By Ann Rascalli

More than $17 million in stimulus funding is fueling a joint venture contract for installation of a 3.2 megawatt solar system at the Denver Federal Center.

Denver-based Centerre Government Contracting and E Light Wind and Solar Inc., a division of electrical contractor E Light Electric Services Inc. of Englewood are partners in the design-build project, which is officially called Centerre/E Light Wind and Solar Inc.

Overseeing the project is the General Services Administration.

“The ARRA is driving the construction industry toward green projects and technologies and we are proud to be a part of this new future,” said Perry Herrmann, president and CEO of E Light Wind and Solar, in a statement.

The PV system of 14,612 panels will be mounted on three separate buildings at the Lakewood intersection of West Sixth Avenue and Kipling Street intersection.

Centerre is performing the renovation of Building 41 at the federal center. E Light Wind and Solar has already installed PV panels on the parking garage at the Belmar shopping district in Lakewood in 2008. The Belmar project generates 1.74 megawatts of power and supplies 5 percent of the district’s power requirements.