When
Joe Nicolai built his Cycle City motorcycle showroom near the airport
in 2004, he was trying to make a big impression. He also wanted to be
smart about saving energy. “I often visit my relatives back in Italy,
and throughout Europe I’ve found many people to be conservationists in
energy use,” he says. “Taking a lesson from them made sense, especially
considering Hawaii’s ideal climate for photovoltaic technologies.”
 |
|
SunTech solar panels. Photos by Craig Ellenwood
|
Nicolai
had 11,000 square feet of rooftop solar panels installed on his new
building. Today, that system pumps out enough electricity to power the
entire multistory building during the day, and saves his company about
$10,000 a month on its electric bill, he says.
The
same energy-saving concepts that Nicolai employs work just as well in a
residential setting. “Solar is a very economic way for homeowners to
lower their electric bills, while helping lower the amount of imported
oil used,” says Beth-Ann Cox, of SunTech Hawaii, which supplies a range
of solar solutions for residential needs. “For roughly $5,000 to
$6,500, depending on the size of the system needed, homeowners can cut
up to one-third of their monthly electric bills.”
In fact, there’s a laundry list of ways you can go “green” in your own home, and save on your utility bills at the same time.
 |
|
Met Tile, Inc.
|
A Cool Roof
Of
course, the most dramatic way to cool your house down is to stop the
sun’s rays before they can get in. Metal roofs are a perfect way to do
this—new technology allows roofing manufacturers to coat steel or
aluminum with a durable titanium oxide layer that reflects infrared
heat. The result, often enough, is a temperature drop of as much as 50
degrees on the roof’s surface.
Metal
roofs aren’t the noisy tin roofs found on old plantation-era
homes—contractors such as Mac Steel and Custom Metal Roofing install
their products over a solid substructure, making them no louder in the
rain than a typical composition roof. They’re practical, too. If you
want to install a solar unit on your roof, the smooth and flat finishes
of Custom Metal Roofing’s products make them ideal surfaces on which to
install solar panels.
 |
| Custom Metal Roofing and Smart Roof Systems. |
Metal
roofs don’t even have to look like metal roofs. Met-Tile Inc., for
example, offers a recycled steel “cool roof” material that combines the
popular look of tile roofing (in 10 different colors) with ENERGY STAR
performance. “For every 5 percent of added reflectivity, a roof is
approximately 40 degrees cooler in direct overhead sunlight,” says
Terry Holman, of Met-Tile.
Many
homeowners prefer the look of a traditional wood shake roof, and
Aluminum Shake Roofing Inc. can install its Perfection’s Country Manor
Aluminum Shakes, which marries a traditional appearance with a Kynar
500 finish that reflects away most infrared radiation, dramatically
reducing the roof temperature.
If
a full-on re-roofing project is beyond the ol’ budget, one option is to
have the existing roof painted with a reflective, elastomeric coating
such as All Weather Surface’s White Lava Roof Coating. The coating adds
a durable, heat-deflecting pigmentation to the roof—foregoing the hefty
project of tearing everything up and starting over.
Don’t
forget about your home’s east and west exposure to the sun,
particularly its west side. Low-E window panes and glass block,
available from Hawaii Glass Block, can filter out much of the infrared
and UV radiation that heats up a room and fades furniture and drapes.
 |
|
Aluminum Shake Roofing
|
Even
simple, low-tech methods, such as landscaping, can help cool your home.
Clinton Murakami, of Murakami’s Roofing, offers a range of
heat-minimizing services, from solar roof vents to elastomeric roof
coatings. Of course, he adds, there are also shade trees, which can be
an added layer of defense against the sun. “You just want to be careful
that the trees don’t overhang the roof too much,” Murakami says,
“because leaves turn to mulch on the roof, which can cause damage over
time.”
Here Comes the Sun
If
you’re looking for big bang for your buck, a solar water heating system
is the place to start, says Howard Wiig, an institutional energy
analyst at the state Department of Business, Economic Development and
Tourism. He has a laundry list of ways to cut your electric bill,
including ENERGY STAR-certified appliances and low-E windows that
filter out UV and infrared rays. However, “In a non-air-conditioned
home, the largest energy user by far is water heating,” Wiig says. “The
obvious solution in Hawaii is solar, because out of all the states in
the U.S., we have the best sun—all through the year.”
 |
|
Saving Oahu’s Solar
|
Ivan
Gomez, owner of Saving Oahu’s Solar, a full-service solar company,
agrees. “Harvesting the sun’s energy to provide hot water and energy
for the home makes so much sense,” he says, pointing out that
installing just one of his solar hot water systems can save eight
barrels of oil per year, as well as reduce carbon dioxide emissions by
around 1,600 pounds.
 |
| Saving Oahu’s Solar can install photovoltaic panels to be flush with the roofline. |
That
eco-friendly situation looks even better when you consider the economic
benefits. Peter Chiswick, from solar company Energy Unlimited, says
people are often surprised at how cheaply they can get started with
solar power. “Everyone assumes solar is expensive, until a contractor
comes out to their house, and gives them specifics about how much it
will cost, and how much it will save,” Chiswick says.
