Terrasmart’s integrated portfolio overcomes Hawaii’s harsh island conditions
Experienced island solar partner
While Hawaii is known as paradise, the challenging site conditions found there are anything but. Hawaii’s unforgiving terrain is filled with lava, rock, and steep mountains that are sometimes the only viable land to develop solar projects affordably. With over eight years of experience in Hawaii, Terrasmart knows what it takes to deliver successful solar projects from start to finish with our wide array of solutions to fit any job.
Utility and C&I considerations for solar development in Hawaii
Favorable solar market conditions have been driven by the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative (HCEI), which aims to achieve 10% clean energy by 2045, offsetting high energy costs, and relieving constrained grid capacity. With one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country, solar developers in Hawaii are motivated to use as little land as possible, with canopy systems in parking lots and garages taking precedence for their efficient use of space and added bonus of shading cars from the scorching sun.
The cheaper available land for solar projects tends to come at a different cost: steep mountain terrain that is unusable for farming is more cost-effective but presents other challenges for solar construction. Fortunately, Terrasmart is well positioned for Hawaii’s demanding terrain.
Common challenges EPCs, developers, and owners face in the paradise of the Pacific
The permitting process in Hawaii can be arduous, sometimes taking years and causing a significant bottleneck between design and engineering (D&E) and construction. For example, a 1 MW project can take up to 12 months to obtain permits in Hawaii. Another challenge with developing solar on the islands is expensive shipping for materials and high labor costs. As an asset owner responsible for O&M, fast-growing vegetation can quickly wreak havoc on PV systems with rapid growth covering the panels, thus inhibiting the solar performance if not constantly managed.
- Tough soil: What makes for idyllic landscapes can present arduous soil conditions, such as lava, rock, and demanding subsurface conditions.
- Rapid corrosion: A major factor at play with the salt from the seabreeze diminishing PV systems’ life expectancy if not properly managed.
- Active seismic zone: Solar projects in Hawaii must be carefully designed and meet code and safety standards.
- Granular wind profiles: Wind magnification factors must be accounted for with speeds up to 100 mph as the elevation increases.
Terrasmart delivers what difficult Hawaii solar projects demand
Terrasmart offers a broad foundation portfolio including driven piles, ground screws and ballasted structures along with engineers to support selecting the right foundation for each site’s unique profile. When solar developers in Hawaii attempt to use driven-pile in incorrect conditions, they can face cost escalation and schedule delays.
While driven-pile often involves pre-drilling, backfilling, and compacting to ensure structures meet the design capacity, Terrasmart’s ground screws and proprietary drilling machines can address Hawaii’s difficult subsurface conditions. Ground screws deliver consistent results: they eliminate 100% of the subsurface risk and reduce the need for grading hilly terrains. Our iconic ground screws can be deployed on slopes up to 36% versus driven-pile foundations that max out at 20% tolerance.
To deal with Hawaii’s prevalent corrosion, Terrasmart upsizes the steel, increases galvanizing thickness, and adds epoxy coating protection to ensure the full life expectancy of the solar system. Also, our designers and engineers are experienced with seismic zones to ensure solar systems are not over-designed to make the project feasible yet robust enough to meet compliance. Lastly, our GLIDE Wave and GLIDE Agile fixed-tilt ground mount systems are engineered to withstand winds up to 170 mph and GLIDE Fuse up to 150 mph wind to meet the most extreme wind conditions.
Fast-tracking island solar to meet tight deadlines
The 7 MW Mauka Project on the north shore of Oahu was installed in a sprint of 9 weeks to meet our client’s tax deadline for interconnection. By expanding our team with two subcontractors, we completed the driven-pile and fixed-tilt project in half the time.
Another great example is an 18 MW solar system in West Oahu Terrasmart installed last summer for a local university. By preparing ahead of time and logistically coordinating all our materials, we were able to quickly and efficiently install over 7,000 ground screws to support our GLIDE ground mount foundation.
Terrasmart’s exciting up-and-coming solar projects in the Aloha State
With five new projects in our pipeline, over 106 MW in solar capacity will be added to the great state of Hawaii.
- Mountain View Solar (Mikilua): 19.7 MW of solar built on top of a dairy farm using our GLIDE Agile ground screw fixed-tilt racking solution.
- Intelsat (Haleiwa): 1.2 MW full-scope job, encompassing our design and engineering capabilities, furnishing materials, and installing our GLIDE Wave fixed-tilt ground mount system.
- University of Hawaii’s Manoa Campus (Honolulu): 300 kW surface lot canopy designed, engineered, furnished, and the foundation installed by Terrasmart.
- Hualua Farm (Hilo Island): 250 kW GLIDE Wave system designed, engineered, furnished, and the piles, racking, and modules installed by Terrasmart.
- Ho’Ohana Solar (Oahu): 84.76 MW GLIDE Wave system designed, engineered, and furnished all piles and racking material for installation. Additionally, Terrasmart is supplying nearly 250 eBOS combiner boxes for the project when ready.
Top customer experience and integrated solar solutions leader for Hawaii
As a full-service provider, Terrasmart is a first-choice integrated partner for our clients in Hawaii. With our diverse portfolio of various racking systems, such as driven-pile, ground screw, ballast, fixed tilt, tracker, canopy, and roof mounts, we can meet any challenging conditions and terrains commonly found in Hawaii. Consult with our team of experts today to choose which of our solutions is most cost-effective for your Hawaii solar project.
