Finance Tours: Kalanimoku Building Solar Power

I recently tagged along with members of the House Finance Committee during various tours of state sites on Oahu, including DAGS facilities, the Information and Communications Services Division, Aloha Stadium, Hawaii Film Studio, and Kuhio Park Terrace. I'll do a blog post on each site visit over the next week.

The site visits allow lawmakers to see firsthand the projects and initiatives funded (or not funded) by the state budget, and to meet and talk with departmental personnel and officials about what has been done, what needs to be done, and what the legislature can expect next session in funding requests.

On the morning of the first day I met with lawmakers and DAGS personnel at the Kalanimoku building where we were given a tour of the photovoltaic panels on the building rooftop. The installation of the 1,005 solar photovoltaic panels was completed in July 2011 as part of the State’s efforts to lead by example and lower Hawaii’s dependency on foreign oil. This project is part of the State’s Clean Energy Initiative.

An energy kiosk has been installed in the entry lobby of the building where the public can view a display of “real-time” and “historical energy usage” and snapshots of “carbon footprint data” demonstrating the PV system performance.

FACTS:

The project is part of the $33.9 million Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC) project awarded by DAGS in 2009 to improve the energy efficiency for 10 office buildings, located in the downtown State Capital District, with high annual utility bills. The other buildings are the State Capitol, Kalanimoku, Ke‘elikolani, Kekauluohi (State Archives), Kekaunaoa, Keoni Ana, Kinau Hale, Queen Lili‘uokalani, No. 1 Capitol District, and Leiopapa-a-Kamehameha.

Construction started in August 2010 and the PV system has been producing power since January 2011.

The project was funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the $2.9 million solar installation is an educational / demonstration project reviewed by the U.S. Department of Energy.

$70-80,0000 dollars energy savings per year.

200kW (AC) of photovoltaic (PV) solar capacity produces approximately 296,849 kilowatt hours (kWh) in its first year, the equivalent of powering 40 residences in Hawai’i for one year.

Over 20 years the 200 kW of PV solar capacity will produce an estimated 5,377, 911 kWh, the equivalent of powering 726 residences in Hawai’i for one year.
Rooftop mounting is provided by a fully ballasted PV panel mounting system with no roof penetrations to anchor PV panels.

In one full year of production, 200 kW (AC) of PV solar power offsets 506, 689 ;bs of carbon dioxide equivalents. This is the equivalent of taking 83 cars off the road for one year.

The House Finance Committee is headed by chair Marcus Oshiro and co-chair Marilyn Lee. Members includeReps Chris Lee, Derek S.K. Kawakami , Pono Chong, Dee Morikawa, Isaac W. Choy, James Kunane Tokioka, Ty Cullen, Kyle T. Yamashita, Sharon E. Har, Barbara C. Marumoto, Mark J. Hashem, Gil Riviere, Linda Ichiyama, Gene Ward, and Jo Jordan.