Every month, Sunetric introduces you to a member of the Sunetric family. The Sunetric commitment to top-notch service is a value shared by every member of our company, and each of our employees has something special to offer our customers and all of Hawaii. As a full-service solar integrator, our expertise spans every part of the consultation, design, and installation process.

Meet Jeff, Sunetric Commercial Electrician

As Commercial Electrician, Jeff spends most of his time ‘tying’ — or connecting — new photovoltaic installations into the state power grid. He also performs electrical installations, taking care of everything from installing the electrical wires on panels to connecting inverters to the grid. For Jeff, safety and perfect installation are his purpose:

Being safe and keeping my team and the home or business safe while I’m laying out electrical systems and making sure each part of the installation is up to code are the highest priorities for me, every day and on every job.

Jeff’s Story

Jeff was born in Hawaii and moved to Seattle, Washington after high school,where he studied electronics technology at Skagit Valley College. To obtain his journeyman’s license, Jeff completed over 10,000 hours worth of on-the-job training.

Jeff began working for Sunetric as an installer and quickly moved up to work as an electrician because of his qualifications. But his qualifications only improved from there:

Now, I’m an electrical supervisor. I just got my electrical supervisor’s license, which is equivalent to a master electrician’s license in Hawaii. Having an electrical supervisor license is the highest electrical certification you can achieve in our state. In order to apply for the certification, I had to be a practicing electrical journeyman for four years and then pass an exam.

Drawn to Renewable Energy

Jeff says he ”was drawn to forthcoming electrical fields and knew that renewable energy was the future.” Photovoltaic technology in particular piqued his interest because its widespread adoption was so new, and a very quickly emerging renewable technology.

Jeff’s first project with Sunetric was a government installation on a recreational center in Salt Lake called Halsey Terrace. When asked of which installation he is most proud, Jeff replied: “It’s hard to say which job I am most proud of because I really am lucky enough to say, I’m proud of all of my jobs!”

The most memorable project I have worked on at Sunetric was the first commercial job that didn’t have any penetrations — bolts into a roof — we really do a lot of innovative things here, but it was pretty satisfying to be a part of a finished project completely integrated into a building, without penetrations!

We asked Jeff about his favorite part of working at Sunetric:

My team is my favorite part of working at Sunetric — they work hard, enjoy their jobs, and they’re eager to learn,so being able to watch and help them grow is a great experience. Three men under me are currently training for their journeyman’s license, and helping them achieve their goal is one of the reasons I enjoy coming to work.

Pau Hana

When he’s not hard at work with Sunetric, Jeff spends as much time with his family as possible. He’s very grateful for his family — three boys aged 13, 12, and 9 and his wife Leila.

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We are proud of Jeff and are lucky to have him on our installation team. His years of expertise, leadership, and his dedication to exceeding customers’ expectations and nailing industry standards are the defining qualities of Sunetric, and what makes us Hawaii’s Solar Authority.

In early May, we introduced you to EVs (electric vehicles), ZEVs, and hybrids. And earlier this month, we talked about the importance of a properly installed EV charging station. By buying an electric car and recharging it from your own solar photovoltaic installation, you both improve the environment and save yourself a bundle. Here are a few more thoughts on the process, and some important things to take into consideration.

As already discussed, an electric vehicle (EV) represents a pretty substantial investment. The truth is, however, that if you make that investment in Hawaii without also investing in a solar array to charge it, you are effectively throwing your money away — and you’re not doing the planet much good either. The reason is simple: nearly all of Hawaii’s electrical generation comes from burning oil. Fully ninety percent of the energy produced and used (for all purposes) in Hawaii comes from burning petroleum, and more than three-fourths of our electricity comes from oil. Does it make any sense at all to buy a nice, clean, green EV – and then recharge it by hooking up to an oil turbine?

On the mainland, a lot of people are leery about going with electric vehicles because EVs do not as of yet boast the long-range cruising capability of conventionally-fueled automobiles. That objection makes a lot of sense for many drivers, particularly those out in rural areas. If you’re 80 miles from the nearest city, well, a pure EV is probably a bad decision for you, unless you enjoy pushing that vehicle (and its heavy battery pack) the last 20 miles back to your home. But Hawaii is special in this regard, as it is in so many other ways. Even on the Big Island, you’d be hard-pressed to find a 100-mile trip; on Oahu and the other islands, a typical city-to-city drive is only going to be 10 or 20 miles. If you’re just commuting into Honolulu, you can make multiple round trips on a single charge, even with the current state of EV technology. We’re just a lot more compact than most other states, and that makes EVs a lot more practical here.

