Trailblazed Nano-grid Solar Molokai, Hawai‘i
John Ogawa Borland, Inventor - 8 patents
Solar Installations on Molokai
Poepoe Homestead Mini-MicroGrid Installation September 2023
Kekoa Homestead Installation March 2024
Todd Yamashita and Crew During Maikui Homestead Installation 2025.
The heat pump washer/dryer installed on Molokai.
Why Molokai?
The residential solar program in Hawaii has been very successful. Forty-five percent of single-family homes utilize rooftop solar- the “haves,” if you will. This has given the grid a severe duck curve due to excess daytime solar being exported. A high evening peak demand led to Hawaii ending its Net Energy Metering (NEM) program in 2015. Today, the state’s solar grid-export credit is 10¢/kWh (wholesale price).
There is a severe social-economic energy divide between the “haves” and “have-nots” in Hawaii. Rooftop solar households benefit from up to 92% energy cost savings and energy burden reduction. If everyone switches to Time-of-Use (TOU) rates and add Battery-Only as an overnight household appliance the “have nots” can reduced HECO bill by 50% and charge the battery from excess daytime solar from the grid at the lowest TOU rates.
Among the hardest hit by a high energy burden are native Hawaiian low-income families, who could see their energy burden reduced by up to 92%, a significant relief when living paycheck to paycheck.
The greatest energy insecurity and social inequity in Hawaii is on Molokai Island, where a Honolulu Civil Beat article in September of 2021 reported that 62% of residents there are native Hawaiian and many live without a connection to the grid because of high electricity rates and connection fees.
“When the sun sets on Molokai, hundreds of homes go dark,” the article reads, “Forcing many families to choose between using power at night or feeding their children”.
This inspired John Ogawa Borland, lead author, to write his IEEE-PVSC 2022 paper, an energy cost analysis for residents on Molokai showing how island nano-grids can reduce energy burden by 95% for off-grid homesteaders and 45-65% for grid-tie renters without access to rooftop solar.
John Ogawa Borland's case study and IEEE Molokai pilot demonstration was the catalyst that kicked off several new businesses and a community cooperative using new nano-grid technology based on his design. He worked with Todd Yamashita the President of Ho'āhu on Molokai and PNNL. Borland convinced them that a Community Solar system was not the best solution for Molokai in 2022 and he published the economics. The Honolulu Star Advertiser published Borland's article and table showing the data for Nano-Grid was more economical over Community Solar in February 2023.
Hearing what John Ogawa Borland accomplished on Molokai the Navajo Nation invited him to bring nano-grid solar + batteries to Arizona.
Energy Poverty
Molokai homestead residents did not have access to the electric grid.
Nano-Grid Solar Installations at Molokai Homestead June 2023
John Ogawa Borland
John Ogawa Borland is a prominent scientist and inventor with patents in semiconductors and solar.
John Ogawa Borland was raised in Honolulu, Hawaii and received his BS and MS degrees in Material Science and Engineering from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). BS thesis on InP Liquid Phase Epitaxy at Hughes Malibu Research Labs and MS thesis on InGaAsP Molecular Beam Epitaxy at Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Musashino Labs in Japan. He was an MIT scientist on NASA's Space Shuttle program at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. He has published 182 technical and invited papers in the areas of advanced semiconductor device manufacturing, high efficiency c-Si solar cells and residential Solar + Storage energy cost savings. He has also been awarded 6 US patents in the semiconductor industry and 2 Japanese patents in the solar industry. In June 1996, the press release of his third patent resulted in Genus' stock price one-day jump of 25%. In 2020, he published a book chapter on residential Island Nano-Grid using 100% Energy from the Sun.
Semiconductor industry
He started his career in Silicon Valley working for National Semiconductor on 1.25um CMOS latch-up immunity and intrinsic gettering, then moved to Applied Materials developing advanced CMOS Si-deposition techniques (Epi, Selective Epi & Poly with interface control). At Genus he was Director of Process Development & Marketing, then VP of Strategic Technology developing W-CVD technology and high energy implantation for CMOS Twin and Triple Well technology which moved him back to the Boston area. Varian (VSEA) acquired Genus, he was Director of Advanced Business Development developing Ultra-Shallow Junction technologies for CMOS scaling.
J.O.B. Technologies
In 2003 he founded J.O.B. Technologies, a strategic technical marketing consulting company providing services to the semiconductor industry in the area of advanced CMOS process technology now focused on the 3nm node CMOS technology. He was Director of Operations at Advanced Integrated Photonics’ Hawaii 150mm silicon photonics development Fab in 2013 and 2014. Interesting note is his patent on Triple Well CMOS technology was used to successfully counter a lawsuit against Samsung DRAM and Flash Memory manufacturing in 2020.
Solar Industry
For the solar industry he developed high efficiency c-Si solar cells using ion implantation and laser melt annealing for selective emitter technology. Currently he is focused on residential Solar + Storage to Fight Climate Change by bringing Energy Equity to the underserved communities. This involves home energy usage audit to ID options to reduce energy burden and maximize energy cost savings.
Molokai Pilot program
John Ogawa Borland secured humanitarian project funds in 2022 from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) to build a pilot demonstration on Molokai. The IEEE Molokai humanitarian project that he designed trailblazed nanogrid solar on Molokai. John Ogawa Borland is a senior member of IEEE, the IEEE Region 6 Central Area chair, past-chair of the IEEE Hawaii section, IEEE Electron Device Society/Solid-State Circuits Society Hawaii chapter chair and IEEE Power and Energy Society Hawaii chapter chair. He is also a member of the Electrochemical Society and Materials Research Society.
Maui Fire Survivors
The IEEE Molokai project inspired the rebuilding effort on Maui after their 2023 wildfires. The pilot off-grid system designed by John Ogawa Borland for Molokai homesteaders was adapted and used on Maui by their fire survivors.
Navajo in Arizona
John Ogawa Borland was invited in 2025 to share his innovative nano-grid solar design with the Navajo Nation in Arizona. The Hopi tribe has 35% without electricity and Navajo Nation has 21%. Molokai has only 8% without electricity.
INVENTOR
PATENTS
JOHN OGAWA BORLAND - 6 US Patents, 2 Japanese Patents.
FIRST PATENT: 1990
LATEST PATENT: 2023
John Ogawa Borland graduated from Radford High School in Honolulu, before earning two degrees from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). In Silicon Valley he designed equipment used in the fabrication of semiconductor chips. In 1996, Borland was Vice President of Strategic Technology at Genus when a press release of Borland's patent award resulted in a one day jump in Genus' stock by 25%.
John Ogawa Borland has published over 182 technical and invited papers around the world. His two Japanese patents on Solar energy shifting and sharing issued in 2022 and 2023 are being used in the 2023 IEEE Molokai Humanitarian project for Native Hawaiian Homesteaders in giving Energy Equity and access to the internet to rural families who were living off the grid.
His Molokai project provided power to 18 Native Hawaiian families. Nano-grid Solar+Batteries were given to 13 families living off-grid and five families grid-tied to HECO.
John Borland said the "solar industry is 30 years behind the semiconductor industry" and he is focused on developing new solar technologies needed to fight climate change.
His Solar Inventions are battery electrical storage and thermal storage. Working with Japanese manufacturer Tabuchi Electric he invented cold thermal battery storage for air conditioning and hot thermal battery storage for hot water.
