This state has made progress toward its aggressive green-energy goals, especially with the meteoric rise in photovoltaic solar installations. Now, however, Hawaii’s reached the stage when each advance involves surmounting yet another obstacle.

Some hurdles are in place because the islands are at the leading edge of rapid technological change. The PV solar industry had to adapt to that and scale up, and the economics of the purchase had to improve.

Now it’s the battery systems to store excess electricity that present a new frontier — and an uphill battle.

Part of the problem is sheer inertia. The state’s shift to renewable energy from multiple generation sources has up-ended the century-old way of running a utility. To be sure, radical changes can’t be made quickly.

But it does need to turn, so lawmakers and consumer advocates must keep the pressure on so the revolution doesn’t stall out.

To begin with: Hawaiian Electric Industries — the parent company of Hawaiian Electric Co. on Oahu, Maui Electric Co. and Hawaii Electric light Co. — is due Dec. 23 to deliver the latest revision of its Power Supply Improvement Plan.

To a greater extent than it has to date, Hawaiian Electric must reimagine its business model, becoming less vested in energy production and more in its distribution.

That blueprint would involve all forms of renewable energy. But for the short term, it’s solar that can move the needle most readily.

One avenue has been closed: A cap was set by the PUC on how much additional power the grid could accept on each island through the Net Energy Metering (NEM) program, in which property owners could sell their excess PV power to HEI.

That program is tapped out. Sensibly, the PUC has ordered the utility to allow applicants waiting to install a grid-supply solar system to proceed if others grandfathered in the NEM waiting list drop out of that program.

But otherwise, consumers now must move to alternative options to take control of their energy bills. Their three primary choices:

>> Shifting their usage to off-peak time, with lower rates.

>> Investing in “community solar,” owning a share in a PV farm.

>> Buying one of the new battery systems, along with a PV installation, enabling excess energy to be stored and used when the solar cells aren’t producing.

There’s work to be done on all of these fronts. The PUC has scheduled a series of meetings over the next year to hammer out the complications.

One may be regulatory: The permitting process with the counties needs to be streamlined to pick up the pace of getting “self-supply” battery-storage systems online.

Secondly, policymakers must jumpstart the community solar effort, now back-burnered at the PUC. State Rep. Chris Lee, who chairs the House energy committee, said lawmakers may consider legislation establishing the program in statute.

That should be pursued. People who don’t have the means or opportunity to purchase their own system, including renters, ought to have an opportunity to reap the cost savings of solar energy, and the community projects offer them that.

Lee also said the Legislature will revive a bill creating a tax credit to absorb some of the front-end costs for self-supply. Some estimates put the pricetag at around $5,500 for the battery element alone.

Finally, he added, a way to manage that cost could be on-bill financing — paying off the balance incrementally, as part of their electricity usage charge.

The PUC so far has not found a contractor able to handle the accounting for this. However, Lee said, there are models that could be adapted to this purpose.

The public must hope he is right. Hawaii’s energy goals are too important to abandon simply because the low-hanging fruit has been collected. Some creativity is required.