Hawaii’s average solar installations slumped 56% in the first half of this year, according to the state's Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. The number of PV permits issued by the County of Maui dropped 84% in Q3 from two years earlier, data from solar watcher Marco Mangelsdorf show. Aside from the pre-net-metering Standard Interconnect Agreement, which doesn’t provide any credit value for exported solar power, the remaining option for homeowners and businesses to go solar in Hawaii is the Self-Supply option -- the option that requires including pricey batteries on-site to absorb surplus solar power rather than sending it to the grid. In Hawaii, a state with some of the most sunny days on Earth, rooftop solar is still relatively new. The remaining option for those who want to install solar in Hawaii is to install expensive batteries to soak up excess capacity.
Hawaii’s average solar installations slumped 56% in the first half of this year, according to the state's Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. The number of PV permits issued by the County of Maui dropped 84% in Q3 from two years earlier, data from solar watcher Marco Mangelsdorf show. In Hawaii, a state with some of the most sunny days on Earth, rooftop solar is still relatively new. The remaining option for those who want to install solar in Hawaii is to install expensive batteries to soak up excess capacity.