Solar by state
Solar in Hawaii, by the numbers
Utilities and their rates, adoption, ten years of growth, batteries, ownership, state rules and installer licensing in Hawaii, from federal 2024 data.
Hawaii in brief
22.04% of Hawaii homes had rooftop solar in 2024, the highest of 51 (3.55% nationally). Power cost 42.86¢/kWh, above the national 16.48¢, and the average system was 5.4 kW. Hawaiian Electric Company serves 61.9% of homes.
Where does Hawaii stand out?
The four measures, beyond price and adoption, on which Hawaii sits furthest from the middle of the ranking.
Hawaii solar in numbers, 2024
Every Hawaii figure next to the national one, with its place in the ranking (highest first, out of the jurisdictions reporting it).
| Measure | Hawaii | United States | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes with a metered rooftop system | 22.04% | 3.55% | highest of 51 |
| Rooftop systems counted | 98,418 | 5,077,543 | 13th-highest of 51 |
| Average system size | 5.4 kW | 6.74 kW | 4th-lowest of 51 |
| Residential price | 42.86¢/kWh | 16.48¢/kWh | highest of 51 |
| Average monthly bill | $212.12 | $142.26 | highest of 51 |
| Use per home | 5,938 kWh/yr | 10,359 kWh/yr | lowest of 51 |
| Systems with a battery | 18.24% | 5.86% | 3rd-highest of 47 |
| Leased or on a PPA | 21.8% | 29.1% | 16th-highest of 38 |
| Growth in systems, five years | 4.4% a year | — | 2nd-lowest of 51 |
| Minutes without power per customer | 383 | 297 (median state) | 21st-highest of 51 |
| Homes on a time-varying rate | 4.5% | 11.1% | 16th-highest of 51 |
| Installed rooftop capacity | 531.7 MW | 34,226 MW | — |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861, 2024 final release, retrieved 2 September 2026. The Hawaii ratios and ranks are HyreSolar calculations from EIA inputs.
Which utility serves Hawaii, and what does it charge?
The 4 largest utilities selling to Hawaii homes, by residential customers, with the price full-service customers paid and how many run net-metered solar.
| Utility | Type | Homes served | Price per kWh | Use per home, monthly | Net-metered systems |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaiian Electric Company | Investor-owned | 276,206 (61.9%) | 42.87¢ | 454 kWh | 64,369 (23.3%) |
| Hawaii Electric Light Company | Investor-owned | 78,386 (17.6%) | 48.31¢ | 455 kWh | 14,358 (18.3%) |
| Maui Electric Company | Investor-owned | 61,811 (13.8%) | 43.96¢ | 488 kWh | 13,774 (22.3%) |
| Kauai Island Utility Cooperative | Co-op | 30,109 (6.7%) | 41.29¢ | 536 kWh | 5,917 (19.7%) |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861 2024, Sales to Ultimate Customers and Net Metering, utility level, retrieved 5 October 2026. Shares are of 446,512 Hawaii residential accounts. Each Hawaii price is residential revenue divided by sales for full-service customers (HyreSolar calculation); a wires company’s price is its default-service price.
What do the Hawaii utility figures mean for a solar quote?
EIA-861 lists 4 utilities serving homes in Hawaii in 2024, across 446,512 residential accounts. The three largest, Hawaiian Electric Company, Hawaii Electric Light Company and Maui Electric Company, served 93.3% of those homes. By ownership: investor-owned utilities 93.3% and electric cooperatives 6.7%.
All 446,512 Hawaii residential accounts bought energy from the utility that delivers it; EIA counted none on a competitive supplier. So a Hawaii utility’s own tariff sets both the price you avoid and the credit for what you export.
Hawaiian Electric Company, the largest, served 276,206 Hawaii homes (61.9%). Its full-service residential customers paid 42.87¢ per kWh, in line with the Hawaii average of 42.86¢, and used 454 kWh a month on average. 64,369 of its customers ran net-metered rooftop solar, 23.3% of its homes against 22.04% statewide.
Among the 4 Hawaii utilities with at least 5,000 residential customers and a full-service price, the price ran from 41.29¢ at Kauai Island Utility Cooperative to 48.31¢ at Hawaii Electric Light Company.
At the Hawaii average of 5,938 kWh a year, that 7.02¢ gap is worth about $417 a year (our arithmetic), so the same system offsets more money in one territory than the other.
Price a quote on your own utility’s rate, not the 42.86¢ Hawaii average.
Rooftop solar is concentrated: Hawaiian Electric Company alone accounts for 64,369 net-metered residential systems, about 65% of the 98,418 counted in Hawaii, and 4 Hawaii utilities reported any at all.
What does power cost in Hawaii, and why does it matter?
