GEM$ On-Bill Program
Finance new home solar panels, water heating or solar-energy storage if you are a low- to moderate-income homeowner or renter in Hawaii, and repay through your electric bill.
Această oportunitate este disponibilă momentan în limba engleză.
You can finance new solar photovoltaic panels, batteries that store solar electricity, solar thermal or photovoltaic water heaters, and heat pump water heaters. Work with an approved contractor to choose the equipment.
The Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority (HGIA) lends the money at a fixed annual interest rate of 5.5%, with financing for up to 25 years. The homeowner or landlord owns the system. You repay through a program charge on your monthly electric bill. The obligation stays with the property’s meter and transfers to the next ratepayer when you move.
For rental properties, landlords must tell HGIA when tenants or ratepayers change, disclose the charge and its transfer to incoming tenants, and ensure new tenants understand their payment obligation and sign the required program documents. If a unit is vacant with no active bill payer, the charge can be suspended for up to two years in total, provided the landlord tells HGIA and neither the landlord nor property manager has a HECO “Collective” account that automatically takes over the electricity account during vacancies.
Eligibility
- You must be the homeowner or tenant who is the primary electricity account holder at the installation address. Your income must be below 140% of the area median income, using the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation (HHFDC) income guidelines linked from HGIA’s eligibility page. There is no minimum income or credit score requirement.
- You must be a Hawaiian Electric, Maui Electric or Hawaiian Electric Light customer with at least six months of utility history.
- If you rent, the property owners must also apply and sign the program documents.
- Equipment must be new and on the approved list. Use a GEM$ enrolled contractor; an energy-efficiency contractor must also be a Hawaii Energy Clean Energy Ally.
- HGIA checks the project’s estimated savings on your electricity bill. The minimum is 5% if you have no disconnection notices, 10% with one to four notices, or 15% with five or more notices.
How to apply
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- New applications are accepted and funds are available.[^c2]
Start at HGIA’s GEM$ Main Application page, use its Apply Now link to create a Banyan Infrastructure account, and submit as the primary electricity account holder. Have your government-issued ID, recent electricity bill, Green Button electricity-use data and, if applicable, your Department of Hawaiian Home Lands lease ready; the application page links to the data-download instructions.
For a rented home, the landlord must submit a separate Landlord Application, the past two years’ personal tax returns and a personal financial statement. Other people on the electricity account and additional property owners must complete Additional Applications through links HGIA supplies during review.
HGIA assesses the applicant and proposed project. Before installation, obtain loan approval, sign the program documents and provide a valid insurance certificate naming HGIA as lender loss payee, so HGIA is named to receive insurance payments for covered system losses. HGIA then issues the contractor’s notice to proceed. Once the system is installed and interconnected with the utility, HGIA pays the contractor after receiving all required approvals, including yours.