Six months after regulators rejected the first plan, HECO has proposed another vision for the state’s electric grid, which is heavier on software than hardware.
The Aloha State has encouraged residential solar customers to move to self-contained electricity systems – but permitting the batteries necessary to enable that are moving far more slowly than expected.
The company’s partnership with Sunetric will allow customers to lease solar+storage systems as a package, which will allow them to participate in the island state’s “self-supply” program.
HECO has identified space for 2,800 rooftop PV systems under a previously closed program that allows customers to export to the grid.
In 2015, Hawaii’s Public Utilities Commission eliminated the state’s net-metering incentive. Since then, the number of permits pulled on Oahu for solar installations has plummeted, reaching a new low in 2017 of only 449.
The latest report by Environment America shows San Diego moving to second-place in per-capita solar PV and first place in overall watts, just as Net Metering 2.0 slows down its residential solar market.
The National Lab’s latest report uses its renowned cost modeling to find that even a PV system with small batteries costs nearly twice as much as a standalone PV system.
The island is a view into what a future with high penetrations of renewable energy will look like.
The solar+storage project utilizes EnSync’s Matrix Energy Management and SuperModule Energy Storage Platform on a 400 kW PV system.
Not content to rest on its laurels, the island’s utility cooperative board set a new goal of producing 70% of its energy from renewables by 2030.
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