MSP Supports PV Battery Backup Bill to Credit Hawai‘i Taxpayers

Solar PV panels, installed on a Kula home. Photo by Anne Rillero.

By Maui Now Staff

Maui Solar Project announced it is supporting a legislative bill that will give Hawai‘i residents a tax credit for having PV battery backup systems.

The bill, H.B. 212, states that any taxpayer that files an individual or corporate net income tax return for the year is eligible for the credit against the Hawai‘i state individual or corporate net income tax. The credit is for 25 percent of the actual cost of each installed battery backup system, or the cap amount outlined in subsection “b” of the bill, whichever is less.

“We are in a time when the electric companies are changing the way solar contracts are handled, lessening the value of a PV system, and island living can be unpredictable with tsunami and powerful storms that knock out grid-power,” said Maui Solar Project President Joshua Porter. “This bill allows the homeowner to purchase an off-grid or a battery backup system to power their rooftop solar giving their family the security they need in times of disaster.”

“The cost savings with the tax incentive will make this technology affordable for everyone, tax credits played a critical role in the widespread adoption of Solar PV taking us from 800 PV systems in 2008 to 50,000 systems today,” Porter continued. “We need to provide that critical support to renewable energy storage in the same manner in order to ensure its successful adoption here in Hawai‘i.”

The tax credit was proposed by Rep. Scott Nishimoto of the Hawai‘i State Legislature, who is a member of the Energy and Environmental Protection Committee.

Parties interested in supporting the bill are encouraged to share their testimony by Tuesday, Feb. 3, 8:30 a.m.

Read the proposed bill here.