HECO Battery Bonus Program

Hawaiian Electric customers on Oʻahu and Maui with rooftop solar may now be eligible for a new incentive by adding a home battery. The utility wants to add more battery capacity onto the grid to help manage retirement of a coal plant and support Hawaii’s goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2045.

The Battery Bonus program for the island of Oʻahu is now closed to new applications. Hawaiian Electric has indicated that customer applications for Oahu currently under review will continue to be processed, through early 2024. Hawaiian Electric may make a successor program available, though details have yet to be confirmed. If you have any questions related to applications submitted and under review, please contact gridservicessupport@enphaseenergy.com.

The Battery Bonus program is still available for the island of Maui through June 30, 2024, or until the 15 MW program cap is reached.

Enroll now—capacity is filling up fast

Customers accepted into the Battery Bonus program will receive $850 per kilowatt of capacity that can serve the grid during a fixed two-hour period each day. For example, an IQ Battery 10 has a continuous power output of 3.84 kilowatts (kW).

Your IQ Battery 10 could, therefore, earn $3,264 from the program at $850 per kilowatt. In return for this incentive, your Enphase storage system would simply export energy to the grid during a two-hour period between 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. each day. This would occur automatically, and you would keep functionality of your Enphase Energy System with storage, including backup power.

Maui applications will be accepted through June 30, 2024, or until the 15 MW cap is reached or the program is extended, whichever happens first. 

Oʻahu and Maui participants can earn $850/kW upfront from HECO

Add more solar

If you are an existing HECO Net Energy Metering (NEM) customer, enrolling in the Battery Bonus program allows you to add additional solar capacity to your roof. In Hawaii, this can reduce the overall payback period of the system by offsetting more of your electricity costs with solar, resulting in even more savings sooner.

FAQs

Battery Bonus is a new program from Hawaiian Electric that pays a cash incentive and provides bill credits for customers on O’ahu and Maui to add energy storage (one or more batteries) to an existing or new rooftop solar system. In return, customers who participate must use and/or export electricity stored in the battery at the committed amount on a two-hour schedule specified by Hawaiian Electric between 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (for example, 6:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.) daily including weekends and holidays. 

The Enphase app makes it easy for you to automate using or exporting electricity stored in the battery during the committed two-hour event.

Any Hawaiian Electric customer on O’ahu or Maui with rooftop solar and one or more Enphase IQ Batteries is eligible. 

Customers who wish to participate with an existing solar system and are presently enrolled in a customer energy program (such as Net Energy Metering, Customer Grid Supply, or others) will continue to receive full benefits from these programs. A customer must install a battery of any size and customers on the HECO Net Energy Metering tariff may add new panels to their existing solar system, as long as the additional PV capacity is not more than twice the battery size. Existing customers are customers that have received Permission to Operate before 07/01/2021 on O’ahu and before June 06/01/2022 on Maui. 

A member of the Enphase Installer Network can help you with your application, installation, and enrollment. The first step is to find an installer to get an accurate quote for your home energy system. Find an installer in your area.

On O’ahu applications will be accepted through August 14, 2023, or until the 40 MW cap is reached or the program is extended, whichever happens first. On Maui applications will be accepted through June 30, 2024, or until the 15 MW cap is reached or the program is extended, whichever happens first.  

All customers accepted into the Battery Bonus program on O’ahu and Maui will receive $850 per kilowatt of capacity enrolled. For example, an IQ Battery 10 unit has a continuous power output of 3.84 kilowatts (kW). IQ Battery 10 would, therefore, earn $3,264 from the program at $850 per kilowatt, provided that its full 3.84 kW was enrolled in the program.

Additionally, program participants will receive $5/kW of capacity enrolled each month during the program as a bill credit from HECO. 

Existing HECO Net Energy Metering (NEM) customers that enroll one or more batteries in the Battery Bonus program can also install additional solar capacity and retain their NEM interconnection, as long as the additional PV capacity is not more than double the battery kW rating. For example, an NEM customer enrolling an IQ Battery 10 in the program can add up to 7.68 kW of additional solar to the current system and retain their NEM status. 

When you complete your application, you will choose your committed capacity to the program.  You must deliver that amount every day for 10 years during the assigned two-hour block, which will be between 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. every day. 

Enrollment is a 10-year commitment with an initial phase ending December 31, 2023, and a second, final phase continuing for the rest of the 10 years. In the first phase, customers who participate must export electricity from Enphase Storage at the committed capacity on a firm two-hour schedule as specified by Hawaiian Electric between 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. (for example, 6:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.) daily including weekends and holidays. In the second phase, customers will have the option to: (1) continue operating their battery system under the same terms or (2) move to a different program to be set by Hawaiian Electric.

IQ Batteries will remain active with backup mode enabled if there’s a grid outage during an event. You will only be required to send the committed capacity to the grid if it’s online during the two-hour period.

Customers may end participation before the 10-year commitment with a 60-day written notice to Hawaiian Electric and must repay HECO a prorated portion of the incentive.

We encourage you to visit the Hawaiian Electric Battery Bonus program website or contact a local Enphase Storage installer, who can answer your questions.

Installers can learn more here.