Solar makes sense on ‘island in the sun’

Some Kaua‘i businesses and residents utilize solar energy to save the Earth.

Some switch to the sun to save money.

But for others, it’s the only way to provide power to island areas off the grid.

Solar Engineering and Contracting owner Paul Lucas and his crew recently installed a 2 kilowatt photovoltaic power system atop Wekiu Mountain for Mid Pacific Communications.

The 12 sun-soaking panels — integrated with a 1 kilowatt wind system as an alternative energy source — provide continuous D.C. power for thousands of people using wireless telecommunications devices on the North Shore, Kapa‘a and Anahola, Mid Pacific Communications President Jack Hendrickson said.

“We find solar a more efficient form of power that doesn’t require us to have the same kind of backup capacity as a grid system,” he said.

On-site batteries store the power, never falling below 95 percent capacity, he added.

Mid Pacific plans to install more solar units throughout Hawai‘i, according to Hendrickson, who said this system has “performed perfectly” since it was installed in March.

“It’s the toughest job I’ve ever done,” he said, noting that Inter-Island helicopters had to fly equipment and crew members to the site.

Solar Engineering and Contracting has installed at least 7,000 solar energy systems across the islands, Lucas said, including dozens of tricky jobs requiring crew members to wear harnesses.

And business has been on the rise.

Last year, Hawai‘i legislators made renewable energy tax credits permanent by removing a sunset clause, said Rep. Mina Morita, D-14th District.

“Especially on Kaua‘i, given our electric rate, if you’re a typical family with four people, having a solar hot water heater makes sense. Why use electricity to heat your water when the sun can do it?” she said.

High electricity costs coupled with tax breaks and finance options makes it easy to see on paper how installing a solar power unit can save thousands of dollars in the long run, he said.

“People are starting to see the numbers,” Lucas said. “I can put a photovoltaic system on your roof, it will produce all the power you need, and in five years you’ll own the system and have no electric bill.”

With a 30 percent federal tax credit and another 35 percent credit from the state, more small businesses such as Otsuka’s store in Kapa‘a are investing in alternative energy sources.

“If you lease it, the monthly bill to pay for a system is often cheaper than your electric bill. Plus, in six or seven years, you own it,” Lucas said.

For instance, a business now paying a $1,000-per-month electric bill using 3,200 kilowatt-hours of electricity would need a 20 kilowatt solar power system to supply all of its power, according to Lucas.

This system would cost about $160,000 to install, he said. The lender would take the tax credits of $104,000 and lease the system to the business for $56,000 plus interest over five years.

After five years, the business then owns the system and for the next 20 years saves more than $250,000 in energy costs based on today’s rates, he said.

Mid Pacific shelled out close to $100,000 for its system, Hendrickson said, including the antennas, wind unit and approximately $42,000 for the solar panels.

“It’s not cheap to put in originally, but will pay for itself over its life,” he said. “We were forced to come up with that solution and we’re very happy with it.”

Beyond supplying energy to Mid Pacific’s remote customers, Hendrickson seemed equally intrigued at the prospects the power system on Wekiu Mountain may hold for the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

The state could use power produced there to monitor forest areas by camera that normally would require an employee to physically go and inspect, he said.

“On an island in the sun, solar energy just makes sense,” Lucas said.

• Nathan Eagle, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or neagle@kauaipubco.

com.