Solar power in Hawaii
Encyclopedia
Hawaii
's imported energy costs are three times higher, and will soon be close to four times higher than the mainland, so Hawaii has motivation to become one of the highest users of solar energy. Its tropical location provides lots of sun
energy that stands to be utilized more effectively in the future. Recently, the Oahu Wind Integration Study recently released a report detailing the impact on the Oahu grid and found that 500 MW of wind and 100 MW of solar power could provide Oahu up to 25% of its electricity while eliminating the need to burn approximately 2.8 million barrels of low sulfur fuel oil and 132,000 tons of coal each year.
. The distribution of energy produced per island is as follows in the table below:
This, however, is only 0.07% of the state's total energy production for 2007.
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
's imported energy costs are three times higher, and will soon be close to four times higher than the mainland, so Hawaii has motivation to become one of the highest users of solar energy. Its tropical location provides lots of sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
energy that stands to be utilized more effectively in the future. Recently, the Oahu Wind Integration Study recently released a report detailing the impact on the Oahu grid and found that 500 MW of wind and 100 MW of solar power could provide Oahu up to 25% of its electricity while eliminating the need to burn approximately 2.8 million barrels of low sulfur fuel oil and 132,000 tons of coal each year.
Solar power energy statistics
In 2007 Hawaii generated 8 GWh of energy by photovoltaicsPhotovoltaics
Photovoltaics is a method of generating electrical power by converting solar radiation into direct current electricity using semiconductors that exhibit the photovoltaic effect. Photovoltaic power generation employs solar panels composed of a number of solar cells containing a photovoltaic material...
. The distribution of energy produced per island is as follows in the table below:
| Island | Production (2007) |
|---|---|
| Hawaii Hawaii (island) The Island of Hawaii, also called the Big Island or Hawaii Island , is a volcanic island in the North Pacific Ocean... |
4.4 GWh |
| Oahu Oahu Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast... |
1.7 GWh |
| Maui Maui The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,... |
1.3 GWh |
| Kauai Kauai Kauai or Kauai, known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle",... |
0.5 GWh |
This, however, is only 0.07% of the state's total energy production for 2007.
Major solar installations in Hawaii
- December 2008: DuPontDuPontE. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...
completed a solar power installation on KauaiKauaiKauai or Kauai, known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle",...
that is expected to average 80 kW. - December 2008: SunetricSunetricSunetric is a Hawaii-based residential, commercial, and non-profit photovoltaic solar power company, and operates on all of the Hawaiian islands. The company was founded in 2004 as Suntech Hawaii by Sean Mullen, who is majority share holder in the company. Alex Tiller is the company's CEO...
completed the largest roof-mount solar power installation in Hawaii at Kona Commons shopping mallShopping mallA shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
. - 2009: SopogySopogySopogy a solar thermal technology supplier was founded in 2002 at the Honolulu, Hawaii based clean technology incubator known as . The company began its research on concentrating solar thermal energy to produce steam and thermal heat for absorption chiller. The company has also developed...
completed construction on the World's first MicroCSP solar thermal power project and Hawaii's first Concentrating Solar Power Project. The project located at the Natural Energy Laboratories of Hawaii is a 2MW solar thermal project interconnected into the Hawaiian Electric IndustriesHawaiian Electric IndustriesHawaiian Electric Industries Inc.. is the largest supplier of electricity in the state of Hawaii, suppling power to 95% of Hawaii's population through its electric utilities: Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc., Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc. and Maui Electric Company, Limited. In addition, HEI...
grid under a Power Purchase AgreementPower Purchase AgreementPower Purchase Agreements are contracts between two parties, one who generates electricity for the purpose of sale and one who is looking to purchase electricity . There are various forms of Power Purchase Agreements; these are differentiated by the source of energy harnessed...
. - 2009: La Ola Solar Farm on LanaiLanaiLānai or Lanai is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is also known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation. The only town is Lānai City, a small settlement....
was dedicated in January, with a design capacity of 1.2MW. After operating at 600KW due to variable cloud cover, in September 2010 Xtreme Power announced plans to incorporate their battery storage technology to bring the system up to design capacity.
List of solar energy companies in Hawaii
- 21st Century Technologies Hawaii
- Affordable Solar Contracting (Since 1997)
- Alternate Energy Inc. (Since 1993)
- Bonterra
- C&J Solar Solutions (Since 1999)
- Energy Industries (Since 1994)
- Giant Solar
- Haleakala Solar Inc. (since 1977)
- Hawaiian Island Solar (Since 1983)
- Hnu Energy
- Island Pacific Energy
- Lumen Solar
- RevoluSun (Since 2009)
- Rising Sun Solar Electric (Since 2003)
- Saving Oahu's Solar LLC (6+ Years)
- Solar Engineering & Contracting
- Solar Services Hawaii (Since 1991)
- SopogySopogySopogy a solar thermal technology supplier was founded in 2002 at the Honolulu, Hawaii based clean technology incubator known as . The company began its research on concentrating solar thermal energy to produce steam and thermal heat for absorption chiller. The company has also developed...
- Sun King
- Sun Run
- SunetricSunetricSunetric is a Hawaii-based residential, commercial, and non-profit photovoltaic solar power company, and operates on all of the Hawaiian islands. The company was founded in 2004 as Suntech Hawaii by Sean Mullen, who is majority share holder in the company. Alex Tiller is the company's CEO...