Hawaii solar rebates and incentives: 2026 guide

Solar panels might seem expensive, but if you live in Hawaii, you're in luck. Your state offers some of the most generous solar incentives in the country, helping thousands of homeowners shrink their upfront costs while locking in decades of lower electricity bills. There are multiple ways to bring down the price of going solar—and start saving sooner than you might think.

Even better? The long-term savings from reduced electricity costs typically outweigh your upfront investment. Here's how to take advantage of Hawaii's solar incentives.

Incentives help bring solar's price tag down considerably in Hawaii. Here are the major ones to know about:

Hawaii doesn’t offer any statewide solar tax exemptions. 

But the city and county of Honolulu does have a real property tax exemption for alternative energy improvements, which includes solar panels, as well as wind, hydropower, tidal, wave, and solid waste projects. If you live and install a solar panel system in Honolulu, this means your system won’t be assess and result in higher property taxes.

Hawaii no longer offers net metering, but Hawaiian Electric does offer a form of net billing on every island, which they call Smart Renewable Energy Export.

While the sun is shining, your solar panels might produce more electricity than your home needs at any given moment. Under the net billing (AKA Smart Renewable Energy Export) program in Hawaii, you can sell that excess power back to the grid for credits on your electricity bill. 

The catch is that the utility companies only offer partial credit for every kWh—you’re selling the electricity to them at a significant discount, compared to what they’ll charge you to buy that electricity back later. 

The exact rates depend on the island and the time of day, but it’s generally a fraction of the retail rate. These are the Smart Renewable Energy Export rates for 2024–2026:

There are a few more nuances to be aware of: 

• The credits you earn don’t apply to fixed charges on your monthly electric bill. 

• Credits roll over month to month but, unlike with net metering, they expire at the end of a 12-month period (your true up date). 

• Export rates are updated every three years. But when you install your solar panel system, your export rates are locked in from the time of installation for the next seven years.

If you want to squeeze the most possible value out of your solar panels under net billing, consider installing a solar battery.

Hawaii does offer a battery storage incentive program—the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Program—but it’s not really worth enrolling in. 

The BYOD Program’s predecessor, the Battery Bonus Program, played a huge role in lowering the state’s grid demand and boosting renewable generation in 2022 and 2023. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to take advantage of those favorable rates as a new applicant. Under the Battery Bonus Program, you could earn $850 per kilowatt (kW) of storage upfront. Now, you’ll be compensated $100 per kW with a $500 maximum. 

The new program is extremely complicated and requires you to sign up for a new time-of-use (TOU) electricity rate plan to be eligible. Every time you supply electricity to the grid, you'll actually lose money under the BYOD program. Pairing energy storage with your solar panels can still boost energy independence and provide backup power during an outage. But you might be better off forgoing the BYOD Program and keeping that stored energy for yourself.