Use this guide
Choose the questions relevant to your situation. Expand each answer, save the checklist and request written clarification where evidence is missing.
Questions homeowners ask
Why identify the island and exact program first?
Hawaiian Electric publishes different SRE Export rates by island and by overnight, daytime and evening periods. Keep your island, signed agreement, program and applicable rate together. One headline export value does not describe every account.
Source: Hawaiian Electric: SRE Export, billing and agreement rules. Reviewed 2026-10-06.
Does SRE Non-Export provide ordinary solar export credit?
This program does not export power to the utility grid. Production is used when generated or stored for later use. A battery does not by itself establish enrollment in an export or grid-service program.
Source: Hawaiian Electric: SRE Non-Export. Reviewed 2026-10-06.
Are all older solar customers required to switch programs?
Hawaiian Electric says NEM and NEM Plus customers are not required to transition. CGS, CGS Plus and Smart Export customers transition after seven years in those programs. Identify the actual agreement and notice rather than treating every legacy program alike.
Source: Hawaiian Electric: program transitions and contractor limits. Reviewed 2026-10-06.
Does a transition create the same lock-in as a new agreement?
The utility distinguishes new SRE Export agreements with an initial seven-year rate lock from customers transitioning an existing export system, who do not receive that lock. Ask which category and effective rate apply before relying on a quotation.
Source: Hawaiian Electric: SRE Export, billing and agreement rules. Reviewed 2026-10-06.
Do ordinary export credits and BYOD Plus credits expire alike?
The SRE Export page describes annual reconciliation and expiration of remaining ordinary export credits, with a no-expiration exception for BYOD Plus export credits. Keep the buckets separate and confirm your actual enrollment. Do not assume a banked amount is cash payable.
Source: Hawaiian Electric: SRE Export, billing and agreement rules. Reviewed 2026-10-06.
Which bill measurements should I retain?
The utility’s sample bill guide distinguishes kWh delivered to the customer from kWh received by the utility. It also shows daily averages. Retain totals and billing-cycle days; an average per day is not the monthly total or all solar production.
Source: Hawaiian Electric: understanding the Smart Renewable bill, sample PDF. Reviewed 2026-10-06.
Is banked eligible energy the same as the dollar credit?
The sample separates current eligible and banked kWh from calculated export-credit dollars. It limits applied credit kWh by billing-period usage and multiplies applied energy by the export rate. Preserve units and the credit summary, and ask the utility to explain your account calculation.
Source: Hawaiian Electric: understanding the Smart Renewable bill, sample PDF. Reviewed 2026-10-06.
What should a buyer check about the utility agreement?
Hawaiian Electric says a buyer assumes the previous owner’s agreement rights and responsibilities; lease-change documentation may be requested. Obtain the actual agreement and utility explanation. This does not establish transfer of a private loan, lease or warranty.
Source: Hawaiian Electric: property ownership and solar agreements. Reviewed 2026-10-06.
Can an app screenshot confirm an export agreement or outage backup?
No. A dashboard view is one record. Request the utility program agreement, equipment documents and the qualified provider’s explanation of the installed configuration. Keep operating permission, export compensation and outage behavior as separate questions; do not change equipment settings from this guide.
What can a scoped technical assessment contribute?
It can document the observations and evidence covered by the agreed scope and identify unanswered questions. It cannot elect a tariff, transfer a contract or promise savings. Confirm qualifications, conflicts and homeowner availability; retain the utility’s decisions separately.
Your decision checklist
- Confirm the utility service territory and island for the property.
- Retain the signed program agreement, start date and transition notice.
- Distinguish import tariff from export program and compensation periods.
- Keep monthly totals, billing days and daily averages separate.
- Separate eligible kWh, banked kWh and credit dollars.
- Identify ordinary export credits and BYOD Plus credits separately.
- Retain written utility responses on ownership and equipment amendments.
- Redact private account records before any public sharing.
Save or print this guide from your browser. Keep completed records privately.
Continue your research
Build a program-and-credit record before comparing bills
| Record | Evidence and question to resolve |
|---|---|
| Service boundary | Utility, island and account schedule Ask: Does this resource cover your utility? |
| Agreement | Program, enrollment date and transition notice Ask: New agreement or existing-system transition? |
| Grid exchange | Delivered and received kWh with billing dates Ask: Totals or daily averages? |
| Credit record | Eligible/banked energy and dollar credit Ask: Which units and periods apply? |
| Battery program | Actual BYOD Plus enrollment and credit bucket Ask: Which terms belong to this program? |
| Handover/change | Ownership documents and amendment acknowledgment Ask: Which utility and private-contract steps remain? |
Example: two household records show equal total exported energy, but different time-period totals. Preserve each period and the applicable island/agreement rate. Equal exported kWh alone does not establish equal credit dollars. This is an original comparison example, not a rate quotation or savings projection.
Example: a buyer receives a solar app login and a seller’s credit screenshot. Request the signed utility agreement, current credit record and ownership instructions. Separately confirm private financing, lease and warranty requirements. Utility enrollment, equipment access and contractual rights answer different questions; a technical observation report cannot complete the transfers.
This guide concerns Hawaiian Electric accounts and does not describe every Hawaii utility, Kauai account or property. We do not publish a current-price quotation or choose a program for you. Confirm the controlling island schedule and actual agreement with the utility. Its export and non-export pages require advanced meters and describe equipment amendments as subject to review. Their Shift and Save language describes historical automatic enrollment through January 2025; do not read it as a universal current enrollment requirement. The bill PDF is an illustrative explanation, not your current account statement, and uses older BYOD wording; use current BYOD Plus terms for that distinct program. Do not use its sample numbers as a savings estimate. These original worksheets are editorial aids, not enrollment forms or utility permission. Do not open meters, change battery dispatch or export settings, climb or perform electrical tests. Continue with bill measurement questions, approval milestones and solar home-sale records. Learn Solar Survey AI’s evidence methodology and confirm available inspection scope, qualifications and conflicts. Homeowner provider connections and planned free remote diagnosis remain coming soon.
Scope sources: SRE Export requirements, SRE Non-Export requirements and the utility’s sample bill explanation. Reviewed 2026-10-06.
About these guides
Published by Solar Survey AI, a commercial survey-services company. Our original decision checklists are recommendations; linked authorities support the referenced facts. We may benefit if you purchase our services. This is not independent certification of our company, a project-specific engineering decision or personal tax/legal advice. Local rules, contracts and site evidence control individual decisions. Reviewed 2026-10-06.
For available survey or inspection services, confirm your project scope and availability with our team. Our planned free homeowner remote diagnosis remains coming soon.
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