The following testimony was submitted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii on Jan. 30, 2025, for consideration by the Senate Committees on Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs, and Government Operations.
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Jan. 30, 2025, 3 p.m.
Hawaii State Capitol
Conference Room 415 and Videoconference
To: Senate Committee on Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs
Sen. Glenn Wakai, Chair
Sen. Stanley Chang, Vice Chair
Senate Committee on Government Operations
Sen. Angus McKelvey, Chair
Sen. Mike Gabbard, Vice Chair
From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Ted Kefalas, Director of Strategic Campaigns
RE: SB588 — RELATING TO RENEWABLE ENERGY
Aloha Chairs, Vice-Chairs and other members of the Committees,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii supports SB588, which would require each county establish a self-certification process for the approval of certain solar energy systems and change certain flood zone rules for solar energy systems.
Self-certification programs allow qualified architects and engineers to approve permits without review from county building departments. Mandating self-certification be an option for individuals looking to install solar panels on their homes or businesses would streamline the process.
As Grassroot identified in its 2024 report “Seven low-cost ways to speed up permitting in Hawaii,” solar applications often make up a large part of county building permit reviews. According to the report:
Obtaining building permits to install new solar panels and solar-plus-storage systems can be a lengthy process. This is due in part to the sheer volume of building permits filed for solar panels. In Hawai‘i County, for example, almost one-third of permits issued between November 2024 and March 2024 — about 1,300 — were for residential solar panels. During that time, Hawai‘i County had an average approval time of 33 days for residential solar projects, provided the permits were not returned to the applicants for corrections. Non-residential solar permits had a 45-day average approval time.[1]
Honolulu County already offers a self-certification process and an online permitting tool for solar panels; however, the county’s implementation has hit a few snags and is not yet as fast as it could be. Still, Honolulu has been issuing solar permits faster than other building permits.
For example, between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, 47% of the Honolulu permits issued were tagged as “solar” or “solarPVinstallation.” The wait time for these permits, from application to issuance, averaged 38 days, compared to 239 for all other Honolulu permits.[2]
The Honolulu City Council adopted a self-certification process for solar projects in 2024,[3] so the other counties will have a model to follow if this bill, SB588, advances.
SB588 would also exempt solar energy systems from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s No-Rise/No-Impact rules for flood zones, and specify that solar systems would not be subject to the valuation calculations for the purpose of determining whether a “substantial improvement” has been made to properties where they have been installed.
These flood-zone rules are intended to discourage construction in areas with higher flood risks; however, there is no reason solar panels on a home in a flood zone would increase the home’s risk for flooding, so an exemption makes sense.
Other municipalities have similar exemptions. St. Pete’s Beach in Florida, for example, specifies that building upgrades intended to mitigate future wind or flood damage or to enhance energy efficiency are exempt from the definition of “substantial improvement.”[4]
This exemption matters because most local governments, including Hawaii’s four counties, require even more improvements intended to “harden” the home in a flood zone if the initial improvements exceed a certain dollar amount. This trigger can make simple projects, such as adding solar panels, cost prohibitive.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Ted Kefalas
Director of Strategic Campaigns
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
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[1] Jonathan Helton, “Seven low-cost ways to speed up permitting in Hawaii,” Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, October 2024, p. 7.
[2] Calculations performed using: “Building Permits – January 1, 2005 through June 30, 2024,” Data.gov, July 13, 2024.
[3] Honolulu City and County Ordinance 24-30.
[4] Sec. 98-128.4. – Definitions, St. Pete Beach, Florida – Code of Ordinances, accessed Jan. 28, 2025. See the definition of “substantial improvement.”
