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Hawaiian Electric Industries (HEI) includes Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. (HECO), Hawaii Electric Light Company Inc. (HELCO), and Maui Electric Company (MECO). They are the largest supplier of electricity in the state of Hawaii, supplying power to 95% of Hawaii's population.

Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) has a 100% solar energy goal for the state of Hawaii by the year 2045

Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the sun harnessed using a range of ever-evolving technologies such as; solar heating, photovoltaics, solar thermal energy, solar architecture and artificial photosynthesis. The sun is our most important renewable resource that is constant energy that should be taken advantage of. Solar panels are used to harness this energy and heat.

Finally there is Photovoltaic System (PV). Photovoltaic Systems are also solar PV power systems or PV systems. Photovoltaic Systems are power systems designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. Photovoltaics are relating to the production of electric current at the junction of two substances exposed to light.

History

Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel is credited with the discovery of the photovoltaic effect, the operating principle of solar cells into electricity in 1839. In 1876, William Grylls Adams discovered that selenium generated an electric current when exposed to light. This proved that a solid object could change light into electricity without heat or moving parts. In 1953, Gerald Pearson made the first solar cell with silicon. This was much more efficient than selenium, and solar power could now start to be used to its fullest potential. The first solar panels were used on space shuttles and ever since then they have found their way to the rooftops of average citizens all across the globe. A primary place being Hawaii.

Today

In Hawaii, everyone has been participating in the “solar hype”, especially the residents of Oahu. Kathryn Mykleseth stated in “ Rooftop Solar Approval Increased 47% in July”  that Oahu's rooftop solar permits were up year over year in July for the fifth month in a row. It is said that when the company Hawaii Electric Company came out with a law that everybody needed permits to connect to the grid to use solar energy everyone was not to excited therefore for the past two years the use of solar panels has not gone very high. The year of 2015 shows that people are connecting to the grid to  save power and use the sun as a renewable research which means that they are also saving money in the process. There is speculation believed that the outlook for HECO is only becoming greater.This demonstrates that the uses of solar energy are becoming excessively popular and more grid space needs to open up on the island of Oahu. According to the Hawaii Electric Company, many of these customers have been waiting many years for the company to expand the grid due to the addition of solar panels to homes. The Hawaii Electric company is set on bringing the most to its users in order to make sure that the grid does not crash. The company says that the huge income of users also may be due to the “concern that new solar customers will miss out on an incentive program that credits solar owners for the excess energy their solar systems produce.” The Hawaii Electric Company does not plan to continue to backlog orders for solar energy just for the simple fact of not having a roller coaster effect on the company.They are constantly expanding the grid, which shows that they no longer of the fear of the grid crashing on solar homes and those they are expecting more and more customers. While this outlook looks well, there is still many problems at hand. “I was told that 15 years ago we had maybe 800 PVs. Today we have over 51,000.”(CEO of HECO Richard M. Rosenblum)

Pricing

Companies are trying their best to get people to switch over to solar energy promising reduction in rates not just in Hawaii but across the United states because the renewable energy from the sun saves everyone involved companies included a great deal of money.The benefits of solar energy in the fact of saving energy and saving money by using the biggest renewable resource, the sun. “The daily systems cost savings per household could be over $5 a day in August.”( Booth, Samantha. "Here Comes The Sun: How Securities Regulations Cast A Shadow On The Growth Of Community Solar In The United States") This goes to show that electric companies are taking advantage of solar resources if it’s a renewable energy how come it is only saving the average ratepayer five dollars a day in a summer month. It is stated that sure renewable energy is good for the world and causes less hazards like greenhouse gases but the big companies lie to everyone telling them that their solar panels would be paid off in no time. This is by far from the truth as only five dollars a day was saved during the summer months. So due to the larger generators needed for the solar panels is causes all other prices for the consumer to hike up. In solar panel industries consumers cannot save as much as one would like sure five dollars a day does add up but in the present of things does not make that much of a difference.As for island of Oahu, there is some bad news for consumers. “The bad news is that the new structure reduces credits to homeowners, from 25 cents per kilowatt hour to 15 cents for Oahu residents.” (Mykleseth, Kathryn). This shows that consumers are earning less money than they should be every other island only went up in their earnings all but Oahu. Oahu is the only one that went down and it went down by 10 cents, which adds up tremendously over the time of the solar panels. “New residential PV system owners will pay a minimum monthly bill of $25. That’s up from the $17 Oahu residents were paying.” (Mykleseth, Kathryn) Everything for the island of oahu is only getting more expensive and paying less. It is getting to the point to where there is no incentive to even get solar because people don’t want the extra cost and the extra hastle. This is completely understandable and HECO needs to start changing its ways or start changing its goals for 100% renewable energy by the year 2045.

Future

HECO seems like they are doing their best to upgrade Oahu’s solar but they are not doing it in the most efficient ways possible. HECO is altering with the rates of current solar users. This is punishing people who decided to start early and save which is rather wrong. If anyone is to be charged more it should only be users trying to switch over late. If HECO keeps with current restrictions and cut backs they will not meet their goal of 100% solar energy by 2045.