Tenants of the 134 Unit Kaua’i Property will now Begin Receiving Electricity Under a 20-Year Power Purchase Agreement
Honolulu, HI | September 16, 2021 – Holu Hou Energy LLC, a provider of innovative energy storage systems for Multi-Dwelling Unit and Single-Family Residential properties, has received utility approval to begin operation of the groundbreaking installation at the 134 unit Koa’e Workforce Housing complex in Koloa, Kaua’i. The Customer will now pay monthly for the electricity being provided under the terms of a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). The Koa’e project involves many firsts in Hawaii and possibly in the whole United States. It is likely the first project where individually metered multi-family residential units are served by PV + battery renewable energy behind the meter on 100% of the units in the property, and financed by a 3rd party power purchase agreement, or PPA.
There are many traditional barriers to installing renewables and obtaining financing on a multi dwelling unit (MDU) rental property, especially load variability due to tenant “churn”, vacancy rates, tenant billing and payment reliability, time of day mismatch between generation and load profiles, among others. HHE has a modular energy controller and software product, and specially designed power electronics and battery hardware that is unique in the industry. It breaks down the barriers to putting renewables on “MDU’s” that are common in California, Hawaii and elsewhere. In the case of Koa’e, the HHE system enables approximately 25% more generated electricity to go to load, with half the number of batteries that would be required for a traditional deployment. The HoluPower systems are also controlling electric water heater loads. The ability to shift appliance loads like a water heater, is critical to maximizing savings on electricity.
Each of the 23 residential buildings includes multiple units that are individually metered by the utility, with each receiving electricity from PV and HoluPower Energy Storage Systems (ESS) that are capable of sharing excess generation across multiple units. The community center is also served by PV and Energy Storage. The deployment features total energy storage capacity rated at 897kWh (usable) and 530kW of PV generation.
The Multi-Dwelling Unit renewable energy systems market is estimated to be worth at least $500M in Hawaii. Included in this are an estimated 19,000 affordable housing units. According to the Honolulu Star Advertiser there will be a need for an additional 25,000 units of affordable housing in Hawaii in the coming years. The Koa’e project is just the beginning for HHE in this important new market, and entry into California will increase the Company’s served market by at least 25 times.
About Holu Hou Energy, LLC
Holu Hou Energy, LLC, a Delaware Corporation, brings state-of-the-art energy storage systems to the Single-Family Residential, Multi-Family Residential and Commercial building markets. With operations in California, Hawaii, Wisconsin and Shanghai, HHE engineers proprietary storage system and software and control platform solutions. The HHE team is made up of renewable energy industry veterans, engineering and deploying energy storage systems that enable greater energy independence.
