Molokai farm co-op installs solar array

Originally printed in the Honolulu Star Advertiser
Wednesday, July 16, 2014

The Hikiola Cooperative in Hoo­le­hua, Molokai, has installed a 12-kilowatt grid-connected solar array that will provide almost all of the power needed to run the co-op.

First organized in 1976 as a farm supply and marketing cooperative, Hiki­ola shifted to making supplies available to both farmer-members and the greater community.

Molokai pays one of the highest rates for electricity in the nation. The rate this month is 52 cents per kilowatt-hour.

“The use of alternative energy is a positive step in our mission to lower the cost of supplies for our agribusiness patrons,” Hiki­ola Cooperative Manager Tina Tama­naha said.

ProVision Solar is installing the net-energy-metered photovoltaic system.