Eight auto dealerships on Hawaii’s Big Island are now getting 100 percent of their electricity from solar power.

ProVision Solar, a Hawaii solar installer used Kyocera Solar panels for the rooftop installations and has put more than 234 kilowatts of solar photovoltaic panels on four auto business rooftops since December 2012, said Marco Mangelsdorf, president of ProVision.

ProVision is the oldest solar PV installer with a physical presence on Hawaii’s Big Island.

The rooftop solar arrays at Kama’aina Motors; Kama’aina Nissan; Parts Center Hawai’i, Captain Cook; and Parts Center Hawai'i, Kamuela are fully operational.

“The real-world performance of these roof-mounted systems, which produce up to 100 percent of the power needs of the businesses, have made true believers of the owners,” Mangelsdorf said.

ProVision intends to install four more solar arrays at Hilo Used Cars; Parts Center Hawai’i, Hilo; Kona Nissan; and Kona Chrysler are expected to be completed this year.

Kyocera teamed up with ProVision because the company was looking for an experienced and locally-based Big Island installer.

The Hawaiian auto businesses are ideal candidates for solar installations because they use a lot of energy and energy in Hawaii which comes at a premium. The island state has the highest electricity rates in the country and gets most of its power from plants fueled by imported oil. Electricity rates in Hawaii range from 37 to 47 cents per kilowatt hour, according to a release from Kyocera.

Hawaii has created incentives for distributed and utility-scale solar power generation that make the option even more appealing to business owners. But the cost of electricity in the state is almost incentive enough for some to switch to the more reliable and clean energy source.

“The solar modules for these eight installations will allow these businesses to reduce one of the high costs of doing business on Hawai'i for the next 20 years or more,” said Steve Hill, president of Kyocera Solar, “while also helping to preserve the environment of this beautiful island.”