{"id":46114,"date":"2016-11-07T13:01:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-07T18:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetsave.com\/?p=46114"},"modified":"2016-11-14T12:34:25","modified_gmt":"2016-11-14T17:34:25","slug":"hawaii-solar-decentralized-centralized-electricity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/articles\/hawaii-solar-decentralized-centralized-electricity\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawaii Solar"},"content":{"rendered":"
Glorious blue skies and endless sunshine. Warm, balmy breezes. <\/span>Isn\u2019t that how you envision Hawai\u2019i? Like the slogan, \u201cEverything\u2019s better in Hawaii,\u201d right? \u00a0Oops, one thing does dampen the impression of Hawai\u2019i, though: its high cost of living, especially for energy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hawai\u2019i\u2019s citizens have tried to take control of their high energy prices by using more\u00a0alternative energy sources, particularly solar. Did you know that Hawai\u2019i ranks as the 7th\u00a0state in the country in installed solar \u2026 enough to power <\/span>110,000 homes<\/span><\/a>? Hawai\u2019i homeowners have taken advantage of incentives and financing but also face serious challenges from energy utilities in the battle for energy reliability, cost efficiency, and independence.<\/span><\/p>\n Solar makes sense for Hawai\u2019i<\/a>. With its u<\/span>niform day lengths, small seasonal variations in incoming solar radiation, and consistent temperatures, Hawai\u2019i on level ground receives <\/span>at least 67% as much solar energy<\/span><\/a> between sunrise and sunset on a clear winter day as it does on a clear summer day. <\/span><\/p>\n By comparison, the percentages are only 33% and 20% at latitudes 40 and 50 degrees, respectively.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHawaii is a postcard from the future,\u201d said Adam Browning, executive director of Vote Solar, a policy and advocacy group based in California.<\/span><\/p>\n Life on earth is a result of solar radiation. All natural processes like wind systems, the hydrological cycle, and leaf photosynthesis emerge from solar influences. Increasingly, solar energy has become one of the most important sources of alternative energy for generating electricity. Solar radiation differs in its impact on the earth for <\/span>several reasons<\/span><\/a>, including the angle at which the sun\u2019s rays strike, absorption and reflection by the atmosphere as the radiation passes through it, absorption and reflection by clouds, and shading by the surrounding terrain. <\/span><\/p>\n Sun angle and atmospheric influences are key variables that affect the intensity of solar radiation in predictable ways. In Hawai\u2018i, except for areas near active volcanic eruptions, the air is relatively clear and atmospheric effects on radiation are fairly constant. <\/span><\/p>\n A 2013 study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Hawai\u2019i Natural Energy Institute, and Hawai\u2019ian Electric Co. called the <\/span>Hawaii Solar Integration Study<\/span><\/a> found that <\/span>higher levels of variable renewables could be accommodated reliably by the bulk power system in a collaborative fashion. Here are some of their findings:<\/span><\/p>\n This report is illuminating in what the consortium chose to focus on and what they didn\u2019t, particularly incentives. These decisions played heavily into the next few years of attempts to integrate solar as a pervasive energy source into the Hawai\u2019ian energy infrastructure.<\/span><\/p>\n Located in the middle of the world\u2019s largest ocean, Hawai\u2019i must import the fossils fuels it requires to produce centralized traditional electricity. Dense crude oil is more cost-effective to ship than natural gas or coal, so the vast majority of Hawai\u2019i\u2019s electricity has been produced from oil. To understand the expense involved in using oil to generate electricity, it is important to know that less than 1% of electricity generation in the rest of the United States is derived from oil. <\/span><\/p>\n Hawai\u2019i\u2019s geography as an archipelago makes it more expensive to build power lines than in other parts of the United States, so the centralized electricity utility company <\/span>charges more per kilowatt-hour<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>to cover those upfront electric delivery equipment costs. <\/span>Hawai\u2019ians pay about 34 cents per kilowatt-hour \u2014 nearly 3.5 times the U.S. average<\/a> and more than double the second-highest state electricity price of 16 cents per kilowatt-hour in Alaska. <\/span><\/p>\n Because grid electricity is so much more expensive in Hawai\u2019i than elsewhere in the country, the economics for solar panels are fundamentally improved, and the effective price of solar electricity comes up a lot cheaper than in other states. Thus, due <\/span>to the consequences of its unique location and its sunny weather, Hawai\u2019i obtains a higher percentage of solar electric power than any other U.S. state, getting <\/span>3.66%<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>of its electricity\u00a0from solar. Out of the 50 U.S. states, only Hawai\u2019i, California, Arizona, and Florida achieve more than 1%\u00a0of electricity\u00a0from solar power.<\/span><\/p>\n The upfront cost for a solar photovoltaic system in Hawai\u2019i is similar to the upfront cost anywhere else, but a solar panel in Hawai\u2019i captures a lot more sunlight over its lifetime than most other parts of\u00a0the U.S. <\/span><\/p>\n A solar system that might take 10 years to pay off in New Jersey might pay off <\/span>in under 5 years in Hawaii<\/span><\/a>\u00a0due to the higher Hawai\u2019ian electricity price and greater amount of sunshine. As a result, approximately 12% of Hawai\u2019ian homes now have solar panels installed. <\/span><\/p>\n According to the federal Energy Information Administration, this is the highest proportion of solar residential application in the nation. Demand for electricity is softening while home solar is rapidly spreading across the country. There are now about <\/span>600,000 installed solar systems<\/span><\/a> in the United States, and the number is expected to reach 3.3 million by 2020, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. But the relative success in Hawai’i is unprecedented.<\/span><\/p>\n The <\/span>U.S. Energy Information Office<\/span><\/a> offers the following energy data analysis for Hawai\u2019i, updated in 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n Electrically isolated from the mainland, with no power lines linking its small grid with the rest of the U.S., Hawai\u2019i has experienced difficulties integrating its overall solar energy system. The utility has nowhere to dump extra solar power, unlike global solar leaders of Germany and California, which\u00a0exchange power within their borders and with their neighbors to respond to\u00a0solar variability. