That's what a Hilo start-up company that
specializes in turnkey solar electricity systems is banking
on.
Steve Burns, an engineer who spent seven
years at HELCO developing its photovoltaic program, said
his new firm, ProVision Technologies, is the first in
Hawaii to offer the Big Island's off grid homeowners a
ready-to-go solar electric system.
The difference between this system and
previous solar electric systems is that this is pre-engineered,
pre-packaged and ready to go, Burns said, adding that
the traditional approach is for the off-grid customer
to buy a bunch of components and piece them together.
The problem is that the systems are not
always designed properly and are without certain safety
features. You can have huge battery packs that can explode,
Burns said. If it's not done properly, it can be dangerous.
ProVision's Solar Powerhouse system is
completely self-contained, without panels on the roof
or batteries in the basement, Burns said. The system was
designed by Paauilo firm Renewable Energy Services.
The benefit to the homeowner is that we
can deliver the system virtually the same day it's ordered,
connect it up and have it hooked up when it's dropped
off at the customer's home, Burns said.
Before launching ProVision's products at
the beginning of the year, Burns and his colleagues did
a five-year study to explore the potential of solar energy.
The Big Island has one of the greatest
concentrations of solar electric use in the United States
because thousands of properties are not served by HELCO,
Burns said.
The reason we started here was because the
Big Island has the largest number of off-grid properties
(in the islands), Burns said. We estimate it to be greater
than 10,000 properties.
Ironically, Burns' company is a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (HEI).
HELCO is a subsidiary of the Oahu utility Hawaiian Electric
Company, Inc. which in turn is a subsidiary of HEI.
HEI realizes if they don't do it, somebody
else will get involved with (solar power), Burns said.
The fact is this technology has come to the point where
it's becoming economically viable.
The cost of extending overhead power lines
runs about $3,500 per pole, with poles about 200 to 250
feet apart, Burns said. For people whose homes are five
or more poles away from the nearest utility pole, it's
worth considering a solar electric system, Burns said.
Honomu homeowners Michael and Beverly Shea
made that decision when they started planning their 2,300
square foot house a mile from the nearest utility pole.
They purchased a self-contained 1,800-watt
power system from ProVision for $38,000, or less than
half the amount it would have cost them to connect to
the grid. Sun hitting the system's photovoltaic panels
is turned into electricity, which is stored in a bank
of batteries.
Burns said that the Sheas' three-unit system,
which in rainy Honomu (or Hilo) generates about seven
kilowatt-hours of electricity a day, is the largest that
a household is likely to need.
It depends on where you are to determine
how many kilowatt-hours of power you'll end up with, Burns
said. Obviously, the sunnier the better.
A two-unit 1,200-watt system costs roughly
$30,000 and a one-unit 600-watt system costs about $22,000.
Burns said he and his colleagues consult
with the homeowner to decide what the energy needs are.
Off-grid homeowners are likely to use propane to run certain
appliances, such as the range, clothes dryer and hot water
heater, he noted.
Once you eliminate those appliances from
the energy mix, then the resulting (solar energy) needs
of the home are relatively modest, Burns said.
The Hilo company is the sole Hawaii distributor
of SunSlates, a photovoltaic roofing material that combines
silicon chips with a slate-like roof tile.
It's a little more expensive than add-on
solar panels, but you're getting both a roof covering
and electric power, Burns said.
A roof with SunSlates goes for about $15,000
and provides four to six kilowatt-hours of electricity
power day.
A system like this would provide up to a
third of a home's energy requirements, Burns said, adding
that a typical homeowner uses around 15 kilowatt hours
a day.
New legislation passed in May could sway
grid-connected homeowners to install solar power systems,
Burns said.
The state legislature recently passed House
Bill 173 that allows up to a half of 1 percent of a utility's
peak demand to come from solar or wind power generators
whose owners produce more electricity than they need.
The incentive for the homeowner is that
net metering allows him to store electricity produced
during the daytime with the utility company and use it
later. The utility acts as a big battery for the homeowner,
Burns said.
(Net metering) will be the beginning of
residential, grid-tied solar electric in Hawaii, Burns
said. Net metering is something we anticipate a lot of
people will want to take advantage of, because they want
the energy independence and the added utility reliability.
While state tax incentives for going solar
are admittedly modest for residential solar systems --
$1,750 max for commercial users the tax breaks are sizeable,
Burns said.
In Hawaii, there's a 35 percent state tax
credit that comes off the system's cost, with no cap,
plus a 10 percent federal tax credit and a 4 percent capital
goods excise tax credit, Burns said.
Altogether, nearly 50 percent of the system's
cost can come back to the commercial owner within the
first year.
For more solar and renewable energy news [SolarAccess.com]
