{"id":227684,"date":"2026-01-07T10:30:40","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T20:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=227684"},"modified":"2026-01-06T13:36:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T23:36:07","slug":"kauai-cc-renewable-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/01\/07\/kauai-cc-renewable-energy\/","title":{"rendered":"Kauaʻi CC<\/abbr> students explore future of renewable energy at L\u0101waʻi Solar"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

\"people<\/p>\n

Kauaʻi<\/span> Community College<\/a> is charging up the island\u2019s future workforce as its Electrical Installation and Maintenance (EIMT<\/abbr>) students prepare to meet the demand of a 100% renewable energy grid.<\/p>\n

The Kauaʻi<\/span> CC<\/abbr> EIMT<\/abbr> class joined by faculty, staff and administrative members visited the 196-acre AES L\u0101waʻi<\/span> Solar and Energy Storage Project to explore future collaborations. The tour provided valuable information to Kauaʻi<\/span> CC<\/abbr> students that correlates to their education and potential opportunities in the renewable energy industry.<\/p>\n

\"students<\/p>\n

“Our guide explained that the farm produces about 28 megawatts of power, but what really impressed us was the massive battery system sitting quietly off to the side,” said Brandon Finlay, Kauaʻi<\/span> CC<\/abbr> student. “It can store 100 megawatt-hours of energy, meaning the sun\u2019s power can be captured during the day and used later when people on the island need it most. The panels themselves slowly tilt throughout the day, following the sun like a whole field of metal sunflowers, which helps them capture more light. Learning that the system can act like a ‘peaker plant,’ quickly stepping in to support the grid, made us realize how advanced and important this technology is for keeping Kauaʻi<\/span> powered—even after sunset.”<\/p>\n

Renewable energy workforce<\/h2>\n

\"renewable<\/p>\n

Roughly 60% of Kauaʻi<\/span>\u02bbs electricity is powered through solar panels, or photovoltaic systems, and with the Kauaʻi<\/span> Island Utility Cooperative board of directors\u2019 goal of reaching 100% renewable by 2033, there is an increasing need to train professionals on the island. Kauaʻi<\/span> CC<\/abbr> Applied Workforce Technology Division Chair Gordon Talbo said potential internship opportunities for students will become available as this new industry partnership is established.<\/p>\n

“Seeing how photovoltaic systems work on a large scale helped my overall understanding,” said Emily Harrah, Kauaʻi<\/span> CC<\/abbr> student.<\/p>\n

AES Sr. Stakeholder Relations Manager Carrice Gardner, Project Manager Cameron Haughey, O&M Manager Diedrick Nagle, and Kauaʻi<\/span> CC<\/abbr> EIMT<\/abbr> graduate Technician Keanu Dotario facilitated the tour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Kauaʻi<\/span> CC<\/abbr> EIMT<\/abbr> class visited the 196-acre AES<\/abbr> L\u0101waʻi<\/span> Solar and Energy Storage Project to explore future collaborations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":227886,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,672,73],"class_list":["post-227684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-kauai-community-college","tag-renewable-energy","tag-sustainability","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/kauai-cc-renewable-energy.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227684","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=227684"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":227906,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227684\/revisions\/227906"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}