The number of rooftop solar permits issued in Hawaii fell significantly in 2017. But solar advocates say they’re are cautiously optimistic the market will soon turn a corner despite ongoing struggles.
On the island of Oahu, the state’s largest solar market, a total of 2,993 PV system permits were issued last year, according to data collected by Marco Mangelsdorf, president of Hilo-based ProVision Solar. That number compares to 4,591 permits issued in 2016 and 7,493 permits issued in 2015 — representing declines of 34 percent and 60 percent, respectively.
The all-time peak for solar permits issued on Oahu was in 2012, when the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting processed 16,715 applications. Compared to that banner year, the figure for 2017 was 82 percent lower.
Other islands also saw permits plummet year-over-year. Permits fell by 28 percent on Hawaii’s Big Island (from 1,256 in 2016, to 906 in 2017) and by 59 percent on Maui (from 1,657 in 2016, to 676 in 2017). Last year’s total on Maui was down a whopping 80 percent from 2015.
The change stems from the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission’s decision to end the net energy metering (NEM) program for Hawaiian Electric Co. utilities, including the Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) on Oahu, the Maui Electric Company (MECO), and the Hawaiian Electric Light Company (HELCO) on Hawaii Island.
“Hawaii rooftop PV peaked in 2012-2013 and has been losing solar steam ever since,” Mangelsdorf wrote in an email. “With the elimination of NEM by our PUC in October 2015, one of the main incentives to go PV has been diminished as lesser attractive interconnect programs (Customer Grid Supply and Customer Self Supply) were introduced.”
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