{"id":218100,"date":"2025-06-30T13:32:49","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T23:32:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=218100"},"modified":"2025-06-30T13:34:58","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T23:34:58","slug":"students-explore-kauai-renewable-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/06\/30\/students-explore-kauai-renewable-energy\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar power, sheep, battery strategies: students explore Kaua\u02bbi renewable energy"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> < 1<\/span> minute<\/span><\/span>
\"Students
Students visiting the AES<\/abbr> Lawaʻi<\/span> Solar Farm.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Students from the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa\u2019s Energy and Sustainability Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP<\/abbr>) team toured and learned about Kauaʻi<\/span> renewable energy landscape over spring break in March 2025.<\/p>\n

The group visited Kauaʻi<\/span> Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC<\/abbr>) at Port Allen Station and the AES<\/abbr>
\nLawaʻi<\/span> Solar Farm, gaining hands-on experience with the island\u2019s grid and energy innovations.<\/p>\n

\"Students
UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa sustainability team at Port Allen Station.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Visiting the KIUC<\/abbr> facility and AES<\/abbr> Lawaʻi<\/span> PV<\/abbr> system was an eye-opening experience,” said Kristine Locquiao, a UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa engineering student.<\/p>\n

The students got a rare behind-the-scenes look at KIUC<\/abbr>\u2019s operations as they explored future energy strategies, battery storage technologies and the unique challenges of maintaining grid stability on an island.<\/p>\n

Energy storage, grazing sheep<\/h2>\n

The team then visited AES<\/abbr> Lawaʻi<\/span> Solar Farm, where students learned how the site uses agrivoltaics—grazing sheep to manage vegetation beneath 64,800 solar panels—and a cutting-edge battery system to store excess solar energy, providing power even when the sun isn\u2019t shining.<\/p>\n

“Seeing firsthand how Kauaʻi<\/span> is leading the way in renewable energy was inspiring,” Locquiao said. “This opportunity gave us valuable knowledge that will shape our future careers in engineering.”<\/p>\n

Part of the broader campus-wide VIP<\/abbr> program, the Energy and Sustainability team is made up of students and faculty across disciplines who collaborate on long-term sustainability projects.<\/p>\n

Learn more about sustainability efforts at the UH<\/abbr> Office of Sustainability<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The team visited renewable energy facilities on Kauaʻi<\/span>, gaining exclusive access to solar and grid technology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[1314,1038,73,9],"class_list":["post-218100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","tag-manoa-sustainability","tag-office-of-sustainability","tag-sustainability","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218100"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":218143,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218100\/revisions\/218143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}