Private solar systems on Hawaiian Electric’s grids increased to nearly 97,000 last year amid customer incentives offered by the company, an extension of federal tax credits for solar and rising electricity rates.
There were 96,912 solar systems with 1,058 megawatts of generating capacity and 155 MW of battery storage across the five islands served by Hawaiian Electric. The number of solar systems, most of which are rooftop, rose by 4,408, or 4.8%, from 2021.
The Kauai Island Utility Cooperative, a nonprofit owned by its members, serves the Garden Island and is not part of Hawaiian Electric’s grids.
Hawaiian Electric’s Battery Bonus program, which pays a one-time cash incentive and monthly bill credits to those who add energy storage to an existing or new rooftop solar system, became available to customers on Maui last year after launching on Oahu in mid-2021.
“This likely helped convince some customers who may have been putting off adding solar until now,” Kaiulani Shinsato, Hawaiian Electric Customer Energy Resources co-director, said Wednesday in a statement. “In addition, higher electric rates and an extension of the federal tax credits helped drive demand for solar.”
About 22% of Hawaiian Electric’s residential customers have rooftop solar and 35% of customers in single-family homes have solar. Hawaii has among the highest rates of rooftop solar adoption in the nation.
Hawaiian Electric, which has committed to cut carbon emissions from power generation 70% from 2005 levels by 2030, has developed a Climate Change Action Plan that includes the addition of 50,000 rooftop solar systems on homes and businesses over the next eight years. Almost all new systems today include energy storage, giving customers greater control over their energy use and saving them money while supporting the stability and reliability of island grids.
The company also offers a shared solar program, also known as community-based renewable energy, which provides customers unable to install private rooftop solar to benefit from solar energy generated on their island.
