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PIXABAY
Solar permits are up on Big Isle and down in Maui County.
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The number of solar permits issued in Hawaii and Maui counties moved in opposite directions during the first quarter.
On Hawaii island, photovoltaic permits rose 27.7 percent to 203 from 159 in the year-earlier period.
In Maui County, though, PV permits declined 14.2 percent to 133 from 155 in the first quarter of 2017. Maui permits last quarter were down even further — 75 percent — from the first quarter of 2016.
“One factor affecting the volume of PV permits across the county of Maui is that, practically speaking, the islands of Lanai and Molokai have been largely closed off to the installation of new rooftop PV systems for the past several years due to the … high penetration of existing systems,” said Marco Mangelsdorf, who tracks rooftop solar permits and is president of Hilo-based ProVision Solar. “Even proposing a system that doesn’t export any solar power to the utility grid — the Customer Self Supply option — doesn’t appear to be a near-term viable option when it comes to getting utility approval.”
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