In addition, our legislature is slowly but surely moving along the path towards building an EV-friendly building code and infrastructure policy. A bill currently under consideration will require mid-sized and large public parking garages to offer electric-only parking spaces with electric vehicle charging stations – meaning that you can drive to the mall, find an EV-spot, and charge up the battery while you run your errands. The current bill would put the requirement in place by summer of 2012; it’s not a sure thing that this particular bill will become law, but something akin to it will certainly be passed into law in the near future. Electric vehicles are the wave of the future, and Hawaii is an extremely practical place to deploy them.

If you do decide to take the EV/solar array plunge, you’ll save a lot of money and do the environment a world of good. However, you do need to be cautious about who installs the charging station in your home or business. A lot of electrical contractors think that EV charging stations (EVCS) are just another big appliance – check the amps, run a wire, install a fuse, and you’re done. That’s just not the case – electric vehicle charging stations are a brand-new technology and they require a great deal of special expertise to correctly and safely install. That’s not a reason not to install one – it’s just a reason to be sure that your installer is thoroughly trained and certified in the necessary techniques and procedures. Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL), a trusted name in certification of electrical devices and service providers, has created a certification program for EVCS installers. Sunetric is the ONLY UL-certified company in Hawaii for installing level 2 EVCS, and we go above and beyond to make sure that our customers have a properly installed charging station. We are also the only EVCS installer in Hawaii to have earned the equally prestigious Schneider Electric certification.

Some information obtained from http://www.eia.gov/state/state-energy-profiles.cfm?sid=HI.

As Hawaii’s solar authority, Sunetric is celebrating today — it’s the first day of summer and the longest day of the year!

The solstice holds a variety of meanings for cultures throughout the world, but what exactly is the summer solstice? It occurs twice a year — once for the northern hemisphere and once for the southern hemisphere — when the earth’ tilt is most inclined toward the sun. The word ‘solstice’ comes from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), and though it scientifically refers to a single moment in time, we use it to refer to the entire day.

In addition to having the most daylight of any day out of the year, the summer solstice is also when the sun is at its highest point in the sky. It happens around the same day — June 21st or 22nd — each year.

So what are you doing with the extra sunlight? If you’ve got a PV system installed, they’ll pull a little bit extra of the sun’s energy today. (And if you don’t, give us a call!) There’s a new south swell arriving — perhaps you’ll have a few extra minutes to surf after work!

Join us on Facebook and let us know what you’re up to this afternoon!

We are very excited to announce our new partnership with First Hawaiian Bank, now offering a year of 0% financing for your home solar project with the EnergySmart Financing Program. Sunetric is one of the islands’ only approved contractors for the EnergySmart program.

There’s never been a better time to go solar with a FHB-financed photovoltaic system designed and installed by Sunetric. With a PV system, you will:

• reduce and in many cases eliminate your electric bill,
• free yourself from rising electricity rates,
• increase the value of your home, and
• help our islands become less reliant on fossil fuels.

And when you combine 0% APR for 12 months from First Hawaiian Bank with State and Federal tax credits, you’ll start saving immediately.

• 0% financing on the system you are purchasing and installing.
• You may be approved for more than the cost of the system (depending on your equity in the property).
• Use your available funds by simply writing a check.
• Interest you pay may be tax deductible (contact your tax advisor regarding the deductibility of interest).
• Interest rate is often lower than other types of personal loans, credit cards and etc.
• Rate Lock option, allowing you lock in all or a portion of your balance at low fixed rates.

Ready to go solar? Call us!

Call us at 262-6600 to learn more!

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4.82% APR is the Current Variable Rate as of 6/1/11. See First Hawaiian Bank’s EnergySmart page for detals and terms.

Saturday, June 11^th, is King Kamehameha Day, and our offices will be closed in observance tomorrow, June 10^th. As Sunetric joins the residents of Hawai‘i in reflecting upon our heritage, we’d like to share with you a story that speaks to our Hawaiian history of innovation, forward thinking about energy, and a deep connection to the ʻāina.

Ahead of the Pack and Renewably Powered

The Hawaiian Kingdom first saw electricity under a different monarch: King David Kalākaua. With the addition of electric lights to Iolani Palace in 1886, Iolani Palace became the first royal residence in the world to be electrically lit, long before even the White House had moved beyond gas lamps!

