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+--- Thread: Solar bill story seems to evidence infantalization of Big Islanders (/showthread.php?tid=23172)
Solar bill story seems to evidence infantalization of Big Islanders - Punatang - 09-21-2023
According to the article "the other counties" have a size threshold of 30 kilowatts on new solar systems before approval from an electrical engineer is required. A bill was in place to give us the same freedom. Then Steve Pause, butts in and says maybe 10 is better because anything over that gets "a little more tricky" and the committee working on the bill just goes with it. Is my irritation with this, unreasonable?
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2023/09/21/hawaii-news/bill-regarding-residential-solar-systems-advances/
This article is available for free so re-posting seems pono.
Bill regarding residential solar systems advances
By Tribune-Herald staff | Thursday, September 21, 2023, 12:05 a.m.
A bill that would make installing residential solar systems easier passed a Hawaii County Council committee Tuesday, albeit not without changes.
Puna Councilman Matt Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder introduced a bill to the council’s Policy Committee on Planning, Land Use and Development that would remove a restriction in the county code that requires any residential photovoltaic system, of any size, to be approved by a licensed electrical engineer.
Under Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder’s bill, that requirement would be waived for PV systems generating 30 kilowatts or less. This would bring the county in line with the other counties, none of which require a licensed engineer’s approval for 30-kilowatt systems.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Steve Pause, director of the Department of Public Works, said he is in support of the measure, but added that setting the threshold at 10 kilowatts would be more appropriate, because, he said, PV systems “get a little bit more complicated” above that level.
Generally, Pause said, about 85% of the residential solar applications sent in to DPW are 10 kilowatts or smaller.
Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder said the 30-kilowatt threshold was chosen because it matches how the other counties manage the issue. However, he introduced an amendment to reduce the threshold to 10 kilowatts.
The committee unanimously gave a favorable recommendation to the amended bill and forwarded it to the full council for consideration.
RE: Solar bill story seems to evidence infantalization of Big Islanders - HiloJulie - 09-21-2023
I don’t think your frustration is unwarranted.
I think the bigger question is if the County went with the higher kilowatt exemption, how many County employees would have to be furloughed?
RE: Solar bill story seems to evidence infantalization of Big Islanders - garymatt - 09-21-2023
My attempts to view the article (looking for a reference to post to the council reasons for 30 over 10) met with a login requirement of a non free account to see it.
Oops. A free account can see 10 premium articles a month.
RE: Solar bill story seems to evidence infantalization of Big Islanders - HiloJulie - 09-22-2023
(09-21-2023, 11:33 PM)garymatt Wrote: Oops. A free account can see 10 premium articles a month.
Make sure you log out each time. If you don’t and go back to HTH, you just used another of your 10 premiums!
RE: Solar bill story seems to evidence infantalization of Big Islanders - Durian Fiend - 09-22-2023
(09-21-2023, 07:30 PM)HiloJulie Wrote: I don’t think your frustration is unwarranted.Answer: Zero.
I think the bigger question is if the County went with the higher kilowatt exemption, how many County employees would have to be furloughed?
A 10K system sounds really big to me. If there's anyone in the forum with a larger setup please raise your hand.
RE: Solar bill story - garymatt - 09-22-2023
HiloJulie
A 10K system sounds really big to me. If there's anyone in the forum with a larger setup please raise your hand.
-----------------------------
My hand is not up because it is a larger amount. I do want to say what my usage is. AND what I did recently.
First after the reading the link to the Tribune article I looked up who is the council member for District 4, Ashley Kierkiewicz, and sent them a polite request for the Bill to be put back to 30 Kw; and why.
I have always dreamed of going solar. I have looked up my kilowatt usage periodically for years. It is no surprise that over time it has increased. The electric bill even more so. As of recently I now pay for electricity for my two children as well.
We have what I consider to be reasonably large amount of things plugged in. My house is not small but it does look bigger on the outside and thanks to Rob's building materials it is never hot.
6 Kilowatts is my average monthly usage. This means to my surprise I have a comfortable margin if I put in a 10 Kw system. When and if I can ever manage to do it, I would really hope to go for that 10 size. Putting in only what you currently use is shortsighted and degradation over time in my opinion also needs such a buffer.
GaryMatt
RE: Solar bill story seems to evidence infantalization of Big Islanders - leilanidude - 09-23-2023
My attempts to view the article (looking for a reference to post to the council reasons for 30 over 10) met with a login requirement of a non free account to see it.
---------
The paywall is poorly implemented.
Right click on page
View page source
Scroll down about 2/3rds of the source code and read the article
RE: Solar bill story seems to evidence infantalization of Big Islanders - randomq - 09-24-2023
@garymatt, who said "6 Kilowatts is my average monthly usage. This means to my surprise I have a comfortable margin if I put in a 10 Kw system."
If you mean "6 kwh (kilowatt hours) a day" on average, then you can probably get by with less than 6 kw of solar, as the panels produce 4-6 hours x their rating each day, so on a sunny day could produce up to 36 kwh, if needed.
If you're off-grid, oversizing your system will ensure you have enough power on rainy days. But if you're on-grid, you can just draw from the grid and I don't think you can ever get payed for excess power generated.