Yes, for most Hawaiian Electric homes that own their panels. Power here averages 43.51¢ per kWh, so a typical system pays for itself in about 6 years in our example when the 35% state tax credit reaches you, and in about 8 when it does not. The harder choice comes after that: whether a battery earns its own price.
Typical payback, state credit includedAbout 6 years
With or without the creditAbout 6 to 8 years
Typical owned 7.49 kW Hawaii system at $23,519 cash (EcoGen Solar Cost Index, September 2026), Oahu, no battery, $5,000 state credit; about 8.2 years without it. EIA average price, 13.5 cents daytime export credit, and our assumptions: 40% of the solar power used at home as it is made, 60% sent to the grid, $225 a year in owner costs. See the math.
- State credit: up to $5,000. From tax year 2027 it has an income limit, so check yours before you count it.
- Island: export credits differ by island and by hour. Kauai has its own utility and rules.
- Battery: a separate purchase with its own price and payback. Ask for both quotes.
2026 rules: new home systems get no 30% federal homeowner credit (IRS). Hawaii’s 35% credit remains, with new limits under Act 24. Hawaiian Electric systems connected since April 1, 2024 earn export credits that change by island and hour.
How we checked this guide
Credit rules come from the signed Act 24 text, export credits and the battery payment from Hawaiian Electric, and the electricity price from the U.S. EIA. The example is the EcoGen Solar Cost Index typical Hawaii home. Assumed numbers are labelled.
The writer and checker shown above are EcoGen staff. EcoGen is paid when homeowners request quotes, which is explained beside the quote form. Read our editorial standards.
Panels first: four things that decide the Hawaii answer
Expensive power, strong sun and a large state credit make the panel question fairly easy for an owner. What moves your number is the credit, your island and your daytime use. Read each row across.
State tax credit
Worth a closer look
You owe Hawaii income tax, and your income sits under the limit that starts in tax year 2027.
Pause and check
Your income is above $175,000 filing alone or $350,000 jointly, or you install after the credit ends.
Check next: your tax year, your income against the limit, and whether you would use the refundable version.
Your island
Worth a closer look
Oahu, Lanai or Molokai, where daytime exports earn more.
Pause and check
Maui or Hawaii Island, where midday exports earn less, or Kauai, where other rules apply.
Check next: the export credit your quote used, by island and by time of day.
Daytime use
Worth a closer look
Someone is home in the day, or air conditioning or an electric car runs while the sun is up.
Pause and check
The house is empty all day, so much of the power goes out for the daytime credit.
Check next: your last 12 months of usage, and the home-use share the quote assumed.
Roof, circuit and price
Worth a closer look
You own a roof with years of life left, and the price is near the Index’s $3.14 per watt.
Pause and check
You rent, the roof needs work soon, or the utility has not confirmed your circuit.
Check next: the roof’s age, the utility’s answer on your circuit, and the panel price alone.
The panel math, with and without the state credit
A kWh (kilowatt-hour) is the unit on your power bill. An export credit is what the utility pays for each kWh your panels send to the grid. Simple payback is net cost divided by yearly savings. Here is the typical Hawaii system on Oahu, panels only, with the state credit.
- Cash price
- $23,519
- Confirmed incentives
- $5,000
- Year-one production
- 12,156 kWh
- Used at home / exported
- 40% / 60%
- Average price (EIA, 12 months)
- $0.4351/kWh
- Export credit
- $0.135/kWh
- Owner-cost allowance
- $225/yr
- Used-at-home value
12,156 × 40% × $0.4351$2,116/yr - Export value
12,156 × 60% × $0.135$985/yr - Yearly savings after owner costs
$2,116 + $985 − $225$2,876/yr - Simple cash payback
($23,519 − $5,000) ÷ $2,876about 6.4 years
Inputs: the EcoGen Solar Cost Index typical Hawaii system (7.49 kW, $23,519 cash, September 2026; 1,623 kWh per kW a year), the state credit at its $5,000 cap and the Oahu daytime export credit. The 43.51¢ EIA average is statewide and includes fixed charges, so check your own bill. Our assumptions: 40% of the solar power used at home as it is made, 60% sent to the grid, and $225 a year of owner costs ($30 per kW, including a reserve for a new inverter). The 40/60 split is a planning assumption based on home-use research, not a measured Hawaii average. No battery.
