Solar permits issued on Oahu continued their downward trend and plunged 14 percent in the first quarter.

The City and County of Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting issued 537 solar electric permits compared with 628 during the first three months of 2018, according to data tracked by Hilo-­based Pro­Vision Solar President Marco Mangelsdorf. The permits issued in January-March of this year were virtually the same as during the same period in 2017 when there were 536 permits issued.

The top five permit pullers are Sunrun, RevoluSun, Hawaii Energy Connection, PetersenDean (Haleakala Solar) and Alternate Energy.

Of all the Oahu photovoltaic permits issued so far this year, 74 percent included batteries, with LG Chem and Tesla energy storage products the two most popular choices. During the same period last year, 56 percent of permits had batteries.

ON THE MOVE

The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Waikiki Beach, has appointed Calvin Vick as director of engineering. He has more than 35 years of hospitality experience, including recently having served as resort director of engineering for the opening team at Parq Vancouver. Vick also previously was director of engineering for other hotels and resorts throughout the Caribbean, U.S. and Canada.

Hawaii Public Radio has announced that Dabney Gough is its new director of marketing and communications. Gough has more than 15 years of marketing experience, including previously having served as director of marketing at Hawaiian Ola, a producer of organic beverages made in Hawaii.