A recent ruling by the state Public Utilities Commission has led Hawaiian Electric to modify and push back the start of new rooftop solar and energy storage programs to April 1.
The electrical utility on Wednesday announced the one-month postponement of the programs available to customers on Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Hawaii island.
One of the new offerings is a distributed energy resources program called Smart DER to replace prior interim rooftop solar programs for customers except for those with Net Energy Metering.
The revised Smart DER program no longer has a requirement for participating customers to also participate in a new Hawaiian Electric Shift and Save pilot program where electrical rates vary by time of use.
Customers who are in a Hawaiian Electric legacy solar program must transition to Smart DER no later than seven years after their initial agreement date, with a six-month grace period, according to the company.
Hawaiian Electric legacy solar programs being replaced by Smart DER include Customer Grid Supply, Customer Grid Supply Plus, Smart Export and
Customer Self-Supply. They have varying requirements and credit rates for exported energy.
Another new program
being adjusted is called Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD. This program is a supplemental incentive program that customers participating in Smart DER or a legacy rooftop solar program may enroll in to provide the utility with energy exported to the grid by the customer in return for
compensation.
A variety of participation and compensation options exist for BYOD, which is a successor program to Hawaiian Electric’s Battery
Bonus program.
BYOD isn’t intended for only battery storage linked with rooftop solar. It’s possible that customers with other renewable-energy
production systems, such
as wind turbines, hydroelectric facilities or other
things with storage, can
participate.
The programs were established to add stability to Hawaiian Electric grids as more intermittent renewable-energy sources are developed, and also contribute
to reaching a state goal of
having 100% clean energy
by 2045.
