‘Hawaii Five-0’ owns time slot

Along with Steve McGarrett, audiences were interested in the continuing mystery of who killed his parents, as last night’s episode of "Hawaii Five-0" continued to outdraw other network contenders in that late prime-time slot nationwide.

According to Nielsen ratings released by CBS, "Hawaii Five-0" had 11 million viewers, while runner-up "Castle" on ABC drew 9.6 million. In a distant third, NBC’s "Biggest Loser" repeat drew 2.7 million.

"Hawaii Five-0" airs in Hawaii at 9 p.m. Mondays on KGMB.

State to pay $2.9 million for solar

The state has hired a Massachusetts company to install a $2.9 million solar electrical generation system on a government building in downtown Honolulu.

The 200-kilowatt system to be built on the roof of the Kalanimoku Building, at the corner of Punchbowl and South Beretania streets, is part of a $33.9 million project that includes energy efficiency improvements to 10 state office buildings with more than 1.3 million square feet of building space.

The system is being installed by Noresco, a subsidiary of Carrier Corp., which is a unit of United Technologies Corp.

The Kalanimoku project is funded by a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 with oversight by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Maui wind farm plans backup system

First Wind has chosen Texas-based Extreme Power to provide the battery backup system for the second phase of its Maui wind farm, known as Kaheawa II.

The 10-megawatt battery system will automatically respond to differences between the farm’s output and the needs of the Maui grid, absorbing or delivering power as needed to reduce the variability inherent in wind power, Extreme Power said in a news release.

"Xtreme Power has proven to be a very good partner in helping us to more efficiently integrate the clean power produced by our projects onto the electrical grid," said Paul Gaynor, chief executive officer of First Wind.

The Kaheawa project will add 21 megawatts of generating power to the existing 30-megawatt capacity at the Kaheawa wind farm. Kaheawa II is scheduled to be completed in November.

Auto sales up in 2010

DETROIT » Auto sales rose in the United States last year for the first time since the recession. For the year, car and truck sales came in at 11.6 million, up 11 percent from last year, automakers reported yesterday. For December alone, sales were 1.14 million, also up 11 percent from a year earlier. General Motors, Ford and Toyota all predict sales will come in at 12.5 million to 13 million for 2011.

On the Move

Hunt Development Group has hired Jose Bustamante as development manager. He was previously a senior associate in commercial real estate investments and leasing for CB Richard Ellis in San Francisco, a real estate development intern for New York City Economic Development Corp. and a U.S. Army captain and military intelligence officer.

The Resort Group named Abbey S. Mayer vice president of government relations. His has been planning director for the state Office of Planning and executive director of Ke Aupuni Lokahi, the Molokai Enterprise Community.

UHA has hired Allison Sato as an account executive. She was previously an assistant vice president with Bank of Hawaii and has experience in human resources, sales and small business.

Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties has hired Tanya Hawkins for the Kahala office as Realtor associate. She previously worked as a sales associate at Mary Worrall Associates.