Molokai Going Full Speed Ahead With Renewable Energy

Imagine paying over $250 per month for your electric bill. Folks on Molokai Island in Hawaii know just how difficult it can be to power up their homes. This problem, however isn't going away anytime soon. In fact, prices for residents will likely increase in the coming years.

The plan is to transform this small island into a renewable energy powerhouse made up of wind, solar and biofuel. Going from traditional energy to 100 percent reliance on alternatives is not cheap. Rates are scheduled to go up to cover the cost of implementing the technology that moves the island of the grid.

For these prices, if I owned a small home on the island I would consider setting up my own power generating system. First, I'd purchase a PowerWall 2 from Tesla to store the energy that my own photovoltaic solar panels produce. It's simply too risky and expensive relying on a big energy company to find solutions. You're almost funding them to develop the technology and ability rather than taking your future into your own hands.

And once other residents on the island are paying in the neighborhood of $300 per month, the time that is needed to cover the costs of materials for your new power station will be reduced dramatically. Already, residents of Molokai have been hesitant to have wind energy on the island. The large 5MW wind turbines pose a potential threat to native and migrating birds in the area. The cables that run from the under the ocean from neighboring islands also hold its own risk of environmental impacts and reliability concerns.

So overall, the electric company is going to attempt to build the capacity to 8.5 MW. Essentially, they are looking for ways to maximize their electrical energy input and output in similar ways as I have described above. The great part for the savvy person, you can build this all by yourself without having to pay for the energy companies education.