Hawaii Rebates and Incentives Summary
Hawaii, land of volcanoes, waterfalls and immense beauty, is taking steps to become the most energy-independent state in the U.S. through an ambitious partnership with the Department of Energy (DOE). Under the partnership, DOE and Hawaii established the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative. Through this and other incentives like tax credits, a new feed-in tariff, existing net-metering program, and low-interest loan programs, Hawaii is helping its residents make the transition to solar and its renewable cousins. The state also offers rebates for solar water systems.
Under the clean energy initiative, DOE will help Hawaii’s smaller islands transition to 100 percent renewables by 2030. Overall, Hawaii will attempt to drastically reduce its consumption of petroleum—by about 72 percent—and plans to have 40 percent of its energy coming from renewable resources like solar, wind, and ocean power by 2030.
The state still has a long way to go. As of 2010, 90 percent of the island state’s energy comes from petroleum, with three quarters of the state’s energy being generated by petroleum power-plants, according to the DOE’s Energy Information Administration. While coal powers most of the United States, transporting coal to Hawaii via ship, would likely be prohibitively expensive, compared to shipping oil to the state.
On the other hand, the state already is a leader in the nation when it comes to solar-water heaters. As of 2010 the state already had 80,000 solar water heaters installed. Most new homes in the state are required to have solar water heaters as well, thanks to the 2008 Solar Roofs Act.
Given Hawaii’s subtropical environment with mild year-round temperatures, energy use is lower in the state than in most other states. And because of its location in the Pacific, the state has vast potential for different types of renewable energy, including solar, geothermal (it is built on volcanoes after all), wind, and ocean power.
