LIHUE — Kauai residents continue to lighten the ecological footprint on the island. Kauai Island Utility Cooperative reported Friday that home energy use has dropped again for the sixth straight year. Residents have cut average monthly electric use by 10
LIHUE — Kauai residents continue to lighten the ecological footprint on the island.
Kauai Island Utility Cooperative reported Friday that home energy use has dropped again for the sixth straight year. Residents have cut average monthly electric use by 10 percent in seven years.
“Since 2007, residential power consumption has fallen from an average of 515 kilowatt hours per month to 464 in 2013,” said KIUC spokesperson Jim Kelly. “With the exception of 1992, when Hurricane Iniki shut down Kauai’s grid, the average residential use in 2013 was at its lowest level since 1987.”
The efforts have helped to offset the cost of oil that is used to generate about 85 percent of island electricity. The average monthly residential bill was $195 in 2013, Kelly said. That bill would be around $216 if customers were consuming at 2007 levels.
KIUC credits the increase in solar water heaters and photovoltaic energy systems in homes and businesses for much of the drop in energy demand.
Kauai general contractor Nathan Wood, credits the growth of PV systems, and KIUC commercial energy efficiency programs to subsidies and funding incentives for the past decade.
“The state mandates requiring solar hot water or on-demand gas water heaters on all new homes and improvements in technology, and KIUC incentives for replacing inefficient appliances with Energy Star rated units,” Wood said. “This combination of technology and education of homeowners and business is helping Kauai to be at the forefront of counties making the effort to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.”
KIUC reports there are around 2,100 residential and commercial PV systems installed on island today. In 2013 alone there were 537 residential and 71 commercial PV systems, and 116 solar water heaters installed, according to county building permits.
These systems produced about 3 percent of the total amount of energy consumed on Kauai, Kelly said. The $1,000 rebates for solar hot water systems, $50 appliance rebates, and 11,664 free energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs all added to the effort.
KIUC will phase out its distribution of CFLs in 2014, and switch to light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs. They are more expensive but the cost is dropping and they save more energy and last longer than CFLs.
Architects and developers are involved in the design phase of new projects, Wood said.
“Energy and environmental conscious developers and homeowners are driving the energy footprint of the common home downward and are always looking for ways to reduce the impact on both the environment and the operational cost of the structure,” Wood said.
Walter Maza, director of energy construction at AR Construction Service in Lihue, said families will need to use energy whether they invest in a PV system or not. They would notice the difference in their energy cost immediately and it could even equal the payments.
Once they pay it off in five years, the system would last another 20 years and could reduce the bills from hundreds of dollars per month to next to nothing if they can use the grid at low peak times.
“Solar water heaters are very efficient and water is the highest efficiency product,” Maza said. “It takes up most the power and when people think solar they think water first, but all or most of our electric needs can be met with PV as well.”
When individual families take that environmentally conscious step, then it is easier to see how it all plays into the collective effort to reduce the carbon footprint, he said.
Every family has its own energy needs. Consultants can customize a system by helping to select LED lighting and Star rated appliances, but its also depends on the transformer, the load panel and the dedicated circuit going into the home, he said.
“We make an all-around energy efficiency proposal,” Maza said. “For most designs, we look at power usage and design a system that will zero out their bill and has a five-year break even point with the system.”
PV systems in combination with the grid means that the consumers won’t see a difference in the service. The savings comes with a little understanding about lifestyle adjustments to avoid peak grid use times.
This means running washer-dryers or vacuuming during the day hours. If people make the adjustment then there is no reason that 200 to 600 dollar utility bills can’t be reduced to 6 to 60 dollar bills.
“That is a huge difference,” he said.
Commercial PV systems are larger and cost around $56,000 or more. However, businesses are more often in position to sell more power back over time.
“Business have just huge tax opportunities right now with 30 percent from the federal and 35 percent from state,” he said. “That brings two-thirds of their cost back through tax breaks and a two-to-three-year pay back.”
The federal tax break is scheduled to end in 2016. The Hawaii incentive is year to year.
KIUC distributed around 1,148 in-home energy displays since 2012. The homeowner can go online and monitor power use to see where they are using or saving.
They can also get read outs on wind speed, solar radiance, panel temperatures and more.
St. Theresa’s Catholic School Principal Mary Jean Buza-Sims, said their commercial system went operational in December. They are waiting for the utility bill on this first complete month.
“We have been monitoring the system but it’s too early to tell at this time,” she said. “I am sure that we are benefiting because on a good day the 15 kW system is generating 12,000-plus kilowatts.”
This time of year there is more cloudy weather and the power generation appears in spikes. In summer when school is not in session and there are more sunny days it will be more consistent.
“When we have a high number days with sun we expect to be producing quite a bit of energy here,” she said.
Hawaii is the most expensive state for gas and diesel in the nation, in part from the costs of shipping it to a small market, according to AAA. That may be why electric vehicle sales are increasing each year.
The County Motor Vehicle Registration Division does not track the number of electric or non-powered vehicles. However, the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association reports in its quarterly publication that EV and hybrid sales have doubled from 2012.
Around 2,044 hybrids, and 600 more plug-in electric vehicles were sold statewide through September 2013. That is an increased from 338 in 2011, and 341 in 2012. In 2008 and 2009 there were just 15 sold each year, and only 2 buyers in 2010.
The 1,599 auto sales on Kauai between Sept. 2012-2013 was a 23 percent increase, according to the report. There were 28,167 sales statewide during that same period.