In the late 1870s, talk of a thing called ’electricity’ had hit fever pitch, and King Kalākaua was interested in seeing how it might be applied in practical way. In 1881, Kalākaua met Thomas Edison himself in New York City. Five years later, a insurance executive in Honolulu named Charles Otto Berger arranged a demonstration of electric light at Iolani Palace, the residence of the King. On the night of July 26^th, 1886, Her Royal Highness the Princess Liliuokalani and Her Royal Highness the Princess Likelike held a tea party, the Royal Hawaiian Military Band played, and military corps marched. Hawaii residents traveled from all over the island to witness the glow of Iolani palace, bathed in new electric light.

A few months passed. David Bowers Smith, a businessman hailing from North Carolina and living in Hawaii, finally convinced King David Kalākaua to put an electrical system in place at Iolani Palace — a small steam engine combined with a dynamo to power incandescent lamps. On the 16th of November of that same year (1886), Iolani Palace became the world’s first electrically lit royal residence.

Shortly thereafter, the government looked into building a power plant to light the streets of Honolulu. The plant was built in Nuuanu Valley and used flowing water to drive its turbines — a very early example of renewable energy powering Hawaii. The streets were first lit in March of 1888. The year 1890 saw a few homes and businesses with electricity, and a year later, nearly 800 of Honolulu’s homes were electrically powered.

The White House finally saw electricity the following year, in 1891. Even then, the exclusive use of electricity was rare, and President Harrison and the First Lady wouldn’t use the switches themselves — fearing shock, domestic staff took care of the lights.

Hawaii: A History of Progressive Energy Policy

Following Kalākaua’s early adoption of electric technoloy, Hawaii continued to innovate.

The islands’ sugar plantations used the byproducts of the sugar cane harvest to generate electricity for the operations, and even sold their surplus electricity back to the utility. ’Bagasse‘, the fibrous leftover of sugarcane processing, was used to generate heat and power and was Hawaii’s primary renewable energy resource as of 1980.

When oil prices spiked in the 1980s, the Hawaii state government sought to implement renewable energy production throughout the island of Oahu. In addition to solar water heaters, wind turbines, hydroelectricity, the state began exploratory implementations of geothermal wells and biomass power generation. Remarkably, alternative and renewable energy sources made up between 40 and 50 percent of the island’s electricity in the early 1980s.

Hawaii Must Continue the Tradition of Innovation and Renewable Energy

King David Kalākaua had the foresight to see the benefits of electricity, and his work was instrumental in its widespread adoption in the Hawaiian kingdom and abroad. From its earliest days and into the modern era, Hawaii has employed renewable energy sources. Skyrocketing oil costs over the last century incited our leaders to pursue alternative forms of energy, and we are seeing the same situation today.

We should demand of our legislature and our governor — the leaders we elect to serve our best interests — that they be as forward thinking as our monarchs when it comes to energy technology, policy, economics, and the future of Hawaii. We have an abundance of renewable energy sources, and we only do ourselves, our children, and our forebears a disservice not to put those alternative energy routes to their greatest use.

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References and Further Reading

• Wikipedia: King Kamehameha Day
• Wikipedia: David Kalākaua
• HELCO: The story of electricity in Hawaii
• White House History Timelines: Technology
• Policy Recommendations for Hawaii’s Energy Future (report by Rocky Mountain Institute for State of Hawaii DBEDT)
• Wikipedia: Bagasse

Last month we gave you a rundown on EV, ZEV, hybrid, and plug-in hybrids, and talked about how solar fits in. Today we’d like to explore EVCSs — Electric Vehicle Charging Stations.

The EVCS industry is brand new, and there are many factors involved with successfully implementing these devices into the current market. Most electrical contractors aren’t familiar or experienced with the social and economic background of EVCSs, and therefore assume the EVCS is ‘just another device to install’. The truth is that EVCSs are far more complicated, and an expert installation is just as important as ever.

In order to prevent installers from improperly installing EVCSs, Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL) created a certification program regarding the implementation of these devices. Underwriter’s Laboratory is responsible for certifying every electronic device in the US, including photovoltaic modules.

As always, Sunetric personnel go above and beyond to guarantee that their customers will have a properly installed device and received the nationally recognized certification for installing these Level 2 charging stations.

Not only did Sunetric receive a UL certification, Sunetric also acquired the only Schneider Electric EVCS Certification in the state of Hawaii. See our certifications here.

Sunetric is proud to be the only UL-certified company installing Level 2 Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (EVCS) in Hawaii. Don’t let your charging stations be installed improperly! Go with Sunetric!