The state is planning to install photovoltaic panels on four buildings near the airport, the second major project announced by the state recently aimed at reducing electricity consumption and cost.

The solar panels will be placed on four of six buildings at a Department of Accounting and General Services base yard at 729 Kakoi St. The storage and warehouse buildings have a roof area of about 71,000 square feet that is suitable for photovoltaic panels, the state said in its request for proposals.

Billing records show the buildings use between 51,000 and 72,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month. Russ Saito, state comptroller, said the panels are expected to generate enough electricity on sunny days to carry the full load.

At night or on days when there isn't much sunlight, power will be drawn from Hawaiian Electric Co., he said. Still, the photovoltaic project should result in a significant savings for the state, he said.

"With photovoltaic, you don't generate all of your requirements, you just generate a part of it, so your electric bill gets reduced by meting out the power you generate versus the power you would otherwise consume," Saito said.

He said if it got to the point where the panels generated more electricity than the facility consumes, the power would be put back into the Hawaiian Electric grid and the state would receive credit on its electricity bill.

This is believed to be the largest photovoltaic project at a DAGS facility, Saito said.

"In the state government, we're doing something called 'Lead by Example,' and so we're doing things to reduce consumption or move towards alternate energy sources where we can," Saito said.

DAGS will be accepting proposals in April and awarding the contract in June. The project is to be completed by the end of 2008 to take advantage of a federal tax incentive that may expire at the end of the year, according to the request for proposal.

The Department of Transportation recently announced that it was soliciting requests for proposals for a massive photovoltaic project that would include as many as 3.4 million square feet of solar power panels on 12 buildings across the state. The project is projected to generate up to 34 megawatts of power.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.