Work has started on a photovoltaic project that will supply power to a 600-home military community on the Pearl City Peninsula.

The 1.2-megawatt project is being developed under a partnership that includes Forest City Sustainable Resources, the Department of the Navy and Forest City Military Communities.

Hoku Solar was chosen by Forest City to build the facility, which will have more than 4,300 PV panels in a ground-based array. The project will create 25 jobs and is expected to be completed by the end of 2012, according to a news release from Hoku. A blessing for the project was held last week.

The facility will be the second utility-scale PV project on Oahu. The first such project was developed last year by Forest City Sustainable Resources on a former industrial waste site in Campbell Industrial Park.