Residential electricity in Hawaii averaged 42.86¢ per kilowatt-hour in 2024, the highest of 51 and above the national 16.48¢. That is one of the highest residential prices in the country.
Each kilowatt-hour a system covers on site is one not bought at that price, so self-consumption carries more value in Hawaii than in all but a handful of states.
The average Hawaii household bill was $212.12 a month ($2,545 a year), the highest of 51, against $142.26 nationally. That $2,545 is the ceiling on what solar could save a typical Hawaii home, before fixed monthly charges.
Only 4.5% of Hawaii homes were on a time-varying rate in 2024 (11.1% nationally), so a flat rate is the likely starting point. 95.0% of Hawaii residential meters were smart meters (83.8% nationally), and a time-varying rate needs one. How time-of-use changes solar.
How many Hawaii homes have solar?
Hawaii had 98,418 rooftop systems on net metering in 2024, across 446,512 residential accounts: 22.04% of homes, the highest of 51. Hawaii is one of the most established rooftop markets in the country. A market this size can mean more installers to compare and permit offices used to solar applications.
The Hawaii market counted 4,776 more systems in 2024 than in 2023 and has grown 4.4% a year over five years, the 2nd-lowest of 51. Where growth has turned nationally.
How has Hawaii solar changed since 2014?
Hawaii counted 49,946 net-metered rooftop systems in 2014 and 98,418 in 2024, 97% more. The share of homes with one moved from 11.75% to 22.04%. The biggest one-year addition came in 2015, with 10,966 more systems than the year before.
| Year | Rooftop systems | Share of homes | Average size | Residential price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 49,946 | 11.75% | 4.6 kW | 37.04¢ |
| 2016 | 68,828 | 15.97% | 4.9 kW | 27.47¢ |
| 2018 | 72,881 | 16.71% | 5.0 kW | 32.47¢ |
| 2020 | 83,302 | 18.85% | 5.1 kW | 30.28¢ |
| 2022 | 89,580 | 20.14% | 5.1 kW | 43.03¢ |
| 2024 | 98,418 | 22.04% | 5.4 kW | 42.86¢ |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861 annual files 2014–2024, net-metered residential systems, retrieved 2 September 2026. Hawaii shares and sizes are HyreSolar calculations.
What does the Hawaii trend mean for a savings estimate?
Over the same years the Hawaii residential price went from 37.04¢ to 42.86¢ per kWh, up 16%, and the average system from 4.6 kW to 5.4 kW. With Hawaii prices up 16% across ten years, a savings estimate that assumes steep yearly rate rises is assuming more than this record shows.
How big is a typical Hawaii system?
The average Hawaii system was 5.4 kW in 2024, the 4th-lowest of 51, against 6.74 kW nationally. Hawaii homes used 5,938 kilowatt-hours a year each, the lowest of 51.
A Hawaii home using 5,938 kWh is an average, not a design input: size from your own twelve months of bills and usable roof with cost by system size and the system size calculator.
Who owns the systems in Hawaii?
In Hawaii, 21.8% of systems were third-party owned in 2024: leased, or on a power purchase agreement (PPA), rather than owned by the household. That is the 16th-highest of 38, against 29.1% nationally.
Leases and power purchase agreements are a minority in Hawaii, and may be offered alongside purchase. Whoever owns a Hawaii system claims any tax credit on it: Section 48E explained.
Do Hawaii homes add batteries?
In Hawaii, 18.24% of solar systems were paired with a battery in 2024 (17,953 systems), the 3rd-highest of 47. That is one of the highest attachment rates in the country, and 3.1 times the national share of 5.86%.
On reliability, the average Hawaii customer went 383 minutes without power in 2024 counting major storms, and 219 minutes without them. The median state saw 297. Outages in every state.
Whether a battery pays in Hawaii turns on your utility’s export credit and your own outage history: what a home battery does.
How do you check a solar company’s license in Hawaii?
We checked 31 Hawaii solar companies from June to August 2026 against a state program roster, rather than the issuing register. None of those showed an expired or revoked license when checked.
Ask which license a company holds, then confirm the number with the issuing authority yourself.
These counts describe the companies we checked on those dates, not every company in Hawaii, and a license current then may have lapsed since. How to verify a solar license.
Which states are closest to Hawaii on adoption?
The six jurisdictions nearest to Hawaii’s 22.04% share of homes with rooftop solar.
Where do the Hawaii numbers come from?
The Hawaii figures are HyreSolar calculations from the Form EIA-861 annual files: 98,418 net-metered residential systems counted against 446,512 residential accounts, sizes as means, and 4 utility-level rows for the utility table, matched to net-metering records by EIA utility number.
The method and limits cover all 51; the Hawaii row is in the data as a CSV.
No Hawaii figure here is an estimate for one home: your roof, usage, utility tariff and tax position decide that.
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Questions
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