Thanks
to a $1,000 rebate from Hawaiian Electric Company, plus a 35 percent
state tax credit and another 30 percent tax credit from the federal
government, a typical installation for a solar-powered hot water system
will end up costing less that $2,000. And because a solar water heating
system can lower a household’s electric bill by $50 or more a month, it
will pay for itself in three to five years. Everything after that is
gravy.
 |
| The energy-efficient home of Andrew Keith, of Hawaiian Electric Company, overlooks an ancient fish pond in Kaneohe. |
Many
homeowners in cloudier areas, such as Manoa, worry they won’t be able
to get an effective solar system, but Chiswick says it’s all about
customization. “Unless you’re under a tree, solar will work, because we
can size it properly,” he says. An experienced installer will be able
to match the size of the solar panels and the reservoir tank to create
an effective solution for just about any family in any neighborhood.
You Got the Power
 |
|
SunTech solar panel
|
Already
using the sun to heat your showers? You don’t have to stop there.
Photovoltaic (PV) panels, like those on top of Cycle City, can actually
generate electricity to help power your whole house. Beth-Ann Cox, of
Suntech Hawaii, notes there are “many options on the market for
homeowners looking to install a photovoltaic system today.”
Besides
the already-familiar, rack-mounted panels that attach to the roof with
an anodized aluminum mounting system, Cox says homeowners can now
choose solar panels that look just like a regular roof. Sunslates, for
example, is a PV system designed to look just like slate tiles.
Unisolar panels are made of a thin, flexible, laminate material that
are attached to the pans of standing seam roofing for a low-key, almost
unnoticeable look.
Not
only will homeowners produce extra electricity, they can even decide
how to spend it. That’s right, you can be “grid interactive” by hooking
into the grid and selling the energy back to HECO (which will deduct it
from your monthly electric bill).
Or,
if you hate blackouts, the PV panels can charge a bank of batteries
that are wired to certain circuits in the house, usually the
refrigerator, some lights and (yes!) even the entertainment system.
“When the power goes out, the batteries automatically take over,” Cox
says. “It happens so quickly, the homeowners usually don’t even notice
the blackout!”
 |
| A photovoltaic panel from Hawaiian Island Solar. |
An
easy way to start benefiting from solar power is an “energy purchase
agreement” offered by Hoku Scientific Inc. It’ll set up a PV panel
system without any upfront costs. Then, you simply pay the company
directly for the solar-produced electricity. “Our customers can realize
the immediate environmental benefits of solar without any upfront cost,
not to mention the long-term savings as utility rates continue to
rise—and the cost of solar power remains the same,” says Scott Paul, of
Hoku Scientific.
Installing
a rooftop PV grid will even garner some positive secondary effects.
Keith Cronin, of Island Energy Solutions, points out that the solar
panels themselves help cool down a house. “In essence, you’re creating
a roof on a roof, which has a dual cooling effect: number one because
of the solar radiation not penetrating the first roof, and number two
because of the insulating air space between the roof and the panels,”
he says. On top of that, PV panels can extend the life expectancy of
your roof by blocking the sun’s harmful UV rays. “Ultimately, these are
gifts that keep on giving for years to come,” Cronin adds.
 |
| Mirrored skylights from Skylights of Hawaii can capture sunshine, distill it into dazzling white light, and energize any room. |
 |
See the Light
While
solar panels work great to power your electric lights, it’s also
possible to use the sun’s light directly to illuminate your home. David
Kaahaaina, of Skylights of Hawaii, says his products offer both
aesthetic and practical benefits. “People love the look of natural
daylight and the sense of well-being, but they’re also very pragmatic:
it’s a dark hallway and they’re tired of turning on the light. And
then, of course, there’s the electric bill.”
Skylights
of Hawaii carries a range of skylights to let the sunshine in, from the
standard rectangular configuration to tubular skylights that use
mirrors to funnel in light to otherwise hard-to-light areas of the
house.
Cool It Down
With
all this talk about making the most of Hawaii’s strong sunlight,
there’s one problem with that big orange ball in the sky: It’s hot!
Staying cool in the Islands often means cranking up an energy-hungry
air conditioner, but there are better ways to beat the heat.
Solar-powered
attic fans from Hawaiian Island Solar help suck out the hot air that
collects at the top of houses. “These run independently of the
household circuit and are self-contained, using the suns’ power to vent
out the hot air in the attic so the attic can do its job better and
accept more heat from the house,” says Jodi Kidd, of Hawaiian Island
Solar. “It really helps to cut down on your costs.”
The nice thing about these fans is they’re powered by the sun, so they work best when you need them the most.
