For Immediate Release

Honolulu - The City of Honolulu ranks third overall for solar energy in a new report from Environment America Research & Policy Center, landing it among the leading cities in the United States for installing clean energy from the sun.

“Cities like Honolulu are leading the way to a future powered by clean, renewable energy,” said Bret Fanshaw, Solar Program Director with Environment America Research & Policy Center and report co-author. “By tapping into more of our vast solar energy potential, we can benefit from cleaner air and fight climate change.”

Honolulu ranked behind Los Angeles and San Diego for total megawatts of solar. However, the city ranked first overall for megawatts of solar energy per capita as of year-end 2017.

“As Mayor, I made a commitment to transform Honolulu’s public and private ground transportation to 100 percent renewable energy by 2045, and solar will play a huge role in meeting that goal,” said Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell. “Already, thousands of Oʻahu residents are powering their homes and their electric vehicles with energy generated by rooftop solar, and this technology is rapidly improving and becoming even more widespread. Mahalo to Environment America for shining a spotlight, not only on Honolulu’s progress, but on the enormous benefits of solar energy that assures our country will become more self-sufficient and economically competitive."

The report, Shining Cities 2018: How Smart Local Policies Are Expanding Solar Power in America, shows that the top 20 solar cities, comprising just 0.1 percent of the country’s land mass, account for 4 percent of U.S. solar capacity.

“We are in a moment when progress on renewable energy will come from cities across the country,” said Fanshaw. “More local leaders should step up and start plugging their communities into the clean and virtually limitless power of the sun.”

Shining Cities is the fifth annual report from Environment America Research & Policy Center. Each year, the survey ranks nearly 70 of the nation’s major cities by megawatts of solar energy.