Driving on Interstate H-1 across Honolulu upon arriving there earlier this spring, one of the first things to catch my eye (apart from the spectacular Ko’olau Range looming over the city) was the large number of solar panels on residential rooftops. Walking through various neighborhoods around town, I saw comparatively more solar panel installations than in most U.S. cities I have traveled to. With roughly three-quarters of Hawaii’s population residing in the City and County of Honolulu (which encompasses all of the island of Oahu), it was therefore not surprising to learn that the state ranks third nationwide in cumulative installed photovoltaic capacity per capita.
Much of Hawaii’s current level of solar energy capacity has been achieved within just the past few years. According to the Hawaii State Energy Office, solar power accounted for 8.1 percent of Hawaii’s renewable energy generation in 2011, up from 0.8 percent in 2007. Cumulative solar power capacity installed statewide grew to 35.1 megawatts in 2011, a nearly three-fold increase from the year before. This boost in capacity is also reflected in the noteworthy statistic that rooftop distributed solar installation accounted for 26 percent of all state construction expenditures in 2012, compared to less than 5 percent in 2007. According to the Hawaiian Electric Company, the state’s primary energy utility, one in three single-family homes in Hawaii uses solar water heating for most if not all of their hot water needs. Although a mix of policies are in place to encourage solar energy in Hawaii, according to the Hawaii State Energy Office the majority of the growth in solar PV capacity is linked to net energy metering policies that enable residential power customers to receive retail value for excess solar energy they generate and feed into the electricity grid.
Potentially augmenting Hawaii’s efforts to encourage solar energy are U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) goals to boost energy independence and meet 25 percent of its energy needs through renewable resources by 2025. Hawaii hosts a significant military footprint, including the United States Pacific Command and 75,000 DOD personnel. It has been the location of other recent DOD clean energy initiatives, including a U.S. Navy ‘Great Green Fleet’ exercise in 2012 testing domestically produced algae-based biofuels. As part of one initiative launched in 2011 at Hickam Air Force Base, which is located adjacent to Pearl Harbor and home to more than 2,500 military personnel and their families, the company SolarCity is installing a 4-megawatt solar power system across more than 400 buildings. When this installation is complete, SolarCity will operate and maintain the system for 20 years, and the company has so far created 60 jobs in Oahu to work on this and other local projects. An entire neighborhood of residences with rooftop solar panels installed as part of this project is visible from Interstate H-1 on route to Honolulu International Airport—giving departing visitors a chance to observe and consider whether their own community is keeping pace with Hawaii.
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