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Hawaiian Electric reaches milestone 50,000 solar installations

Source: Honolulu Advisor.com, June 9, 2009
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/
20090609/GETPUBLISHED/906090355

A Honolulu resident became the 50,000th customer of Hawaiian Electric’s residential Solar Water Heating Rebate program announced Keith Block, director of the Oahu utility’s Customer Efficiency Programs. “It’s a significant milestone for the solar industry and for Hawaii as a state,” said Block, who has been involved in the utility’s rebate program since it debuted in 1996 on Oahu, Maui County and Hawaii Island. The 50,000 systems installed under the utilities’ programs combined with previously installed solar systems brings the total statewide to more than 80,000, making Hawaii a national leader with an estimated one out of three single-family homes equipped with solar water heating.

Block noted that over the past 13 years the utilities’ solar water heating program has reduced the demand for electricity by 111,328,000 kilowatt-hours annually (the equivalent of the estimated annual electric usage of more than 14,000 households), avoided the use of 210,000 barrels of oil annually and reduced carbon dioxide emissions a major contributor to global warming by 116,000 tons annually.

“This is an achievement we share with the solar contractors, developers, the military and our customers,” said Block. “Hawaiian Electric started out with just a handful of participating contractors and today that number has grown to some 35 solar contractors on Oahu, 15 in Maui County and 29 on Hawaii Island.”

Block said the military was one of the first to install solar water heating in their family housing projects as an energy saving move, and that local developers followed with solar in new home construction projects to attract buyers by offering energy efficiency upgrades. “In recent years, it’s a combination of high energy prices, improved product, attractive government tax credits, and the $1,000 incentive from the utilities that have contributed to the demand for solar,” added Block.

Jim Case, the Honolulu resident who was designated the utilities’ 50,000th solar water heating customer after he installed solar on his 63-year-old house, agrees with the motivation. “I had looked at solar about a decade ago but didn’t think it would be effective given the cloud cover and rainy conditions where I live on Round Top Drive.”

“My daughter, who lives next door, installed solar water heating and photovoltaic panels on her rooftop with successful results and that’s what convinced me. It also seemed timely to go solar because of technology improvements and as fuel prices were going up,” added Case.

Case’s daughter is Suzanne Case, executive director of The Nature Conservancy in Hawaii. The organization’s Honolulu office installed a 12.6 kW photovoltaic system (http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/hawaii/press/press3849.html)on their building in 2008 in keeping with their conservation mission, and Case herself decided to “walk the talk” personally by choosing solar for her home which in turn inspired her father.

Asked what benefits he derived from installing a solar water heating system, Jim Case noted a substantial reduction in his electric bill. “That’s partly due to solar and also to the decrease in fuel prices since the beginning of the year. I also turned off one of our heaters after we did some plumbing upgrades, so all of these improvements combined including installing compact fluorescent lights throughout most of the house helped us to reduce our electricity use and see a lower bill,” he said. “My wife and I also had concerns about how the solar panels were going to work in this mostly cloudy area but they were positioned to capture the maximum amount of sunlight and yet they’re not visible to our neighbors, a fact that pleases my wife,” said Case.

Hawaiian Electric’s solar water heating rebate program currently provides a $1,000 instant rebate for installations done by an approved solar contractor and includes a 100-point post-installation quality control inspection by the utility. Federal and State tax credits also are available for qualified homeowners. Since 1996, the program has awarded more than $45.5 million in rebates. For more information about the utility’s program on Oahu, visit heco.com or call 94-POWER.