The credit is 35% of the cost but stops at $5,000, so on a $23,519 system the cap is what you get. Now take it away, as happens if your income is over the Act 24 limit, the credit has ended, or the statewide limit runs out. The savings stay the same. The net cost goes up.
| Scenario | Incentives | Net cost | Yearly savings | Simple payback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State credit reaches you | $5,000 | $18,519 | $2,876 | about 6.4 years |
| No state credit | $0 | $23,519 | $2,876 | about 8.2 years |
Both answers are quick, because each kWh you use at home saves about 43.51¢. If you owe little Hawaii income tax, there is a middle case: a refundable credit that is 30% smaller, $3,500 here, for a payback of about 7.0 years.
Test your own Hawaii quote
Enter your quote, your island’s daytime export credit and your bill’s rate, then press Calculate. Put 0 in incentives for the no-credit case. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
Example result
about 6.4 years
simple cash payback
- Used-at-home value
- $2,116/yr
- Export value
- $985/yr
- Owner costs
- −$225/yr
- Yearly savings
- $2,876/yr
- Net cost
- $18,519
Starts with the Oahu case above. Flat first-year values; rates, panel wear and repairs will change the result. No battery.
What each island pays for power you send out
Hawaiian Electric sets the export credit by island and time of day. Panels alone make most of their power at midday, so they mostly earn the daytime column.
| Island | Daytime, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Evening peak, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. | Overnight, 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oahu | 13.5 cents | 32.9 cents | 18.9 cents |
| Hawaii Island | 10.6 cents | 23.1 cents | 14.8 cents |
| Maui | 6.6 cents | 18.2 cents | 13.1 cents |
| Molokai | 17.9 cents | 27.2 cents | 17.4 cents |
| Lanai | 26.7 cents | 40.8 cents | 25.9 cents |
The island matters less than the credit. With Hawaii Island’s daytime credit in place of Oahu’s, the example takes about 7.0 years; with Maui’s, about 7.8 years.
Used at home: 4,862 kWh. Each one replaces power you would have bought, so it saves the full variable rate ($0.4351 here).
Sent to the grid: 7,294 kWh. These earn whatever your utility pays for exports ($0.135 here). That can be far less.
Export rates are locked for the first 7 years of any new agreement; the lock comes with it, so there is nothing to opt into. Rates are updated every 3 years, and this table covers agreements signed through April 2027. Kauai is different: its utility co-op pays a Schedule Q rate that ran from 14.33 cents to 27.14 cents per kWh in 2026 and caps size by usage (2.5 kW for homes using up to 500 kWh a month).
Get quotes priced with and without a battery
A Hawaii quote should use your island’s export credits and price the panels and the battery apart.
Solar providers that serve your area may contact you, and they pay EcoGen for the introduction. How we make money.
Then the battery question, priced on its own
Look at the Oahu row again. A kWh sent out at noon earns 13.5 cents. Stored and used at home that evening, it saves about 43.51¢: a gain of about 30¢. Stored and sent out in the evening peak, it earns 19.4¢ more than at noon. Hawaiian Electric’s Bring Your Own Device Plus program also pays $400 per kW of battery power you commit, once, for sending power in a 2-hour window you pick each day ($800 per kW for households under 140% of area median income). The program page names both a 5 years and a 10-year term, so get it in writing.
None of that is in the payback above, on purpose. Mixing a battery into the panel numbers hides whether either part pays. Ask for the panel payback alone, then the battery’s cost against its extra savings.
The state credit after Act 24
Act 24, signed May 21, 2026, keeps the 35% rate and $5,000 cap and adds limits. From tax year 2027 there is no credit above $175,000 income filing alone or $350,000 jointly. For 2027 to 2029, total credits are limited to $40,000,000 a year, and every claim shrinks if that is exceeded. You send a certified statement to the Hawaii State Energy Office before March 1 of the year after switch-on, and the credit does not apply to tax years beginning after December 31, 2029. Executive Order 26-02 spares systems switched on in 2026 from the yearly limit if they were finished, or relied on, before May 21, 2026.
Paying for Hawaii panels without losing the credit
Own the system with cash or a loan and you claim the credit on your Hawaii return. In a lease or power purchase agreement the company owns the panels; ask in writing who claims the credit and whether your payment reflects it.
| Option | Who owns the panels | Upfront | Ongoing | Check before signing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | You | Full price | None to a lender. A smaller utility bill. | The cost paperwork you will need for the state credit and the Energy Office statement. |
| Loan | You | Often $0 | Loan payment, plus your remaining utility bill. | Cash vs financed price. A dealer fee can eat the credit. |
| GEM$ on-bill | You | Ask GEM$ | A fixed 5.5% rate for up to 25 years, paid on your electric bill. | Whether it takes new solar loans; income under 140% of area median. |
For loan terms and a payment calculator, see our solar financing guide.
