WAILUKU – Maui County awarded contracts this month to install at least 1,000 solar panels on the rooftops of county facilities on Maui and Lanai.
The county will provide the rooftop locations, while the contractors will install and set up the solar power systems at no upfront cost to the county. County Energy Commissioner Doug McLeod said the county will pay the solar contractors about half of what it currently pays Maui Electric Co.
In the first year of the agreement, the county will pay 14.7 cents per kilowatt hour for solar power, compared with the 28 to 29 cents it now pays, he said. During the 20-year power purchase agreement with the solar contractors, the price will rise 2.5 percent per year. The average price over the extended agreement would be 18.5 cents, McLeod said.
Using conservative estimates, the county could save $50,000 per year in electricity costs, he said.
Mayor Alan Arakawa said the county is moving ahead with his administration’s pledge to pursue renewable energy initiatives.
“That wasn’t just talk,” he said. “This project will save taxpayers money from day one, and we’d like to see more, much more of these types of projects in the future.”