaggs said. "This is just a reaction to HECO finally clearing the queue from October."
Mangelsdorf said he does not believe the growth will last long.
"How much (solar) the grid of today can accommodate still remains an open question," Mangelsdorf said.
HECO’s approval is not required for the city to issue a permit on Oahu and Hawaii island. Maui County does require utility approval before issuing a permit.
