Will Supply 30 Percent of Lana'i's Peak Electricity Demand

On January 6, 2009, Castle & Cooke Hawai'i and SunPower Corporation dedicated the 1.2-megawatt La Ola Solar Farm on Lana'i in Hawai'i. La Ola, which is translated from Hawaiian as "sun that gives life," has 7,000 solar panels spread across 10 acres in south Lana'i and is expected to produce enough clean, renewable solar power to supply up to 30 percent of the island's peak electric demand.

The system is expected to generate about 3 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year. The power is being purchased by Maui Electric Company (MECO), and transmitted to Lana'i's homes and businesses through MECO's electric power grid. This will help reduce more than 2300 tons of carbon dioxide emissions in Lana'i each year, which is approximately the same amount of carbon dioxide emitted from the consumption of almost 5000 barrels of oil or more than 237,000 gallons of gasoline.

"Castle & Cooke is committed to helping the state of Hawai'i achieve energy independence. With the dedication of Hawai'i's largest solar farm, we are delivering on our commitment by bringing clean solar energy to the people of Lana'i," stated David H. Murdock, chairman and owner of Castle & Cooke, Inc. "This state-of-the-art solar farm helps pave the way for Hawai'i to become a leader in the production of renewable energy. La Ola is just the first step of Castle & Cooke's plans for renewable, sustainable energy."

At the La Ola site, SunPower installed a single-axis SunPower® Tracker system. The Tracker tilts toward the sun as it moves across the sky, increasing energy capture by up to 25 percent over fixed systems while reducing land-use requirements.

"Clean, reliable solar power will become a core energy investment over the next decade, driven in large part by visionary leaders such as Castle & Cooke, MECO and the State of Hawai'i," said Tom Werner, chief executive officer of SunPower. "Having installed the first commercially-financed solar power system in the US on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1998, followed by more than six megawatts of solar power systems across the Hawaiian islands since that time, we are pleased to dedicate this very significant project on the island of Lana'i." 

They worked with Mauna Lani Resorts to make the hotel the first commercially-financed photovoltaic system in the state in 1998. That first effort was for 90 kW, good enough to power about 90 homes. Since then, Mauna Lani has become a leader in Hawaii with five more projects giving them a total of 674 kW of power.

SunPower in Hawaii has also provided systems to Parker Ranch, Harley Davidson on Oahu, the US Navy on Ford Island and Castle & Cooke on Lanai.