Six items to find on a Hawaii solar quote
In Hawaii the first item does the most work.
- Panels and battery as two prices. Each with its own payback.
- Your island’s export credits. Which ones the estimate used.
- Home-use share. Built from your own usage.
- State credit math. The $5,000 cap applied, and no 30% federal credit.
- Circuit status. What the utility said about connecting.
- Cash and financed prices. Both totals, with any dealer fee shown.
Compare Hawaii solar quotes
Ask each installer to price the panels and any battery separately, using your island’s export credits. Enter your ZIP code to request quotes from solar providers that serve your area.
How EcoGen is paid
EcoGen America does not sell or install solar. When you request quotes, we pass your request to solar providers serving your area, and they pay us for the introduction. Providers can include installers, solar marketplaces and lead exchanges, and more than one may contact you. You never pay us. This is not an application to Hawaii’s renewable energy tax credit.
Keep reading: Hawaii solar guides
- Hawaii solar incentives: the state credit after Act 24, by island
- What solar costs in Hawaii
- Free solar panels in Hawaii: what is real and what is a sales pitch
- Are solar panels worth it? The national guide and payback calculator
All 51 state guides
Hawaii solar, asked and answered
Are solar panels worth it in Hawaii?
For most Hawaiian Electric homes that own their panels, yes. In our example a typical 7.49 kW system on Oahu pays back in about 6 years with the state tax credit and about 8 without it. Maui and Hawaii Island take a little longer. The bigger open question is the battery.
Is a battery worth it in Hawaii?
It has a real case here, but judge it on its own price. On Oahu, a kWh a battery moves from a midday export to evening use at home is worth about 30¢ more. Hawaiian Electric’s BYOD Plus also pays $400 per kW of battery power you commit, once. Ask for the payback with and without the battery.
What is the Hawaii solar tax credit now?
It is 35% of the system cost, up to $5,000 for a single-family home, under section 235-12.5 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes. Act 24 added an income limit from tax year 2027, a yearly statewide limit of $40,000,000 that can shrink every claim, and an end: it does not apply to tax years beginning after December 31, 2029. You claim it on Form N-342.
Does Hawaii still have net metering?
Not for new Hawaiian Electric customers. Net metering closed on October 13, 2015. Systems connected since April 1, 2024 go on Smart Renewable Energy Export, which pays a credit that changes by island and by time of day. Kauai is served by its own co-op, which runs separate programs.
Do I have to choose the seven-year rate lock?
No. Hawaiian Electric locks export rates for the first 7 years of any new interconnection agreement; it comes with the agreement. Rates are updated every 3 years, and today’s rates cover agreements signed through April 2027. The lock is what shields your credits from the next update.
Sources, method and corrections
The example uses the EcoGen Solar Cost Index typical Hawaii system (September 2026), owned, cash, Oahu. Our assumptions: 40% of the solar power used at home as it is made, 60% sent to the grid, and $225 a year of owner costs ($30 per kW a year, including a reserve for a new inverter). The state credit counts at the start. No battery. Simple payback uses flat first-year values. The calculator runs in your browser and sends nothing.
Spotted an error? Tell us through our corrections and feedback process.
- Hawaii Legislature: Act 24 (S.B. 3125), signed text (credit rules; checked September 30, 2026)
- Office of the Governor: Executive Order 26-02
- Hawaiian Electric: Smart Renewable Energy Export (export credits and rate lock; re-read October 1, 2026)
- Hawaiian Electric: Net Energy Metering (closed)
- Hawaiian Electric: Bring Your Own Device Plus
- Kauai Island Utility Cooperative: rooftop solar
- Kauai Island Utility Cooperative: 2026 rate data sheets
- Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority: GEM$ on-bill program
- Hawaii Department of Taxation: renewable energy credit
- U.S. EIA: average residential electricity price by state (12-month average, August 2025 to July 2026, as used in the Cost Index)
- IRS: Residential Clean Energy Credit (no credit for property installed after December 31, 2025)
- EcoGen Solar Cost Index, September 2026: what solar costs in Hawaii (typical system size, price, production and electricity price)
