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New solar PV panels expected to reduce Honolulu airport’s electric bill by nearly half, state says

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COURTESY HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

An aerial view of more than 24,000 solar PV panels installed throughout the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.

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COURTESY HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

More than 4,200 solar PV panels were installed on the top of the Terminal 1 parking garage in November 2018.

Hawaii Department of Transportation officials said an additional 2,980 solar photovoltaic panels have been installed on the 5th floor of the Terminal 2 parking garage at Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.

All 410 stalls on the 5th floor of the garage are now available for public parking beneath the new solar canopy.

“This is our latest step towards sustainability at Hawaii’s largest airport, which sees more than 20 million passengers a year,” said Gov. David Ige in a news release. “Continuing our energy savings efforts at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport is a significant step toward our state’s 2045 clean energy goal.”

The solar PV installation is the latest improvement to be completed as part of the HDOT’s energy savings performance contract with Johnson Controls Inc. The 20-year contract is expected to result in $600 million in energy savings for the state’s airports division. The contract with Johnson Controls began in 2014.

State officials said it is the largest, single state contract of its kind in the nation, and that the completion of the installation, along with previous improvements, are expected to reduce the airport’s electric bill by nearly half.

Since January, the 5th floor of the Terminal 2 parking garage was closed to the public, and stalls were reopened as the project progressed. All reopened as of midnight on March 29.

In November of last year, a total of 4,260 new solar PV panels were installed on the 7th floor of the Terminal 1 parking garage at the airport.

The Johnson Controls Inc. contract also includes replacing nearly 98,000 light fixtures with high-efficiency, light-emitting diode (LED) technology and energy efficient lighting, upgrading ventilation and air-conditioning systems, and installing more than 24,000 solar PV panels.

The $207 million investment is financed from guaranteed energy savings, not taxpayer funding, officials said.

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