June 2008. Suntech Hawaii announces contract for 107 kW Hydrogen Fueling Station Solar project with Enova Systems.

June 2008. Suntech Hawaii announces contract for 78 kW PV system with Bowers and Kubota.

June 5, 2008. Suntech Hawaii hires CAD Specialist. Suntech Hawaii announces the hiring of Rod Braunthal, a CAD operator with 15 years experience, to head up its in-house design team.

June 1, 2008. Suntech Hawaii hires VP of Construction Operations. Josh Powell, formerly a consultant to Forest City Enterprises and Project Manager at Actus Lend Lease adds experience in management of $350 million in construction value of the last decade.

May 31, 2008. Suntech Hawaii completes 107 kW PV system with Forest City Enterprises 47 days from signing notice to procede. This pilot system at the Halsey Terrace Community Center will debut Forest City’s commitment to greening the power supply on its military privatization projects.

May 21, 2008. Mark Duda, Suntech VP of Finance, presents on state of commercial PV market at DBEDT Buld Green Buy Green conference.

May 2008. Suntech Hawaii announces contract for 107 kW PV contract with Island Gourmet Foods.

April 18, 2008. Suntech executives appear on KHNL News 8 to give away free solar water heating system for Earth Day. Derek Tanabe of Kaneohe was our proud winner.

April 2008. Suntech Hawaii announces contract for 60 kW PV system for Alan Shintani.

April 2008. Suntech Hawaii announces contract for 100 kW PV system and 3,000 gallon soalr hot water system for Convalescent Center for Honolulu.

April 2008. Suntech Hawaii announces contract for 107 kW PV system with Forest City Enterprises. This pilot system at the Halsey Terrace Community Center will debut Forest City’s commitment to greening the power supply on its military privatization projects.

March 17, 2008. Suntech Hawaii executive presents information on military contracting at US DOD Pacific Rim Commanders conference.

March 15-16, 2008. Todd Georgopapdakos, VP of Business Development and Peter Fletter, Project Manager, present on residential PV applicatiosn in Hawaii market at the Green Living Expo.

February 8, 2008. Mark Duda appears on Hawaii Public television’s Everybody’s Business to discuss booming commercial PV market in Hawaii. Mark joins host Howard Dicus discusses the opportunities for Hawaii businesses to lower operating costs and demonstrate their green credentials by going solar.

February 20, 2008. Suntech’s VP of Finance named to Hawaii PV Coalition Board of Directors. Association of Hawaii-based solar integrators with active legislative presence names Mark Duda to its five member board of directors.

January 30, 2008. Suntech Hawaii VP of Finance Mark Duda named HSEA PV Committee Co-Chair. Mark Duda, Suntech Hawaii’s VP of Finance, was selected by the Hawaii Solar Energy Association to head up its PV legislative/regulatory activities. 

Jan 30, 2008. Mark Duda and Sean Mullen appear on Hawaii Public Radio’s Think Tech. Senior managers from Suntech Hawaii join host Jay Fiedel to discuss the impending boom in distributed generation in Hawaii’s business community.

January 22, 2008. Suntech Hawaii announces 804 kW Kona Commons project. Series of systems for tenants at MacNaughton Group and Kobayoshi Group’s retail center

804kW System will be Sited at Kona Commons, Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i KAILUA,

Oahu, January 22, 2008 – Suntech Hawaii today announced that it has been engaged by MK Kona Commons, LLC a subsidiary of the The MacNaughton Group and Kobayashi Group to develop an 804 kW solar photovoltaic system for its Kona Commons, Phase I, retail property. When placed in service in the fall of 2008, the project will produce more than 1.1 million kWh of electricity each year, enough to power 128 homes and eliminate 1.8 million pounds of carbon emissions annually.

Hawaii’s electricity rates are the highest in the nation, with Big Island businesses paying more than 30 cents per kWh. “The Kona Commons project is a direct reflection of the commercial appeal photovoltaics have in Hawaii’s energy market place” said Suntech’s President, Sean Mullen. “Between generous federal and state tax incentives and our ever-increasing electricity rates, the business case for solar has never been stronger.”

As a state, Hawaii produces virtually all of its electricity from fossil fuels - 78 percent from petroleum and another 14 percent from coal – all of which must be imported. As scientists continue to document the impacts of global warming, with sea level rise a particular concern for Hawaii residents, switching to renewable energy sources such as solar is an important way for the state to limit the environmental impact of its activities. Members of the business community are now taking the lead in weaning Hawaii off carbon-intensive electricity.

“Sustainable building practices are consistent with the corporate culture we’ve built as an environmentally responsible developer” said BJ Kobayashi, CEO of Kobayashi Group. “At Kona Commons investing in solar not only made sense for the bottom line but it was also the clearest statement we could make to our tenants and the people of Hawaii about our commitment to the environment.”

Over their lifetime, renewables generate far more jobs than fossil fuels per unit of energy produced. Researchers at UC Berkeley found that solar photovoltaics create the most jobs per MWh of capacity – an average of 9.0, compared to 1.0 for coal and 1.8 for wind and biomass projects. At these rates and with the State’s continued support of the alternative energy industry, renewables are set to be an engine of high-quality, high-tech job growth in the coming decades.

“Going green in partnership with a local company like Suntech Hawaii is a meaningful step that Hawaii’s businesses can take to develop the local economy by supporting Hawaii’s growing alternative energy industry” said Jeff Dinsmore, President of MKC Management, which oversees the development of the Kona Commons project. Nationally, the number of alternative energy jobs now exceeds 450,000, with 95 percent in the private sector.

Click here to download the full press release as a PDF.