markup, as they do with everything else in a new house.
This is a valid value-added business practice. The average
system costs around $6,000, which will now be added to
the price of a new home — just when potential buyers face
tightened credit.
required by the utility companies in order to qualify
for the rebate. The inspection assured that systems were
effective and robust. At least one previous version of
SB 644 provided for inspections of mandated systems. The
final version does not. Without inspections, there is no
quality assurance.
Choice, increased cost, and no
inspections may result in fewer, not
more, solar benefits.
It now appears that none of
the mandate proponents talked
to any builders to find out what
type of water heaters they includ-
ed in their projects. One proponent testified that no
residential subdivision had any solar in two rapidly
growing areas on Oahu. In fact, there are numerous
subdivisions in these areas where solar is standard. Had
these proponents inquired, they would have learned that all
of the major builders in Hawaii already listed solar water-heating systems as a standard feature or as an option.
Our first order of business will be to amend the new law
before it takes effect. And we’ll watch carefully to see that
the Clean Energy Initiative doesn’t go off the rails. ST
Maddeningly, the law eliminates the tax credit and
rebate for new solar installs on existing houses —
more than doubling the cost to the consumer.
Many of the bill’s proponents now recognize that it
needs to be amended to preserve the tax credits for existing homeowners. Assuming that correction is made, it will
create two classes of taxpayers. Existing homeowners would
be eligible for the tax credit and, because of the voluntary
nature of their purchase decision, they would be eligible for
the $1,000 utility rebate. Under the mandate, buyers of new
homes are denied these public policy benefits.
Another reason for the success of solar water heating
in years past was the 100-point system inspection
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