KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii Hawaiian Electric Co. had a 21% increase in solar energy production capacity in 2019, the company said.
KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii — Hawaiian Electric Co. had a 21% increase in solar energy production capacity in 2019, the company said.
The company said its solar capacity increased to 902 cumulative installed megawatts in 2019 from 745 megawatts in 2018, West Hawaii Today reported.
The company credited the increase to the completion of several large, grid-scale projects, along with thousands of new solar photovoltaic systems placed on residential rooftops.
Photovoltaic refers to the conversion of light into electricity.
The grid-scale projects that came online on Oahu in 2019 include Hawaiian Electric’s West Loch solar array producing 20 megawatts and three solar arrays built by Clearway Energy Group producing 110 megawatts, Hawaiian Electric said.
An estimated 3.5 million solar panels now produce electricity on the company’s five grids on Oahu and Hawaii island and in Maui County, the company said.
The number of residents who installed photovoltaic solar rooftop systems on Oahu, Hawaii island, Maui, Molokai, and Lanai rose from 74,331 in 2018 to 77,801 in 2019, the company said.
The company said 37% of the rooftop solar photovoltaic systems on single-family homes are on Oahu, while Hawaii island has 21% and Maui County homes represent 27%.
