Holu Hou Energy is partnering with Lendlease to bring renewable energy to several military housing properties, collectively known as the Island Palm Communities. The construction will begin with two hundred homes in the Aliamanu Military Reservation and will be a part of what’s being called an “energy resiliency project” beginning in July. Holu Hou Energy will be installing solar panels and battery “energy clusters” based on each home’s proximity. Each cluster will utilize the same solar system of panels and batteries to provide a significant portion of its electricity needs. We expect around 75%-80% of the cluster’s total energy consumption will come from solar.
Holu Hou Energy has been at the forefront of multi-dwelling unit (MDU) residential solar sharing. We recognize that sharing between units is the way to make solar energy a feasible option when an individual unit’s load varies. We commercialized the energy cluster concept at a 134-unit housing development on the island of Kaua’i a few years back and have successfully completed the pilot project at Aliamanu. The pilot projects at Aliamanu were further evidence of the benefits of the energy clustering approach. Clustering enables sizing to the anticipated aggregate energy needs to the “cluster” instead of individual units, meaning the installation is immune to the effects of resident turnover, seasonality, or the resident time of day usage changes. This significantly improved the productivity of the generated solar electricity.
We are partnering with at least two large firms to perform the installation of solar panels and Holu Hou Energy’s HoluPower xP Energy Storage Systems. The target is to have all 200 homes linked into solar energy-sharing clusters by the end of the year. This project is just one step Holu Hou Energy is proud to be a part of to help Hawaii work toward 100% renewable energy generation.
