Solar system covers rooftop parking at Airport Industrial Park

Distributed Energy Partners, a Hawaii-based commercial solar company, finished the installation this week of an 843-kilowatt rooftop parking solar system at the Airport Industrial Park, which provides office space to Hawaiian Airlines, Duty Free Shoppers, Lockheed Martin, DR Fortress, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, AT&T and others.

The photovoltaic system, which forms a canopy over rooftop parking, will provide energy savings for tenants as well as covered parking for tenants and their customers, said Lisa Hadley, president of the Airport Industrial Park.

"The benefits to our building and our tenants include providing electrical power at a reduced rate, thereby lowering building CAM (common area maintenance) rates, shading a significant portion of the building, thereby reducing cooling loads, providing covered parking to tenants and visitors, increasing the life span of our roof membrane and being environmentally responsible," Hadley said.

The 843-kilowatt rooftop parking solar system includes eight separate systems connected to eight meters, spanning 1.52 acres. It is one of the largest of its kind in the state, said Todd Georgopapadakos of Distributed Energy Partners.

"Because of the constrained real estate in Hawaii, this kind of project makes sense," he said.

Combining the rooftop solar Distributed Energy Partners installed for Airport Industrial Park in 2010 and the rooftop parking project finished this week, the total system at the commercial office property is 980 kilowatts — just under one megawatt. On average, one megawatt of photovoltaics can power approximately 164 homes, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Distributed Energy Partners was formed in 2009 along with its sister company, RevoluSun. In August, Distributed Energy Partners, which focuses on commercial projects, split from RevoluSun, which primarily installs residential solar.

Distributed Energy Partners is working on other solar parking lot projects that have been approved by Hawaiian Electric Co., including a few projects with homeowner associations looking for solar savings with limited rooftop space, Georgopapadakos said.

"This is definitely the first of many that are following this template," he said. "You figure out how to get the solar systems working with the constraints."

Distributed Energy Partners has completed similar, smaller-scale projects including a covered parking system on the ground for Li­liha Square on Oahu that generates 155.2 kilowatts, and a 592.2-kilowatt system at Kauai Beach Resort.