Renewable Energy from the Sun

Photo of the front of a building with light bluish-green paint, a gray two-part roof, and a stairway and upper level patio featuring white guardrails with a blue top. A green leafy tree is in the foreground. A solar panel sits on the uppermost section of the roof, and a photovoltaic panel is unrolled on the lower part of the roof. Blue sky and clouds are above.

The main building of the Hawai‘ian Island Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary was constructed in 1940. The building now houses a part of the first photovoltaic grid-connected system on the island of Maui.

Most renewable energy comes either directly or indirectly from the sun. Sunlight, or solar energy, can be used directly for powering homes and other buildings, generating electricity and hot water heating, and a variety of commercial and industrial uses.

Solar Energy Basics

The sun's heat and light provide an abundant source of energy in Hawai‘i, and that energy can be harnessed in many ways. A variety of technologies have been developed to take advantage of solar energy. Those most applicable in Hawai‘i include

  • Photovoltaic systems
  • Solar hot water
  • Concentrating solar power systems
  • Passive solar design and daylighting.

Solar power can be used in large-scale applications as well as in smaller systems for the home. Businesses and industry can diversify their energy sources, improve efficiency, and save money by using solar technologies for industrial processes, electricity, and water heating. Homeowners can also use solar technologies for daylighting and water heating, and may even be able to produce enough electricity to operate "off grid" or to sell the extra electricity to the utilities, depending on local programs. The use of passive solar and daylighting design strategies can help homes and commercial buildings operate more efficiently and make them more pleasant and comfortable places in which to live and work.

Beyond these localized uses of solar power, utilities and power plants are increasingly taking advantage of the sun's abundant energy resource and extending the benefits to their customers. Concentrating solar power systems allow power plants to produce electricity from the sun on a larger scale, which in turn allows consumers to take advantage of solar power without investing in personal solar technology systems.

According to an analysis by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (PDF 45 KB), "...solar water heating is cost effective at any location in the Hawai‘ian islands." Download Adobe Reader.

Solar power technologies, from individual home systems to large-scale concentrating solar power systems, offer Hawai‘i the benefits of diversity and reliability in sourcing its energy supplies. These technologies hold great potential for helping to meet our growing energy needs and increase our energy security.

Solar Energy in Hawai‘i

In part because of the abundant supply of sunshine throughout Hawai‘i, and in part because of new regulations and economic incentives that support the widespread installation of solar systems in Hawai‘i, solar energy is already positioned to offset a substantial portion of the fossil fuel that supplies our energy today.

Already, solar water heaters have been installed in some 80,000 homes and institutions throughout the state. And thanks to the Solar Roofs Act—a landmark measure passed in 2008 requiring most new homes in Hawai‘i to be equipped with solar water heaters—that number is on the rise.