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Hawai\u2019i also has no access to backup electricity generation from outside the state. Other grid operators can route power to areas where it is needed, but that is impossible in Hawai\u2019i, as only a few operating power plants serve the state\u2019s population of <\/span>approximately 1.4 million<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n The Hawai\u2019i Public Utility Commission responded in 2013 by formally <\/span>cap<\/span><\/a>ping<\/a> the number of new customers who\u00a0could install solar panels that feed electricity back into the grid. The move came after the Commission and other stakeholders become aware of <\/span>the technical and financial challenges of so many Hawai\u2019ian residences having the capacity to produce their own electricity.<\/span><\/p>\n Solar-leasing companies install rooftop systems, which cost at least $10,000 — sometimes at no upfront cost to the consumer — because state and federal subsidies can make buying and manufacturing solar panels <\/span>profitable<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n Hawaii\u2019s government has not favored solar power much relative to other states. It has <\/span>passed <\/span>29 policies <\/span>supporting it<\/span><\/a>, far fewer than the national average of 51 policies. Most solar subsidies go to residential installations and include a <\/span>30% federal tax credit<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In 2015, under <\/span>strict orders from state energy officials<\/span><\/a>, the Hawaiian Electric Company approved a lengthy backlog of solar applications. This push came after indications that the system could, indeed, handle much more solar than the company had assumed and the decision to hold off was likely more indicative of a large utility\u2019s failure to adapt its business model to a changing market.<\/span><\/p>\n Major utility inaction around solar has Hawai\u2019i at the forefront of a global upheaval in the power business. Around the world, the reduced revenue\u00a0jeopardizes electric company revenue. What\u2019s the result? Many utilities are:<\/span><\/p>\n But that\u2019s not the end of the story. Solar companies in Hawai\u2019i and elsewhere are fighting back through regulators and legislation, questioning and transforming:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHawai\u2019i\u2019s case is not isolated,\u201d said <\/span>Massoud Amin<\/span><\/a>, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Minnesota and chairman of the smart grid program at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. \u201cWhen we push year-on-year 30 to 40 percent growth in this market, with the number of installations doubling, quickly \u2014 every two years or so \u2014 there\u2019s going to be problems.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Similar utility challenges and battles have been occurring in Arizona<\/a>, Colorado<\/a>, California<\/a>, Australia<\/a>, Germany, the UK, etc.<\/p>\n Solar system installers in Hawai\u2019i whose businesses were stymied by the original cap continue to be frustrated by the pace of the state\u2019s solar application processing. <\/span>James Whitcomb<\/span><\/a>, CEO and founder of Haleakala Solar, says a more radical — and expensive — solution for Hawai\u2019ian homeowners may be necessary: Avoid the utility and its grid altogether. \u201cI\u2019ve actually taken people right off the grid. The lumbering big utilities that are so used to taking three months to study this and then six months to do that \u2014 what they don\u2019t understand is that things are moving at the speed of business. Like with digital photography \u2014 this is inevitable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Breaking consumer reliance on the utility\u2019s network of power lines may be the start to energy independence for Hawai\u2019ians. A <\/span>Tesla project<\/span><\/a> on the Hawaiian island of Kauai in which batteries installed at a solar farm will help fuel the grid during the evening may be the beginning of a new normal for solar on Hawai\u2019i. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the blueprint for how we want to operate in the future,\u201d said John Conley, vice president of project development at <\/span>SolarCity<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Photo credit: NASA Goddard Photo and Video<\/a> via Foter.com<\/a>\u00a0(CC BY<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hawai\u2019i has long, sunny days and the capability to produce lots of solar energy. Why, then, is solar production so contentious in Hawai\u2019i?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":195,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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!important}@media (max-width: 976px){.uag-blocks-common-selector{z-index:var(--z-index-tablet) !important}}@media (max-width: 767px){.uag-blocks-common-selector{z-index:var(--z-index-mobile) !important}}\n\";s:2:\"js\";s:0:\"\";s:18:\"current_block_list\";a:4:{i:0;s:10:\"core\/image\";i:1;s:14:\"core\/paragraph\";i:2;s:12:\"core\/heading\";i:3;s:17:\"core\/latest-posts\";}s:8:\"uag_flag\";b:0;s:11:\"uag_version\";s:10:\"1714089639\";s:6:\"gfonts\";a:0:{}s:10:\"gfonts_url\";s:0:\"\";s:12:\"gfonts_files\";a:0:{}s:14:\"uag_faq_layout\";b:0;}"],"_uag_css_file_name":["uag-css-46114.css"]},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Carolyn Fortuna","author_link":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/author\/carolynfortuna\/"},"uagb_comment_info":29,"uagb_excerpt":"Hawai\u2019i has long, sunny days and the capability to produce lots of solar energy. Why, then, is solar production so contentious in Hawai\u2019i?","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46114"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46114\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Why is Hawai\u2019i ideal for solar integration?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Research around Hawai’i solar integration<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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What\u2019s behind Hawai\u2019i\u2019s high solar electricity prices? <\/strong><\/h3>\n
The allure of solar to Hawai\u2019ians<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Quick facts about Hawai\u2019i and energy<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Struggles with solar in Hawai\u2019i\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Addressing\u00a0Hawai\u2019ians\u2019 access to solar: Centralized utilities<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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The move to decentralized solar for Hawai\u2019ians<\/strong><\/h3>\n