The number of photovoltaic permits issued in Honolulu County jumped 67% in October from the year-earlier period, according to data compiled by Marco Mangelsdorf, who tracks rooftop solar permits and is president of Pro Vision Solar.

Through the first 10 months there have been 3,017 PV permits issued, up 32% from 2,283 during the same time frame in 2018.

“After several years of the doldrums, the solarcoaster is picking up some impressive momentum, finally,” he said.

Of the top five PV players based on permit value, the first four — RevoluSun, Hawaii Energy Connection, Alternate Energy and PetersenDean/Haleakala Solar — are having banner years with higher sales volume than a year ago. The 2018 state leader in solar electric, Sunrun, has seen its numbers drop 68% on Oahu this year.

ON THE MOVE

Avalon Group has announced the following:

>> Duane Shimo­gawa has been promoted to project manager at Avalon Group. He recently served in the company’s work as a project analyst. Shimogawa previously worked at Pacific Business News in Honolulu for six years, covering energy and real estate. He previously served as a reporter at PBN. Prior to that, Shimogawa was a reporter/sports anchor at KHNL/Hawaii News Now and worked at NBC affiliate television stations on the mainland, including Kalispell, Mont., and Yakima, Wash.

>> Robert Kelley is a new project manager after having received his J.D. and M.B.A. degrees from the University of San Diego. He has several years of real estate industry experience while being part of the retail investments brokerage team at CBRE (which moved to JLL) in Hawaii. Kelley also has hotel business experience ser­v­ing in the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts.