More than one-third of single-family homes across Hawaiian islands use rooftop solar as of 2023

According to a new corporate sustainability report released by Hawaiian Electric last week, “Building a Strong and Resilient Hawaii Together,” 37 percent of single-family homes across the five islands it serves had rooftop solar at the end of 2022, and Oahu’s first grid-scale solar and storage project was operational.

This significant boost on the renewable front was further backed by the retirement of the state’s last coal power source, the AES coal plant. Retirement followed a 30-year contract and marked the elimination of one of Hawaii’s largest remaining emitters of greenhouse gasses.

As a result, renewable expansion has even more room to grow. In 2022, more than 4,400 private solar systems were added throughout the Hawaiian Electric service area. Rooftop solar installations were included among these, and 91 percent of these installations included battery storage. About 50 percent of customers on Oahu, Hawaii Island, and Maui have also taken the opportunity to upgrade to advanced meters to allow better monitoring of energy use and management of bills.

Looking ahead, Hawaiian Electric added that nearly a dozen utility-scale renewable energy projects are scheduled to be completed by 2025. Plans still call for reducing carbon emissions from power generation by as much as 70 percent by 2030.